Customer stories
How Chesterfield County Public Schools in Virginia provides focused and engaging digital learning with Hāpara
Discover how Chesterfield County Public Schools in Virginia uses Hāpara Teacher Dashboard and Highlights to enhance student engagement, support digital citizenship, and streamline learning with real-time feedback.
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Customer Details
Customer since: 2013
Number of students: 63,000 K-12 students
Tools they leverage: Hāpara Teacher Dashboard and Highlights (classroom management and screen monitoring)
Featuring: Wes Dunnavant, Becky Poljac
Chesterfield’s tech-forward approach
Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) has long been a leader in educational technology innovation in Virginia. In fact, Becky Poljac, an instructional designer in the district, came to work in Chesterfield because of their reputation in the state for the use of cutting-edge technology.
In CCPS, learners are equipped with 1:1 devices, and the district uses digital curriculum materials to ensure instructional resources are up-to-date. Wes Dunnavant, Coordinator of Instructional Technology, explains that not only does this allow learning to take place anywhere and anytime, but it also encourages the use, development and sharing of open educational resources.
Adoption
Adopting Hāpara was a proactive decision. As they transitioned to digital resources, the district team realized they needed a management platform that would guide students in how they use those resources. Hāpara’s classroom management solution gives their teachers real-time visibility into how learners are progressing and the ability to better support them in the digital environment.
Improving student engagement, real-time feedback, and digital citizenship
Teachers primarily use Hāpara for sending links, accessing student Google Drives to find lost documents and provide real-time formative feedback, and monitoring student activity to enhance engagement.
“With Hāpara, we now have it in grades three, four, and five at the elementary level. We have it all the way through 12th. Teachers are able to have their computer at the teacher table and just take a quick glimpse. ‘Okay, everybody is either in Dreambox, they’re working on that drag and drop,’ while they’re working with the kids at the table. It’s much easier for them to provide real-time feedback and redirect kids if necessary.” — Becky Poljac, Instructional Designer, Chesterfield County Public Schools
Students in Chesterfield learn about digital citizenship as part of their curriculum and it makes an impact on the overall learning experience.
“The kids obviously mature as they get older. We do digital citizenship lessons within our curriculum as well. I think it (Hāpara) fosters a connection, a digital connection between the teacher and the student, and they’re able to communicate if you’re at the teacher table, and say, ‘Okay, you’re off task, you know,’ and just quickly send something and then they’re like, ‘Oh, okay’.” — Becky Poljac
Hāpara adds value to other tools
Chesterfield schools use Canvas as their LMS. Teachers cannot help learners make adjustments to assignments pre-submission in Canvas, so they use the Hāpara Google Drive integration to access a student’s document to give them help and feedback on assignments.
“The Dashboard and Drive tab (in Hāpara) is there to help you give feedback more quickly, pre-submission, because, you know, Canvas integrates with Google, and we have Google assignments in Canvas. But teachers can’t necessarily go in and adjust until the student submits. Or at least it’s not easy to. In the Drive, they can search, and it’s much easier if you do it through Hāpara.” — Wes Dunnavant, Coordinator of Instructional Technology, Chesterfield County Public Schools
Would you like help training your own school district’s teachers to deepen their classroom management and Hāpara skills?
Hāpara offers customized virtual training sessions and in-person training led by a Hāpara expert.
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About the Author
Lindsay Dixon-Garcia
Lindsay started her career as a Spanish teacher. After 12 years of teaching kids of all ages, Lindsay merged her love of words and educating others into a career in technical communication. Her focus at Hāpara is helping educators love its digital tools as much as she does. When Lindsay isn’t working she is usually spending time with her kids and hubby, playing with her two very naughty dogs or out for a run.
