SPLOST IV: Let’s Talk about Technology

““We are behind technologically in public school education; we’re behind the nation and the rest of the world,” (Cheryl) Atkinson says. “It is imperative that we make technology the norm, not the exception. Our students must be comfortable with technology, because otherwise we will lose our country’s competitive edge and students will not be able to survive. I’m very passionate about public school education being a great equalizer.”

Dr. Atkinson understands the value of putting technology into students’ hands. One of her landmark educational initiatives in Lorain City Schools was to ensure every student in 6th, 9th and 10th grades was equipped with a netbook to access textbooks online, put the Internet at their fingertips, and enable them to be members of the 21st Century Classroom. And this was only the beginning of an initiative that will span grades 4 through 12.

The current SPLOST IV proposal is troubling because it does not support Dr. Atkinson’s understanding that technology integration and abundant access is essential to students’ future success.

Look at the DCSS SPLOST IV Educational Technology goals:
“(17) (15) Upgrade classroom technology (including interactive boards, student response systems and projectors), upgrade and refresh to hardware (including desktops, laptops, and servers), software, wireless infrastructure in all schools, digital communication technology (including video conferencing, virtual and learning technologies), enterprise content management solution, upgrade and increase data storage systems, upgrades to telecommunications and implementing a mass notification system….”

Currently, classrooms of 30 to 35 students have an average of 2 to 3 computers per classroom. Most elementary schools have one computer lab to serve hundreds of students, and high schools have an even worse student to computer ratio. SPLOST III “upgraded and refreshed” the hardware which basically meant they replaced the existing computers. The current SPLOST IV proposes “upgrading and refreshing” which means student access to technology will remain stationary.

Technology for students has remained stagnant in DCSS as the opportunity for implementing the 21st Century classroom has been delayed. SPLOST I saw the lion’s share of technology money spent on software while the hardware to use the software was severely limited. SPLOST II saw most of the technology funds spent on the network as DCSS installed a private fiber optic cable network. SPLOST III saw the majority of technology dollars go to interactive boards for a relatively small percent of our teachers, replacing computers that were out of warranty (also called upgrade and refresh), and the purchase of eSis and Schoolnet. SPLOST IV now proposes interactive boards, student response systems, projectors, a wireless network, video conferencing, and replacing computers that are out of warranty. The SPLOST IV Educational Technology goals show a very teacher centered view of technology with little additional hardware for students.

Since student access will not reach a critical mass with SPLOST IV, benchmark testing with students “bubbling in” answers using paper and pencil while teachers take planning time to “scan” in 150 tests will be assured for the next five years. DCSS classrooms that do not look noticeably different from their parents’ classrooms will appear even more disconcerting in this fast paced world of global competition.

DCSS’s “Digital Divide” is increasing with children in affluent schools having much greater access to cutting edge technology than children in low income areas. Leveling the playing field should be a prime concern for a school system that has such disparity between schools in terms of student progress.

This is the problem with SPLOST IV passing “as is”. Technology access for students will stay “as is” while tens of millions are spent on non-student centered initiatives.

DCSS must involve the end users in the technology decisions. What do the teachers who are charged with increasing student achievement want in the way of Educational Technology in DCSS? What do the students want? What do the parents want? Who has made these plans for spending the tens of millions of dollars? Where is the Return on Investment in terms of student achievement projected and detailed? What is Dr. Atkinson’s vision of DCSS students as 21st Century learners? Where will the money come from to implement the one-to-one netbook initiative she has suggested for DCSS students once these SPLOST IV parameters are set? How will she get the real time data analyses she and the teachers need to make smart educational decisions?

These are questions that need to be asked and answered before moving forward with SPLOST IV. The 21st Century Classroom puts technology into the hands of students. DCSS is stuck in the bricks and mortar world of the past while our children must compete in a world without boundaries.

The Gwinnett School of Math, Science and Technology

"The students are reaching far beyond the dreams they had as little children and into a world that has no limits."  
- Jeff Mathews, Principal, Gwinnett School of Math, Science and Technology

Watch this video and see just how fast and far our neighboring school system in Gwinnett has managed to leapfrog our schools.  This is the kind of high-tech learning and partnering with corporate sponsors happening in so many schools around the country - all while our school system flounders and sputters with unfocused, racially-biased leaders who will not place the most qualified, most serious and most capable leadership in place in order to bring our students into the 21st century with our neighbors and the world.

I learned about this Gwinnett initiative from T.H.E. Journal (Transforming Education through Technology). Click here for a list of k-12 topics to read up on or browse their extensive library of white papers and webinars.  You may need to set up a user account, but it is free and the information is cutting edge.

"The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." 
-- Futurist Alvin Toffler

One of my favorite topics has been about the use of iPads in schools. Folks, it's getting to be time to ditch the heavy textbooks.  Students today need to be internet and computer savvy if they are to function in the world.  This use of personal computers is the gateway to a lifelong love of learning. In addition to classroom lessons, students can find animated examples or video seminars on any topic at hand.  If they are struggling with a concept, they can check in with the Khan Academy during lunch or study time to have something explained.

Click here to read a post I republished featuring a school system in Massachusetts that implemented the iPad for 1 to 1 learning.  Systems all over the country are jumping on the technology bandwagon. Click here to read about Chicago city schools systemwide use of iPads.  I think DeKalb has an opportunity to think far outside of our current "box" and leap with both feet into the promising waters of personal computing for our students.




Just think:  Students could take their tests on their computers, giving them instant feedback and allowing for daily tracking of progress.  Our technical colleges in Georgia already use an online learning system called "My Learning Lab" where students do reading, comprehension, writing and math assignments and reap instant feedback as to what they understood, what they did not, and what sections they need to revisit.  It's so effective to understand immediately where you advanced and where you may have fallen down.  It's data collection at its finest and most powerful -- directly given to the user and his or her teacher.  Student data is stored in a mainframe cloud and can be revisited by future teachers in order to see where a student may need remediation. Instantly.  No scanning. No waiting for reports. No central office interference. That's why it's called 1 to 1.  Learning after all, is an individual endeavor in the end.

Let's take the leap.  Encourage your board member to hire a superintendent ASAP so that students can regain their lost momentum.  As a reward for their patience and perhaps a way to right a wrong, let's leapfrog other school systems and be the leaders in advanced learning -- One to One!

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On a Good Note:  For a fine example of a brand new high tech initiative in DeKalb, read Kim's post about the new program coming to Cross Keys this fall. IMO, it's the best thing we have to offer students interested in engineering and technology. Encourage techie students you might know to apply!

RAMP Comes to Cross Keys to Serve Area High Schoolers

iPads Plus Robust Wireless Network Means Personalized Learning

From "The Journal", Campus Technology Division
A sponsor's case story (aka: to dream a dream for DeKalb!)

As one of the first schools in New England to pilot the Apple iPad across multiple grade levels, Millis Public Schools in Massachusetts is a technology pioneer. To connect the iPads and other wireless devices to each other, to teachers, and to the Internet, the small, 1,500-student school, with students in pre-K through grade 12, rolled out a new 802.11n wireless network two years ago.

The wireless network and the iPads are part of the school’s Personalized Learning Initiative, which includes a 1-1 learning blueprint. The school defines 1-1 learning as “the tailoring of teaching and learning to the needs of the individual student.” That includes a personal computing device for each participating student—devices that can be tailored to individual student needs.

In February, Millis distributed 110 iPads to its eighth graders as part of a pilot to use at school on the wireless network and at home. The objective, as the Millis Public Schools’ web site explains, is to determine how the mobile, networked devices can help students improve productivity, engagement, and learning. The pilot has already been a success, so much so that in the fall, the plan is to move those students to iPad 2s as they enter the ninth grade, and to distribute the current iPads, which are version 1, to new eighth graders.

According to Grace Magley, director of technology for Millis Public Schools, the school has long been Apple-focused, with a wireless system in place for years that used Apple Airport base stations to connect teachers’ MacBooks, along with laptops on carts for student use. But with the gradual move to 1-1 learning, Magley says, “we knew that what we had in place [for a wireless network] wouldn’t support a device per student.”

The search began for a more robust system; the school considered several vendors, but settled on wireless vendor Xirrus for several reasons. Magley and her staff liked the Xirrus overall management system, but the trump card was the system of Arrays that Xirrus employs. Rather than access points, a Xirrus wireless network receives and transmits signals using devices it calls Arrays, which contain two, four, eight or 16 radios per device. Each radio can be programmed independently for signal strength, the antennas’ directional signal, and to avoid channel conflict. Fewer devices mean fewer headaches around installation, wiring and support, as well as fewer ports in connecting the wireless devices back to the network.

While each array is more costly than an access point, it is also much more powerful. With 13 Arrays in place throughout the school, Magley estimates that she needed just half to a third as many Arrays compared to access points. All eight of the school’s eighth-grade classrooms, for example, are supported by a single array. In one location in the school, an array supports 120 devices. “We would have needed an access point in every classroom to support that saturation,” Magley says.

The Xirrus network supports the school’s iPads, along with four mobile wireless labs, and teachers’ laptops computers, along with a large population of students at Millis who are taking online classes at a collaborative virtual high school.

The current pilot has “been really successful in terms of what students are able to do with the iPad,” Magley says. The devices are being used with Moodle, the school’s learning management system, for example, and by every eighth-grade teacher across every subject, from art to music to TV production.

One example of a useful application that Magley cites is eClicker Host, an app that requires a small fee for use on teacher devices but is free for student devices. Using the wireless network, eClicker turns each student’s iPad into a personal response system, which teachers can then use to pose quick questions to students during class to assess understanding and direct discussions. Students and teachers can see a real-time graphic display summarizing everyone’s response, giving a sense of learning in the classroom as a whole and individually.

At Millis, iPads and a robust wireless network are giving teachers and students more control over learning styles and environments. Says Magley: “This project has really made an impact.”

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If you are interested in deploying a high performance Wi-Fi solution, please contact Xirrus at: info@xirrus.com

Xirrus
2101 Corporate Center Drive
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
1-800-947-7871

iPods coming to DeKalb?

As reported in today's AJC, in an article entitled, Grants launch algebra by iPod, three DeKalb schools are poised to receive handheld devices for use by students in some AP classrooms.

"As envisioned by state officials, these devices would be the primary, everyday learning tool of students in class and at home. Class projects, homework and research reports will all go digital."

"'Do you know the Jetsons? This is George and [Jane’s] world,' said Mindy DiSalvo, assistant director of grants and community programs for the DeKalb County school system. DeKalb is one of 47 systems awarded grants in the first round of funding approved last week by state school board members. The system, which won $193,740, will hand out iPods and netbooks (mini laptops) to about 300 students at three high schools; Cross Keys, Stone Mountain and MLK Jr., next semester.

"The DeKalb students are enrolled in Advanced Placement biology or chemistry classes, where rote textbook lessons and experiments can be expanded and enlivened. “We’re going to say to them, ‘You’ve got the iPods and netbooks. Now find six research institutions across the country doing cell division,” said DiSalvo, who wrote DeKalb’s winning grant proposal. DeKalb will insure the devices against loss or damage, and teachers will be able to monitor how the devices are used."

"State officials expect a second round of grants to be recommended for at least 10 more systems, probably in January. The devices must be given to students no later than March 1, with pilot programs at each school expected to run at least through the 2010-11 school year."

Visit this link at the AJC to read the rest of the article.