As far as I know our school district does very little educating when it comes to technology. They will send out an email that says we have purchased something and if you are curious how to use it then email us back and somebody will come teach you how to use it. We have a technology coordinator, two very good technology people and one guy who knows nothing except what is taught to him by the two good tech people. These three people service our entire school district which is five schools and about 3500 students. I think our district should do more with technology by using staff development and/or School improvement days. We as teachers have no input to what would be better for our classrooms.
My school district provides one laptop for every teacher, and provides laptops on carts for our schools. The entire district is wireless which is important because my school has eight carts of 30 laptops to divide up between 30 classrooms. There are also two computer labs, one computer lab has a scheduled class all eight periods and my lab has a scheduled class four of the eight periods. Each lab has 30 computers, however one has 30 brand new desktop computers, and my lab gets updated each year with laptops that are being taken off the carts and replaced by new laptops. The lab with 30 desktop computers has four classes of keyboarding/typing classes. And four classes of computer applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). This last year I opened up my classroom for period’s one through four for the classroom teachers to come and use my room. This went over very well; teachers enjoyed not having to hand out laptops, and using my projector which is displayed on my eight foot screen. I also have a color laser printer in my room which the teachers also really enjoyed, the only other color printer in the building is in the office.
When I look at my classroom situation, I feel fortunate for the equipment my classroom has, however I am still always looking for software and or ideas to help expand my curriculum. My technology classes have no set curriculum, or guidelines. Since there is another computer teacher who teaches all sixth graders Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, I have struggled to come up with two completely different curriculums for my fifth and sixth grade classes that don’t overlap what is already taught. I am looking into doing more with audio and video projects in the future, currently we only have movie maker, and my students love using that. I am looking into possibly implementing a class blog, some type of podcasting, or other AV project.
Overall, if I had to grade my district on the job they do in relation to technology I would give them a B. I think they do a great job with internet access, repairs, and they do all they can to provide access to computers. I feel they lack in areas concerning staff development, listening to the needs of teachers and use of money in certain areas.
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