Technology adoption and implementation in school districts

Education Technology

The following is a set of questions that was asked of Joe Bloke, the Superintendant of Anytown, NJ schools, and Sue Schirmer, a high school teacher. Joe's responses are in blue, and Sue's in red.

Interview with the superintendant of schools:

I am a superintendant for a school system in a mid-sized community with 7,000 students, primary and secondary. We have one high school with 2,500 students, a middle school with 1,500 students and three elementary schools with 3,000 students.

Our budget is comparable to other schools in northern New Jersey. We spend nearly $10,000 per pupil, of which 55% goes to classroom teachers and direct classroom costs.

teach English and Social Studies to high school students. I generally have five classes a day with an average of thirty kids in each class. I move from classroom to classroom, but we generally have one or two computers in each classroom.

What is the current structure of technology education in your district? In other words, what is the hierarchy? Do you have a Director of Technology or a Technology Integrator? what degrees do they possess?

We have our technology person under the direction of our Director of Plant and Equipment. The Director's responsibilities include maintenance, capital projects, and it. He is spending more time on it than in the past, as we use it for both our administrative needs (billing, accounts receivable, payroll, etc.) as well as educational needs. The Director of P&E has a college degree in construction management, and has been in his position here for over 25 years. He has a desktop computer, but doesn't know very much about it.

The it person was hired from a nearby school district. He has a BS in Computer Science, and worked for three years in the other school system just out of college. He's currently studying for his MBA part-time. He has no people working for him, but our school system has a purchasing contract with Dell, which includes Dell's Gold Service. Our servers and networks are serviced with an outside company which is local, and based on an RFP process.

In our high school, I generally refer to Jim Cruncher, our Computer Science teacher. He seems more responsive to our needs than the librarian. I know that there's a guy in the Central Office, but we never see him unless there's a problem with the network. I've never met him, personally

How many members of each individual school work specifically with technology? For example, do you have a Technology Coordinator and a Technology Instructor in each building? (This question may be answered through question one).

In each school, we have a teacher who has the nominal responsibility for the classroom and learning functions. The Principal is responsible for the computer system within each school. In practice, our five principals designate a secretary to insure that the computer system is up and running properly.

There are a few of us teachers who know a bit more about computers. We're always helping students and sometimes other teachers with computer problems. In a lot of cases, we have compatibility problems with some of the software that teachers are trying to use; it's usually related to different operating systems, as we have PC's running XP, others running Windows 98. Printers are another big problem.

List the titles and responsibilities for each person in the district (excluding classroom teachers) that deals with technology

Joe Snoggs, it Manager, Central Office

Joe is responsible for contract maintenance (outsourced), computer acquisition, software acquisition and architecture.

What resources are given to teachers in order to implement technology in their lessons?

The teachers generally take it upon themselves to bring in software for their classes. As we generally only have one or two computers per class, they use it themselves for internet access and lesson planning. We also have a computer lab in each school, which is run by a computer-savvy teacher who assists students in doing their homework.

I know we can get software from the library, but that means that we have to install it on each of the classroom computers we use. The elementary school teachers probably have an easier time, as they don't move from classroom to classroom. In our case, we may bring in a DVD and use the video projector to show a film or a short subject. We also end up using PowerPoint for some of our teaching materials. If we had more computers in the classroom, we would encourage students to use PowerPoint more.

A understand that in some school districts they give teachers laptops. I think that's a good idea, because it allows us to do our lesson plans and teaching materials at home and bring them into the classroom. The other thing I'd like to have is the ability for students to load their tests and assignments onto a website; that would make it easier for us to review, grade and communicate with the students. We don't do that now.

5. What percent of the entire school budget is spent on technology? How is that translated in dollars and cents? Ex. A million dollar budget

10% is spent on technology, which would equal to $100,000.00

With 7,000 students and nearly $10,000 per student, our budget is $69,000,000. We spend about 0.8% of our total budget, or $550,000 per year on computers, software and maintenance. This means that, on average, we acquire about $200,000 of computers per year, spend about $150,000 on maintenance, and $200,000 on software. This does not count the salary and benefits for Joe Snoggs. It also does not include the percentage of teacher's time spent in each school.

We spend way too little money on computers. I know we can't afford to give a laptop to every student, but we could at least have up-to-date computers with common operating systems, and loaded with the software we need. We also need a central web-based set of tools for communication and internet lesson access. Finally, we need to get subscriptions to online teaching and research sites.

Is there a technology curriculum that teachers must follow? How was it developed?

We have a computer science teacher in the high school, who teaches programming (HTML, XML, Basic) and systems. In the elementary schools, we have a library of teaching software for teaching basic math, reading, social studies and some science courses. Much of it is DVD-based, but we're acquiring more interactive software; games playing, etc.

There's no vision for how we should use computers in the class. Most of us teachers just bring what we've learned and use it as we see fit. I know that a teacher from our high school goes for training once a year, but that's not enough. I'd like to attend a course on using computers for teaching, but so far I haven't been asked.

What measures are in place to assure that all teachers are technology literate?

We send five teachers a year to a one-week computer science for teachers course. Generally, they are the same five teachers. It takes place in Trenton.

Most of the younger teachers (younger than 40) know their way around a computer -- at least the basic functions, like PowerPoint, running a DVD, and accessing the Internet. Their training has been haphazard and catch-as-catch-can.

Who is in charge of purchasing software for each individual classroom? Who is in charge of purchasing software for the district?

The librarian is responsible for purchasing software. The software is either loaned from each school library, or installed by the teacher him/herself on each computer. A teacher may suggest a software purchase to the librarian, who has responsibility over the budget.

It's true that we can ask the librarian to purchase something, but most of us just buy our own software and bring it from classroom to classroom. I got an administrative password, so I've been able to install things on computers in some of the classrooms I'm in. I especially like Encarta for my social studies classes, so I bought a subscription and installed it.

Who is in charge of evaluating all software being purchased?

No one, except the computer science teacher in the high school. He has a budget, and evaluates the software he purchases.

There is no software evaluation, other than the teachers standing around the water cooler. If we hear about something that is working, we'll pass it around.

Do classroom teachers have a separate budget to purchase software or does it come out of the classroom budget?

No, the librarians control the budget, with the exception of the computer science teacher.

I don't know if it's a good idea for all teachers to have a budget to buy software. Some of us know what we're doing, but we do need some sort of commonality. The librarian is probably too removed from our daily needs to be the right person.

Are computers purchased or leased? What about other equipment? (smart boards, etc.)

All computers are purchased. We try to keep them for four or five years, as there's a big demand for computers in the classrooms. That leads to some problems with the new software.

We don't purchase some of the neat things that you can get. Fortunately, a number of us pressed for projectors a few years ago, and we have them in each classroom. That makes it easier for us to use the computer to teach the whole class. We don't use smart boards or other tools, other than the computers and the projectors.

What is the set up in the elementary school setting regarding labs and stations?

We generally have one or two computers per class in the elementary schools. Sometimes the teachers use it to do internet research, or to play a DVD for their class. The teachers sometimes assign remedial work to some students, who work on the computer doing exercises during school hours.

A understand from my elementary school teaching friends that there are no computer labs, and that they only have a couple of computers in each classroom. Since the teachers and students stay in one classroom, they have a bit more continuity. A lot of the teachers buy their own software or subscriptions and set it up on their classroom computers.