Page 20 - School Planning & Management, June 2019

TECHNOLOGY 7 TIPS TO ENSURE YOUR DISTRICT IS ‘DIGITAL FROM DAY 1’
are a few tips to help ensure your staff and students have the tools they need the moment they arrive.
1) Get buy-in from teachers and parents.
In the Washingtonville Central School Dis- trict, in New York, we found that crafting
a shared vision for teaching and learning was the critical first step towards day-1 readiness. To aid in crafting a vision for technology, we conducted a robust survey of parents, students in grades 3 through 12, and teachers. Defining a vision supported by goals and expected outcomes makes purchasing technology that will have the greatest impact on the largest number of students easier. The technology and tools you eventually settle on are merely the vehicles you’ll take to your destination. The vision shows you where that destination is and provides the roadmap.
Take a walk into the schools you sup- port. Talk to your teachers and students about their frustrations with technology not being usable on the first day of school.
In South Carolina’s Pickens County School District, we focused on bringing
the teachers in on selecting the learning management system (LMS) because they made it clear the LMS really mattered
to them. We went through a request for qualification process, where vendors came in and presented a demo. As part of that, we paid for substitutes so teachers from each school could come in and participate. They walked through the demo, got to ask questions, and received demo accounts so they could explore the different options for a while. They didn’t have final say, but their vote was included as a percentage of the fi- nal selection. They understood the process was fair and included their input.
We also did a lot of work with our parents when we first started moving to digital resources more fully. A big reason they bought in was that their students wouldn’t be coming home with these big bags of textbooks anymore. But we still had to show them that all the resources were
acceptable for their children, and were easy to use and access.
Every year, we still work on bringing parents in to talk about things such as on- line safety, various aspects of the resources that we have, and the direction we’re mov- ing with technology.
2) Make sure your network is ready.
A fast, stable, and robust network is not just nice, it’s a must-have. If the Internet goes down in a digital district, your teach- ers—and student learning—really are stuck. Your network and wireless environ- ment are also essential to sustaining any
new initiatives you introduce.
At Pickens, we addressed this challenge
by leasing a dark fiber network that will increase our bandwidth 100-fold. We also worked with a consultant, Education Part- ner Solutions, Inc., to design a fault-toler- ant network. Now, even if our fiber gets cut, there’s another route the traffic can take so we don’t experience any downtime.
3) Get your funding squared away.
By far the greatest of the challenges in be- coming digital from day 1, and perhaps the hardest to overcome, is paying for this shift.
Use E-rate funds as much as you can. At the Cedar Hill Independent School District
USING 3D PRINTERS IN THE CLASSROOM
One of the biggest trends we are seeing in K-12 schools is libraries emerging as adopters of 3D printing technology for “makerspaces,” a new trend that incorporates DIY spaces where students can gather to create, invent and learn on their own time,” says Mark McPherson, executive vice president at Advanced Education.
These new spaces, which are comparable to computer labs of the past, use 3D printers in their libraries to allow students to turn their ideas into a real product. Makerspaces provide students with accessibility to tools that enable them to create on their own terms.
Within these makerspaces, 3D printers are used in conjunction with other cutting-edge educational technologies, such as interactive smart boards. “For example,” McPherson explains, “students can design a tool directly on a library smart board program, import it to the 3D printer’s software, and print it. The concept is increasingly integrating cutting-edge K-12 technology to aid in the end-product’s design, and it’s a trend that will continue to grow as 3D printers become more prevalent in schools.”
He says that the majority of educators he works with believe that 3D printers can revolutionize the classroom in ways never thought possible. “They feel that the technology fosters hands-on creativity, builds enthusiasm, and offers students a new and interactive approach to any given subject matter. And, although educational 3D printing has already generated a significant amount of buzz in the industry, principals, district administrators and teachers are just beginning to explore the technology’s countless use-cases.”
McPherson adds that all of the feedback has not been positive. “While many early adopters are already well underway with 3D printing, there have been challenges. On occa- sion, schools have invested in 3D printers without ensuring the proper integration of them into their curriculum, which could result in neglect or lack of use.
“It is extremely important for any interested K-12 decision maker to include a curricu- lum package with their 3D printer investment. By using these pre-configured curriculum packages, schools can seamlessly integrate their 3D printer into their daily lessons. This approach helps ensure that educators realize the value of their investment.”
20 SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / JUNE 2019
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