The equipment part of the SLCSD Technology Plan was approved at the School Board meeting last night. As always, I caution up front that the plan is the best educated guess of what technology we will purchase over the next year. Education and technology are both moving targets, and we plan the best we can, knowing changes may crop up along the way. In addition, as we formalize the larger projects and receive bids throughout the next year, they will be brought before the Board again. That being said, we are very excited about the future of student learning in our district! Here are the highlights.
District-wide
This summer: Increase our Internet bandwidth from 120 mbps to 300 mbps to accommodate our huge increase in Internet usage for learning.
East Early Childhood
This summer: Put newer computers for student use in all the classrooms.
Elementary School
This summer:
- Replace computers in the standing computer lab.
- Replace one of the mobile laptop labs with two mobile Chromebook labs, each with thirty Chromebooks (was in this year's tech plan for May/June).
- Put two Chromebooks for student use in each of the third and fourth grade classrooms. This will complete our project of getting at least two mobile devices in every classroom at the elementary.
- Replace all wireless in the elementary building with new more robust wireless.
Next summer: Replace another mobile lab of laptops with two mobile Chromebook labs, each with thirty Chromebooks. This will bring us to seven mobile labs and two standing labs at the elementary for student use.
Middle School
This summer:
- Provide all teachers with laptops.
- Add two mobile Chromebook labs for student use, each with thirty Chromebooks.
- Add two mobile Chromebook labs, each with thirty Chromebooks, for use by Social Studies students.
- In addition, we will be adding to the wireless at the Middle School to improve both connectivity as well as the density of that connectivity to accommodate the additional mobile devices. These purchases have yet to be finalized.
Next summer:
- Replace computers in all standing labs, i.e. media center, typing lab, computer lab, FACS lab, and ELL classroom lab.
- Replace one of the mobile laptop labs with two mobile Chromebook labs, each with thirty Chromebooks. This will bring us to eleven mobile labs and five standing labs at the middle school for student use.
High School
This summer:
- Replace two of the mobile laptop labs with four mobile Chromebook labs, each with thirty Chromebooks (was in this year's tech plan for May/June). Two of these are centered out of the Media Center and two of them out of the Social Studies department.
- Add three mobile Chromebook labs, each with thirty Chromebooks. These added to two of the Chromebook labs listed in #1 above, puts a Chromebook lab in every Social Studies classroom at the high school. This is the next Tech Plan step after putting Chromebook labs in every English classroom at the high school last year.
- Add Chromebooks for SpEd English students.
Next summer:
- Replace the computers in the Graphics lab.
- Replace the computers in the Business lab.
- Replace one of the mobile laptop labs with two mobile Chromebook labs, each with thirty Chromebooks. These will be centered out of the Science department. This will bring us to nineteen mobile labs and five standing labs for high school student use.
- Replace the student checkout laptops with new ones.
- In addition, we will be adding wireless and whatever other technology we need to both the new and renovated portions of the high school building as they are completed. The purchases for this remain to be determined.
When it comes to technology, our focus must always be on learning. The devices are meaningless without great instructional strategies and curriculum. However, the power that connected learning brings to our classrooms can't be underestimated. Collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication are all enhanced geometrically with mobile Internet connected devices in the hands of our students and teachers. Every year I focus on this goal when I work with the administrators and teachers who come up with this plan:
A huge Internet pipe, robust wireless, and mobile Internet connected devices in as many students' hands as possible. A teacher who loves to learn, learns new things regularly, and models that love of learning to students. Student-centered classrooms.
We get closer every year!
