Education: Embracing Technology
Content
Education: Embracing Technology
As a Henry County school board member I will embrace the use of automated curriculum and technology in our class rooms. However, many questions still surround the results of implementation. Cost is among the highest issues. Even more to the point of educating our children are the necessary roles and relationship between the teacher and student. John Chubb, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford (see below) correctly said, The challenge for educators is how to make technology work for schools. I will remain dedicated to providing the most effective environment for students and teachers. My twenty-plus years in information technology allow an open mind toward the tools now available. Placing computers in the classrooms, replacing traditional books and educational materials, represents a change an shift in the tools not the desired results. We must always consider the student first; the teacher s ability to reach the child and impart knowledge. I have included recently published articles on this topic. Henry County will have the opportunity to gauge the success of Gwinnett s initiative. We will have a chance to weigh the costs and benefits before jumping in. That is the course we must take now, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel with uncertain outcomes. ~~ Larry Stanley
Gwinnett Plans Switch to Digital
AJC May 28th J. Alvin Wilbanks, superintendent and CEO of Gwinnett County schools believes their eCLASS initiative is the way to go. The district has 162,000 students and 9,400 teachers. It will take a few years and millions of dollars to put in place a gamut of the latest computer-age opportunities. The digital content will include lesson plans the teachers can modify, rather than having to create from scratch. Teachers will receive better and more timely information on how their students are doing, not just on a single day or single test, but whether academically they are trending up or down.
Gwinnett Schools will spend about $54 million on eCLASS hardware and technology improvements. Digital content is forecast to cost the district $10.4 million per year, far less than the $20 million the system spends annually on textbooks. The school system must solicit parents help. There will be a divide between students who have access to pricey technology and high speed internet, and those who do not. Wilbanks said he expects the majority of parents to be willing to buy the technology their students require. He added, the district will make sure the rest, possibly as many as 25%, aren t left out, though specifics still must be worked out. Gwinnett County Public Schools website: http://tinyurl.com/7vayzsn Gwinnett County Public Schools' Strategic Priorities for 2010-2020 call for technology to permeate the education of Gwinnett s learners. eCLASS is a major school system initiative designed to make this vision a reality. eCLASS is a digital Content, Learning, Assessment, and Support System that will provide the district an integrated enterprise solution to enhance student engagement and the learning process.
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
AJC, April 19th Technology is inevitable, said John Chubb, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a founder of EdisonLearning. We can t put our fingers in the dikes and stop technology from coming. If technology became as integral to the academic lives of students as it has to their social lives, Chubb said, This imbalance that clearly exists now would begin to change. There is not the option of keeping technology out. The challenge for educators is how to make technology work for schools. Or schools will become, in the eyes of students, irrelevant. Now, teachers confront classrooms with a wide range of abilities, students struggling to read even simple books and others breezing through The Hunger Games series. Digital learning allows students to learn at their own level to customize instruction, Chubb said. Under rigid rules on teacher pay and class size, Hassel said there aren t strong incentives now for teachers to embrace technology or become involved in shaping it. There is no way they can use it to leverage their time. But if they can use technology in time-saving ways and take on more students and earn more, they will become active shoppers and become a driver of quality.
As a Henry County school board member I will embrace the use of automated curriculum and technology in our class rooms. However, many questions still surround the results of implementation. Cost is among the highest issues. Even more to the point of educating our children are the necessary roles and relationship between the teacher and student. John Chubb, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford (see below) correctly said, The challenge for educators is how to make technology work for schools. I will remain dedicated to providing the most effective environment for students and teachers. My twenty-plus years in information technology allow an open mind toward the tools now available. Placing computers in the classrooms, replacing traditional books and educational materials, represents a change an shift in the tools not the desired results. We must always consider the student first; the teacher s ability to reach the child and impart knowledge. I have included recently published articles on this topic. Henry County will have the opportunity to gauge the success of Gwinnett s initiative. We will have a chance to weigh the costs and benefits before jumping in. That is the course we must take now, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel with uncertain outcomes. ~~ Larry Stanley
Gwinnett Plans Switch to Digital
AJC May 28th J. Alvin Wilbanks, superintendent and CEO of Gwinnett County schools believes their eCLASS initiative is the way to go. The district has 162,000 students and 9,400 teachers. It will take a few years and millions of dollars to put in place a gamut of the latest computer-age opportunities. The digital content will include lesson plans the teachers can modify, rather than having to create from scratch. Teachers will receive better and more timely information on how their students are doing, not just on a single day or single test, but whether academically they are trending up or down.
Gwinnett Schools will spend about $54 million on eCLASS hardware and technology improvements. Digital content is forecast to cost the district $10.4 million per year, far less than the $20 million the system spends annually on textbooks. The school system must solicit parents help. There will be a divide between students who have access to pricey technology and high speed internet, and those who do not. Wilbanks said he expects the majority of parents to be willing to buy the technology their students require. He added, the district will make sure the rest, possibly as many as 25%, aren t left out, though specifics still must be worked out. Gwinnett County Public Schools website: http://tinyurl.com/7vayzsn Gwinnett County Public Schools' Strategic Priorities for 2010-2020 call for technology to permeate the education of Gwinnett s learners. eCLASS is a major school system initiative designed to make this vision a reality. eCLASS is a digital Content, Learning, Assessment, and Support System that will provide the district an integrated enterprise solution to enhance student engagement and the learning process.
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
AJC, April 19th Technology is inevitable, said John Chubb, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a founder of EdisonLearning. We can t put our fingers in the dikes and stop technology from coming. If technology became as integral to the academic lives of students as it has to their social lives, Chubb said, This imbalance that clearly exists now would begin to change. There is not the option of keeping technology out. The challenge for educators is how to make technology work for schools. Or schools will become, in the eyes of students, irrelevant. Now, teachers confront classrooms with a wide range of abilities, students struggling to read even simple books and others breezing through The Hunger Games series. Digital learning allows students to learn at their own level to customize instruction, Chubb said. Under rigid rules on teacher pay and class size, Hassel said there aren t strong incentives now for teachers to embrace technology or become involved in shaping it. There is no way they can use it to leverage their time. But if they can use technology in time-saving ways and take on more students and earn more, they will become active shoppers and become a driver of quality.
