Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Reflection #5
I relected earlier that in my mom's school district there were only a couple of classrooms that got SMARTboards, I reflected that I wasn't sure whether only having a couple was a benefit or a hinderence to the school as a whole. I decided I wanted to look further into this, and I found out that the reason they don't have more is because people of the community had to vote on whether to raise the budget for these and they voted no. It is going to go again, however the school district is pretty much at the mercy of the community on this. This got me interested in how many school districts actually have interactive white boards. I was surprised to find that when taking the whole country into consideration most school districts don't have interactive white boards. Many schools are fighting to get them but budget cuts make it very difficult to raise money to pay for new technologies. I am excited to learn how to use them anyway, and hope someday schools will be able to integrate them into the classroom, they make such a difference!
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Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said, it will be very helpful if more schools get interactive whiteboards. It makes sense that many school districts are struggling to get them because of budget cuts. When I think about it, it just shows that if a classroom does have an interactive whiteboard, then it is very important that they use it for what it is worth! I would not blame parents to vote no on the interactive whiteboards if they had seen other teachers use them poorly, or just as a normal whiteboard. This just proves that as teachers we need to know how to use technology in a beneficial way for our students.
Kirstie
Dear Kirstie and Jessica,
ReplyDeleteActually what happens is that a community will vote on a technology levy. This money is allotted to all kinds of tech, from Interactive White boards to professional development classes. In Lake Washington, teachers are given $1250 as a technology stipend if they learn one new program each year. Last year it was integration of Microsoft OneNote, this year it is the online gradebook program. This incentive allows teachers to be paid to learn the new technology available to them.
Jessica, Kirstie, and Mrs. Adair,
ReplyDeleteI have wondered the same thing too! Most elementary schools I have been to lately don't have interactive white boards. I don't think parents realize how helpful they can be. Mrs. Adair, are other school districts offered the technology stipend as well?
Sara
Sara, I have not heard of any other district getting this. I doubt it is a normal trend in districts. Lake Washington is very cutting edge with these items. It's a great place to work!
ReplyDeleteMrs. Adair