Dell today announced that the Science Leadership Academy (SLA), a partnership high school between The School District of Philadelphia and The Franklin Institute, will be the first school in the nation to deploy the Dell Chromebook 11. The new Dell Chromebooks will be used by students, teachers and administrators to support SLA’s rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum with a focus on science, technology, mathematics and entrepreneurship. SLA also partnered with The Franklin Institute and Dell to launch the first “Center of Excellence in Learning,” a resource for educators for best practices in inquiry-driven, project-based learning, technology access models and one-to-one computing initiatives.
“We knew that for students to truly be in charge of their learning, we had to provide them with a device where they can research, collaborate and create projects that develop the critical thinking skills they need for future success,” said Chris Lehmann, founding principal, the Science Leadership Academy. “The Dell Chromebook 11 gives our students access to their apps and content from anywhere and enables us to integrate learning into every facet of student lives, whether in the classroom, in a lab or at home.”
IT administrators and teachers are able to control and update the apps from a web-based console so students can learn securely. This gives SLA the ability to customize their devices to meet the goals of their curriculum.
“Our mission at SLA is to help our students to become the fully-realized citizens our society needs by immersing them in an inquiry-driven, project-based environment that encourages them to find their passion,” said Chris Lehmann. “The Chromebook gives us the flexibility to achieve that goal.”
For their leadership in personalized learning and advancement of STEM and entrepreneurship skills, Dell has named SLA and The Franklin Institute partners in its Powering the Possible through Youth Learning initiative, a program that provides support to organizations that share Dell’s vision of preparing youth for success through STEM education and the development of ICT skills. SLA received more than $620,000 in grant money and education technology from Dell to continue to build on their legacy of inquiry-based learning.
Dell will help SLA scale their model of inquiry-driven, project-based learning across the nation through the new Center of Excellence in Learning that serves as a resource of best practices for other educators.
