Innovative Learning

Just like St. John Baptist de La Salle pioneered innovative ways of instructing students in 17th century France, teachers at DeLaSalle High School look for and use the latest 21st century methods of educating students.

DeLaSalle has led its peers among schools in Minnesota by incorporating technology into the classroom.

1:1 IslePad Initiative

DeLaSalle launched the 1:1 IslePad initiative in the 2011-12 school year, among the first schools in the state to place a school-issued iPad in the hands of each student.

The iPad and its myriad educational apps, enhances the teacher-student relationship by bringing the world’s accumulated knowledge to the fingertips of each teacher and student. The use of cloud technology, coupled with software and online resources, such as Khan Academy, Sophia, Quia, and Subtext, enable teachers and students to collaborate on course material. Teachers can better track when and how much time students spend on their coursework, and give quicker feedback, freeing up classroom instruction by spending less time collecting and dispensing paper.

Canvas - Learning Management System

Adopted from the model used on campuses across the country, DeLaSalle has implemented Canvas as its learning management system (LMS). Canvas is a cloud-based LMS that connects all the digital tools and resources teachers and students will use in one place. Canvas integrates seamlessly with hundreds of apps for the iPad or phone, empowering teachers and students with countless tools to make teaching and learning easier and more fun. Teachers are also able to communicate more effectively with both students and parents via use of online assessments message boards, learning groups, email, syllabi, calendars and more. Using Canvas helps prepare De students for college and career environments and equip them with the digital and time management skills they’ll need for life.

Blended Learning

Educators at DeLaSalle use blended learning to engage students’ learning styles and expand the classroom environment behind the bricks-and-mortar campus setting. What began in Math and Science classrooms has expanded across all academic departments as teachers present course material through recorded instruction. Students may watch a video describing the steps toward solving a math problem, for example, and then can ask targeted questions in the classroom the next day as they master the material. This blended learning approach allows our students to be better engaged in classroom practices, discussion, and accelerate skill development.

Center for Innovative Learning

DeLaSalle’s Center for Innovative Learning, full of state-of-the-art technology and educational resources, enables students and teachers to work individually, in small groups, or as an entire class to advance their education. This space in the newly redesigned center of the school represents the innovative learning that occurs at DeLaSalle.

This project – the largest improvement of its kind in modern school history – puts DeLaSalle among the first high schools in Minnesota to add such a facility, just as we were among the first to implement a 1:1 tablet technology program six years ago.

Just as business environments and personal communications have evolved dramatically over the past 15 years, the days of students sitting in one place and listening to a lecture are giving way to interactive learning with students far more engaged in discovery. The design of the new CIL responds to this new pedagogy. Adaptability and collaboration drive the design, as learning spaces accommodate both group projects and individual inquiry. Almost all the furniture will be movable so that classes can quickly adjust their settings based on the day’s lesson.

What the Center for Innovative Learning Offers

Thies Technology Lab

The Thies Technoloogy Lab, paid for in part through a generous $2.5 million legacy gift from David ’55 and Marlys Thies, features a state-of-the-art computer area outfitted with the Adobe Suite. It is a perfect place for students to create, design and manipulate digital material. Here, our Media Production & Broadcast Journalism, Digital Photography, and Graphic Design classes can explore and create. Additionally, our Principles of Engineering and Python students will have access to ever-expanding digital content. While every student will have a computer and monitor, the wall monitors allow the students to display their work and begin the process of collaborative learning — from peer to peer as well as from teacher to student. Think of preparation for what occurs in a modern conference room or meeting space. Teachers control each monitor, regulating access to additional or connected content in a collaborative setting.

The Creative Thinking side of the Thies Technology Lab works in tandem with the other side as well as with the library and media center across the hallway. This space, with its varied and comfortable seating, gives students a place to work solo, in pairs, groups, or as a class. The whiteboards give students an opportunity to brainstorm, visualize and demonstrate ideas, and think creatively about class activities and projects. Some technology is available, but this room was mainly constructed to encourage thinking, conversation and collaboration.

Active Learning Space

Central to our Center for Innovative Learning is our Active Learning Space. This multi-purpose space can be transformed into classroom space for up to 60 students (pefect for collaborative, inter-departmental projects or instruction), a large group gathering space, a commons area for students, and/or space for students and teachers to meet individually or in small groups. Desks can be easily rearranged for individuals, pairs, or groups as needed. The wall monitors, controlled by the teacher station, allow the teacher to show images to small or differentiated groups or to the entire class. Students will be able to project their work from their iPad to a group monitor, allowing for collaborative study and problem solving.

Co-Curricular Room

Learning Support Center

Athletic Lockers, Storage and New Theatre Staging Areas

Among the improvements of the new building project are enhanced athletic storage and locker space, as well as new areas for theatre staging and storage. The school converted what had been the girls’ physical education and athletic locker room in the Main Gym into boys’ and girls’ physical education locker rooms, also to be used by visiting teams at DeLaSalle athletic contests. The school then created space within the new building for enhanced boys’ and girls’ athletic locker rooms, replacing what had been 55-year old locker rooms in other parts of the facility. With well over half of the student body participating in athletics and/or theatre programs each year, students, coaches and moderators should benefit from improved areas and access.

North Entrance

This project also has presented an opportunity to improve campus infrastructure and link all three buildings on campus more effectively. We’ve known for many years that we needed to replace our heating and electrical systems for much of the current campus, and that work has been completed – and was significantly more cost effective than had it been done separately. We replaced an 80-year old boiler/heating system and upgraded electrical service across the campus. With new corridors, a new “north entrance,” and other facility additions, we address safety and student traffic concerns with a more logical flow of parking and hallway traffic. Students move from class to class more efficiently, and visitors to events on campus have more logical points of entry. Moving storage and locker rooms to a new place on the north end of the campus better connects those spaces to the new athletic field and existing gymnasiums.

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