Technology Task Force Minutes
December 4, 2006

Members Present: A. Mark, J. Getchell, C. Henshaw, J. Styer, J. Schick, T. Pauls, M. Jay, K. Popejoy, A. Reed, M. Quenneville, G. Morganti

Web portal is up and running. Ann showed us how to add alerts. A folder has been created for our vision statements to be added after tonight’s meeting. Think about how active of a roll you want to take in this group. What kind of a time commitment would you like to make? Would you like to be on the writing team, or research team? Roles will be posted on Share Point so contact Ann if you are interested.

Michael
Separate strategy from tactics because tactics may change
Guiding Principles:

• Make Data accessible to everybody, graphical format
• Learners and educators have access to the right tech at the right time
• Provide support to encourage (experiment) and facilitate (hardware) 

Key outcomes-A vision for K20 Education

• Increase student engagement
• Maximize teaching
• Build proficiency in 21st century skills
• Spend money on new structures, not keeping the old ones working

Gigi
Learners taking responsibility for their own learning. Multiple kinds of tech for kids. Everybody would have the basics i.e. laptop w/wireless. Kids are wired a lot differently than people in their 50s so teachers are pulling them back. Instruction should drive technology. Access 24 7 to accelerate learning. Kids will perform better w/ the tools.

Carolyn
PowerPoint on Share Point-Instructional Spaces

Teachers’ whole instructional style will change when they integrate technology. Challenge teachers’ beliefs about how learning occurs. Focus on teacher using the Teaching and Learning Cycle. Putting teachers in control of what they can do with the technology. Assessment and data tools all integrated accessible 24/7. Make the data meaningful. Increase that home connection in a secure way and transfer the learning to home. Tech tools for planning and data interaction. Integration tools are the most powerful theme that we might be able to work on with

• Online classes
• changing the way and look of how students learn.
• ELL could have the electronic training tools.

Collaboration so you can see learning constructed i.e. kids edit work online. Spaces should be mobile and meet the needs of the changing classroom. Maintain and update the equipment especially for the heavy user teachers. Permanent teaching stations and mobile learning stations. 1 to 2.5 ratio is a lot better than 1 to 4. Infrastructure may need to change to get teachers involved and engaged. Frame teachers’ vision for technology-alignment with standards and technology encourages teachers to use the technology for learning. Professional growth supported by technology. All 3 levels of teachers should be provided with tech support and development. Where does tech sit for a teacher? The vision has come from curriculum, library, and network services but teachers aren’t directly connected in those groups. Many teachers don’t feel in control of the technology i.e. you can’t stop the print jobs. Empower the teacher to feel in control of the computers in their labs. How do we meet the teachers’ need?

Jenny

• Seamless integration in all classrooms with wireless laptops and any other applicable devices.
• Highly skilled teachers are working with students who are in control of the technology.
• Everything is available 24/7.

Ann

• Students 24/7 wireless access available all over the community on a device like a laptop. Image and content databases streaming content. Organizational systems online
• Teachers-expectation that it is part of your job to be tech savvy. Know what resources are available and relevant. Create a classroom that is enhanced with tech.
• Classroom-flexible furniture, tech where we sit, visual presentations, not textbooks, flexible # of devices that are appropriate

John G.
No clue what it will look like. Set up and maintain an infrastructure that will be useful in the next 2-4 years to support interactive white boards, doc cams, LCD projectors, etc. Old buildings make incorporating tech very hard so what will it cost to use the technology? What will the cost be to our students if we don’t implement the latest tech?

Mark
Watch out for tech for the sake of tech. It doesn’t always cost more to move forward with technology. Currently there is a fragmented application and use of technology. Great tools are not allocated or accessible to teachers. Embrace some serious paradigm shifts. What is going to be available and how much will it cost? Leverage what’s already in place, become part of pilot programs etc. Throw the teachers in the water and have them do a multimedia interactive classroom with another class in Michigan watching a video of a scuba diver in the bottom of the lake. 

Kate
Wireless laptops maybe not 1 to 1, but perhaps 3 to 1 using some computer labs. Computers are always there and students can proceed anyway and anytime they want. Emergent type room so that the community is engaged at the classroom level and then moves out. Teachers work together and share a unified vision for technology. Students need a technology tool to organize their work with a portable device that can talk to computers at home and at school. The classroom needs to extend beyond the walls so students can do science and other explorations, enter data, and return to the classroom. We have a lot more than 180 6 hour days if we go beyond the walls. Teachers need incentive to get online and respond to students in evenings etc. Different ratios of students to teachers online as appropriate. Teachers on the edge need to be encouraged to keep breaking new barriers and then showcase and support the rest of the teachers in their journey.

Andy
If we are going to prepare our students for their future we need to be flexible and give them every opportunity to experience what’s out there. You can’t teach teachers to know everything. Teachers need to know how to facilitate students learning. Students don’t know how to use technology to solve a problem, complete a project, or create a presentation. We need a secure portal for students, teachers, and parents to use for everything. Tech needs to support enhance and encourage learning in that it should be flexible and stretch the limits. Needs to be supported but not impeded so that it can be used naturally and effectively, integrated seamlessly with the curriculum.  Teachers will use it because it enhances what they teach. Technology should strengthen collaboration with community. It should be site based, as the needs are very different at each building and we need to allow for freedom.  Technology integration needs to be the norm not the exception.

Terry
We teach in 2D, and the computer can overcome time and space. The 4D world is not just about a piece of tech or a 2D world with better toys. We hardly use 10% of the tech that we already have. We need to learn how to use what we have in 4D. The teacher is the dog and technology is the tail that can’t wag the dog. Teachers need to be facilitators. There needs to be a swap out of time because there isn’t enough time to add more to teachers’ day. Teachers need to make the switch. If you can give them 1 to 1 and swap out their time they will be more willing to take it on. We need to have a friendly person to push them forward. We need to personalize the teaching component.

John S.
Higher tech than writing on the walls like the cave men. Seamless integration with a purpose. Proper training and support for the staff so they want to take it on. Break down the 4 walls of the classroom. The new schools are being built with computer lab model. There is no way the teacher can know everything but the teacher needs to be open to that.

Other information shared:

• BSD Board Honored as Tech Savvy. The board must be open to how tech can be used and they want to support the direction that makes sense. What about the new super?
• Should we invite students to tell us what they would like to see in technology? 2nd January meeting we could have students make testimonials. Hear from elementary through high school.
• Michael-do you want to pull together some of the tech leaders into a video conference etc?

Homework:

Post assignment, visions, and minutes by Thursday. Look at the visions and minutes and note common themes in the General Discussion.