Tuesday, February 26, 2013
BOARDMAN
The school district’s supervisor of instructional technology updated the board of education on a recent technology survey and plans for updating the district’s wireless capabilities.
About 260 teachers responded to the survey, said Todd Smith, supervisor of instructional technology.
Of those who responded, 87 percent said they feel they have above-average or very good technology skills.
Sixty percent, however, feel they do not have access to technology tools that allow them to complete their work efficiently and effectively.
The majority of those responses likely came from staff at Boardman High and Glenwood Middle schools, Smith said Monday night.
“Those are two buildings that are really in dire need of technology for the future,” he said.
And it’s not just teachers who don’t have access to proper tools, according to the survey. Seventy-three percent of respondents feel their students do not have access to technology tools that allow them to complete their work both efficiently and effectively.
Principals in all seven buildings said their biggest concern is the district’s wireless infrastructure.
“It just was not stable in any of the buildings,” Smith said. “It would be there at certain times of the day, and certain times of the day, it wasn’t present at all.”
The technology department has been given the green light to update the wireless capabilities of the district, however. All seven buildings will be wireless by the start of the 2013-14 school year, Smith said.
The wireless project is important in light of the assessment-testing process that will be implemented in the 2014-15 school year, Smith said.
At that time, all assessment testing will be done online. Without upgrading the wireless infrastructure, Smith said, it would be difficult for the testing to be done.
The wireless project will be paid for using general-fund money. There is a one-time cost of $22,616 for the project, and then a monthly fee paid out over 31/2 years.
The district is applying for E-rate funding for the project. The federal E-rate program provides discounts to assist schools and libraries in the United States to obtain affordable telecommunications and Internet access.
If the district receives the E-rate funding, the monthly fee will be $1,503.53; without it, the fee is $3,341.17 a month. Smith said the district will have an answer before July 1.