It looks like the funding from ARRA is slowing starting to trickle down to the states' education agencies and on to the school districts. I have seen proposals for the funds range from high-level state technology plans to individual school districts using stimulus dollars to prevent the lay-off of teachers.
But I would like to hear from YOU! How is your school and/or district using stimulus dollars? Are you using funds to maintain normal operations in the district or are you using the funds to embark on some new innovative teaching practice?
Please share your ideas-I would love to hear them!!
Our school district is being very conserative. Only two temporary positions have been created to fill special needs (and they were both listed to show that there was no guarantee of future employment after two years (end of stimulus funding). We are purchasing Dell Mini 12's and carts to use for portable classrooms in some of our elementary schools. The carts can be used on a daily basis anywhere in the school, but can be brought together and concentrated in one area when we want to use them for online formative assessment (e.g. Thinklink, etc.). We will be able to purchase about 50 additional interactive classrooms, which will mean that over 70% of our classrooms will now have all interactive classroom equipment. The last initiative we are looking at is purchase of a datawarehouseing solution to assist us with data driven decision making. We are currently reviewing literature and waiting on presentations from several vendors about possible solutions.
Thanks for sharing. Your district is similar to many that I have talked to in regards to being very conservative with stimulus funds. The good thing is that it does sound like you are at least getting some new technology for the classrooms-which is better than the districts who have only used it to fill budget gaps so they can "keep the lights on" -as they have described it to me.
That's great news about expanding your Interactive Classrooms. What kind of equipment are you looking at for the Interactive classrooms? Will you be purchasing student response systems for these classrooms? The cool thing with having the Dell Mini 12's is that several of the student response system companies will allow you to install their virtual clicker software on the computers so that the students can answer teacher-generated questions on their personal computers and it transmits the data to the teacher's computer via the Internet network. This eliminates having a student computer AND a student "clicker" on the student's desk. Instead, it allows the technologies to converge onto one device. And it's less expensive to purchase the software to install on the computers instead of purchasing the physical "clickers". Great way to encourage a clutter-free student desk , too! :)
In addition, if a teacher has a tablet computer and projector, these companies will allow the interactive whiteboard software to be installed on the tablet computer. It's a great alternative for the classrooms who don't have the physical space, budget, or electrical requirements to have an actual physical interactive whiteboard in the classroom but still maintain all the functionality of an interactive whiteboard.
It's an exciting time for technology in the classroom-can't wait to see what emerges next from these educational technology companies! Also, don't forget about your professional development plan for all these new technologies for your schools. Have you figured out how you are going to integrate Professional Development with your technology initiatives? Would love for you to share your plan-I am always curious to hear about district's PD goals (since that is one of my passions) and I am sure other educators could benefit and/or learn from your program.