** BOE MEETING - TECHNOLOGY PRESENTATION 4/28/11 **

Here is 4/28/2011 presentation in PDF format and outline below.

District Technology Goal
2010-2013 Technology Plan completed
A success story from each school
  Village parent/student website, Google Docs, Guest Wireless Network,

  World Language Lab, student response systems, etc.
Advances in Assistive Technology (sound field systems to touch screens)

PowerSchool Parent Portal, eAlert, AlertNow and the district website
Position on Social Networking & Web 2.0
Student to computer ratio
2011 hardware/software deployment plans

 - 136 desktop and 26 notebook computers district wide
 - 114 thin client devices at Satz and Indian Hill

New Satz computer lab project driven by changing curriculum and access needs
Tech-related Professional Development model and activities
Cost savings and energy savings
Forward looking challenges and some possible solutions
Conclusion-Q&A

Every two years the district participates in a capital lease-purchase program in order to finance capital items such as computers.

The tentative purchasing breakdown contingent upon budget approval for 2011/2012 is as follows:

136 Desktop Computers, 114 thin client computers, 26 Notebook computers, 3 Tablet PCs, 22 LCD Projectors, 5 servers, WiFi controller and wireless access points, a new core data switch and several PoE edge switches, Internet, virus and mail filtering hardware, expanded security access control as well as camera surveillance and finally 11-26 classroom sound field systems.

The 114 new thin client computers replace painfully slow computers that were purchased in 2003.  The new thin client computers consume only 5 watts of power compared with 200+ watts and are 50% less expensive to purchase.

This summer we will create two new computer labs.  The first lab will be a new 27 station graphic arts lab at the high school loaded with the latest Adobe Creative Design Suite software,

 

The TV production studio will also replace two aged video editing workstations and receive a software update as well.

The second computer lab is a new 30 station lab at William R. Satz School constructed to satisfy an increasing number computer access requests and the needs of a new technology education curriculum.

Many new online resources have been made available over the last several  years including subscriptions to BrainPop, First in Math, Study Island and Discovery Education's United Streaming. Some teachers have leveraged the power of web-based applications to take their classes virtually paperless and have their student collaborate electronically in real-time.

Learnia is an online resource and a formative assessment tool that was implemented several years ago as part of a 50-district pilot program and is used in grades 3-8.  Learnia results can provide early guidance to teachers and administration on areas that deserve added attention and holds the potential for improved NJ ASK results.

 

 High School
Mr. Elliot Cohen, Business Teacher
Mr. Cohen's use of Google Doc's has not only made his class paperless, but has increased collaboration by leverage Internet 2.0 technologies and made him more efficient.  Assignments are submitted, graded and returned to students electronically improving the timeliness of the feedback.

 W.R. Satz School
Mr. Maurice Bell, Social Studies Teacher
Mr. Bell's use of Moodle has not only made his class mostly paperless, but has increased collaboration by creating Moodle discussion forums where students can discuss classroom topics.  The result is that students come to class more prepared and with a greater understanding of the material.

 Indian Hill School
Mr. Tom Woods, 5th Grade Teacher
Well known for his demonstrations with liquid nitrogen and use of a portable planetarium, Mr. Woods also brings technology into the classroom with websites that track global temperature change and seismic activity.  When Mr. Woods presents this on a projection screen, everyone has the best seat in the house.

 Village School
Mr. Harry Dangler, 2nd Grade Teacher
Mr. Harry Dangler who was instrumental in setting up the technology resource repository framework in SharePoint, also integrates technology utilizing his tablet PC and LCD projector, four classroom student stations in small group activities and by using interactive white boarding with a SmartBoard.

BLOGGING
Check out Mr. McCafferty's screencast on Blogger posted on the technology section of SharePoint.  Check out the latest in Phlogging at iPadio.com 

COMPUTER LAB MANAGEMENT
Check out Mr. Rothauser's screencast on SynchronEyes posted on the technology section of SharePoint (soon to be posted on this site)

NetSmartz.org  iSafe.org   WebWiseKids.org   FBI-K-5
Microsoft's free curriculum on digital citizenship for grades 6-12 that offers cross-curricular classroom activities

FILE CONVERSION
Want toconvert a picture, Office Doc, movie into a movie, pdf or some other format? Checkout ZamZar.com (free).

MICROSOFT EXCEL

MICROSOFT PHOTOSTORY 3 (Free)
An easy way to convert photos into a slide show movie file on a PC.

F5    To transition to presentation Mode

B      To black out screen, press B again to return to presentation

Check out Mr. Bell's screencast on Moodle posted on the technology section of SharePoint (soon to be posted on this site)

PODCASTS
Want to listen to some educational technology podcasts? Check out edTech101.com or The Treasure Chest on iTunes.

 

-Marking period comments are enterred in PowerTeacher Gradebook
-Check out Mr. Greisbach's series of screencasts posted on the technology section of SharePoint (soon to be posted on this site)