Technology & Learning November 2007 - (Page 33) The district’s student information system is PowerSchool, which contains a grading and posting program that parents can access, and it synchronizes with iCalendar, which comes loaded on each laptop. tional stage means adapting quickly to teacher and student needs. They are given the freedom to scrap the master schedule for relevant learning experiences. “This program is not about school improvement; it is about systemic, whole-school reinvention that prioritizes individual student needs above all else,” according to the project’s Web site. To this end, technology is infused in the instructional and assessment process with nary a textbook in sight. “It’s virtually impossible to find a chapter test in our school,” Principal Tucker says. The district employs two software systems to handle student information and communication with the community. FirstClass is a serverbased communication system. Campus e-mail runs on it, and it enables teachers to create discussion boards, paperless assignments, and capture images from interactive whiteboards to share with students. Professional Development Teachers were issued laptops in April 2004. Their formal training consisted of two full days the following September, with students being issued laptops two weeks later. There is a graduate course offered on-site called Effective Uses of Technology, which is taught through the University of Maine, Farmington. But for the most part, teachers explore technology use during their preps and by working with Darcy Pray. Teachers schedule her time, and she even team-teaches a new technology rich lesson with them on occasion. Teachers also get five release days a year, and there are two faculty meetings a month that might be used for issues related to technology integration. Each teacher is required to develop a technology integration goal as part of his or her professional improvement plan and is expected to move along the technology spectrum guide. This becomes part of the observation process as Jeanne Tucker works with teachers to help them reach their goals. Although several teachers chose to retire during the first year of oneto-one, teachers moved quickly to acceptance, Tucker says. They see how the technology engages kids in another classroom and they want the same results. “It’s about their professional drive,” she says. Going Forward The district looks to continue as one of the few in the state to provide laptops for every student in grades 7–12, as Mt. Abram continues as a model of high school reform and transformation. All of Mt. Abram’s teachers are adept at grant writing, Tucker says, which provides them with opportunities to supplement the laptop program with additional equipment and professional development. The faculty is a large part of the success of this program. “Our teachers are facilitators of learning and that’s the key,” says Pray. They look forward to a future in which every classroom includes transformational uses of technology. Tom McHale is an educator in New Jersey. Toolbox Adobe Creative Suite 3 for Education www.adobe.com/education/products/ creativesuite/ Apple Education www.apple.com/education/k12/onetoone/ Bernajean Porter Consulting www.bjpconsulting.com/index.html FirstClass www.firstclass.com/solutions/k12 Great Maine Schools Project www.mitchellinstitute.org/Gates/index.html Maine School Administrative District #58 www.sad58.k12.me.us/index.htm Mt. Abram High School www.mtaroadrunners.org/ Mt. Abram Technology www.sad58.k12.me.us/mta/technology/ index.htm PowerSchool www.powerschool.com/ Rural School and Community Trust www.ruraledu.org/site/c.beJMIZOCIrH/ b.497215/k.CBA7/Home.htm Technology & Learning November 20 07 | 33 http://www.adobe.com/education/products/creativesuite http://www.adobe.com/education/products/creativesuite http://www.apple.com/education/k12/onetoone/ http://www.bjpconsulting.com/index.html http://www.firstclass.com/solutions/k12 http://www.mitchellinstitute.org/Gates/index.html http://www.sad58.k12.me.us/index.htm http://www.mtaroadrunners.org/ http://www.sad58.k12.me.us/mta/technology/ http://www.powerschool.com/ http://www.ruraledu.org/site/c.beJMIZOCIrH/b.497215/k.CBA7/Home.htm http://www.ruraledu.org/site/c.beJMIZOCIrH/b.497215/k.CBA7/Home.htm
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