District Technology

Official Plan & Real Applications

I have noticed so far in my placement  technology does not appear to be a priority, which I am assuming is mostly due to a lack of funding. The teacher has a computer and an overhead projector, but it terms of classroom technology, that is almost all she has. There are also 14 classroom laptops that my CT keeps in her room at all times, but her average class size is 30 students, so using them is not often very practical. The only thing they are used for is her reading intervention class, during which the students use a program on the laptops called Read 180. They use the laptops for reading assignments and to record and write responses to questions. The software is intended to get these students up to speed in terms of literacy skills. Fortunately, the intervention class only has 10 to 12 students on any given day, so there are enough laptops for every child for that class period when they are needed. 

The students are discouraged from using phones or other personal technology devices by my CT unless it is absolutely necessary to use them, partly because many students cannot afford them and because the school does not provide them in order for such devices to be distributed equally. Officially, however, the policy detailed in the technology plan permits the use of cell phones by students in school, as long as the students have teacher approval. 

The library is also a "media center," and it has a set of about 30 computer work stations. There are also 5 computer labs (according to the technology plan for the district) in the building that are equipped with enough computers for the standard class size. Whenever the students need to use computers for testing or other purposes, we have to reserve a lab or the media center for the period as a class in advance. Competition for lab time can be pretty fierce, so it is important to plan ahead when requesting to book lab time. 

From looking over the technology plan for the school district for 2012-2015, it seems obvious that although there is a "goal" and an emphasis being placed on teachers learning to use and integrate technology, this almost always happens through the students using and accessing the technology from home. That is, teachers can use Google Classroom to post assignments and have students turn things in, but because students do not have personal devices or computers at school, this essentially is reserved for when they are at home. My CT personally doesn't use online resources extremely frequently, mostly because she knows that some of her students don't have access to a computer at home. Our district is situated a low-socioeconomic-status community, and many of our kids come from low-income homes. 

Indirectly, the technology plan actually kind of seems to admit that there is a lack of technology in the school: "In the area of technology, [ ________ ] Public Schools is in the process of moving from responding to its own technology needs and issues toward connecting and aligning with other movements in the technology field at the state and federal levels." The main mission right now is focused on finding ways to make technology more mainstream in the school, but first, the technology needs to be purchased and available to the teachers and students. 

My CT and I found that most of the statements in the plan are accurate to the current state of technology in the school, but there is one bullet point that is pretty far from the truth, regarding "objectives accomplished": It states that "[e]very learner will have access to software during the school day to interact at any time with video, audio, and textual materials to prepare their own presentations, research, and products." Clearly this is a bit of a stretch, because students only have access to any kind of software during English class when we have managed to reserve lab time. According to the plan, there is space in the budget for $8,000 allocated for buying computers for the middle school each year, or 10 computers. All other technology costs are listed generally for the entire district and budgeted somewhat vaguely (and poorly) from the annual budget. 

Interestingly, I also found a page in the technology plan that lists some technology-oriented classes that some students are able to take, but in order to be eligible they have to obtain approval from a counselor and have passed a "Tech Proficiency" test and have strong "keyboarding skills." This leads me to believe that students who are falling behind on credits are probably not allowed to take these kinds of classes, which are likely reserved for students who can afford technology at home and who have enough space in their schedules.