Superintendent's Role in Transforming Change

• What is the role of the superintendent in making the Inevitable vision come to life?
• What are some next steps that your school district could do in order to move closer to the Inevitable vision?

The superintendent's role in transforming the school district through the Inevitable is to be the visionary leader to move the process forward.  There are different ways to transform change, the way WSS and SDIL is taking this movement forward is through a community owned strategic plan.  A comprehensive plan to transform the district over the coming years.  The plan will be systematically implemented, reviewed and success measured.  The superintendent needs to be the educational leader of this movement in their respective district. 

Technology and the Superintendent

• Give a brief review of the information you found on these sites.
There is abundance of information on both sites.  I find the AASA site to be more user friendly personally.  I have used this site in the past and there is a lot of valuable information.  The UCEA is more of a blog site and with opinions and personal experiences shared in comparison to AASA providing many different weblinks in one place. 

• What information will be most useful to you as a school leader?
I find the AASA weblinks very useful and just a click away to gain information and insights.

Cyberbullying

•  What online resources and information did you find most useful?
• How can these resources be used in your school to address cyberbullying?
• How do you teach students and staff about cyberbullying?

All the links had useful information.  I felt the internetsafety 101 site was the most user friendly site.  This site would be appealing to students to browse as well.  We teach cyberbullying in formal environments MS technology courses and through TAA (teachers as advisors).  These sites are resources for both teachers and students to use.  In addition at our back to school event we address this issue with parents, faculty and students and share out resources such as these.



 

Educational Technology Research Sites

After having looked over these educational technology research sites, go to your blog and respond to the following questions:
• Give a brief review of the research you found on these sites.
• What are your reactions to this research?
• Is this information helpful in justifying the use and expense of technology in our schools?
I thought the research/readings were very enlightening.  I believe the research can be helpful in supporting the educational paradigm shift.  I believe the information is very helpful in justifying use and expense of technolgy in our schools.  It is good research based information to help educate skeptical stakeholders.  I really enjoyed the Apple article as I think this really aligns with some of the concepts we are striving for as a school district and the book Inevitable. 

1:1 Initiative

1. What are the benefits to implementing a one-to-one initiative?

There are many benefits to implementing a 1:1 initiative in providing your students to technology all the time, opportunities to further develop 21st century skills, providing them with opportunities outside the walls of your school e.g. distance education, skills to prepare them for the future workforce.

2.  What are some potential barriers to implementing a one-to-one initiative? 
It is a large long-term financial committment e.g. hardware, software, professional development, bandwidth, maintenance, upgrades.  Getting the culture to change to a 21st century environment getting all students and faculty to embrace the use of technology. 

3. How does the teaching and learning process change when every student has a laptop computer, or mobile device?
The process doesn't necessarily change unless you force/create buyin for the change.  It should open up avenues for greater use of technology, personalizing education, problem based learning, 21st century skills

4. At this point in time, how would you respond if a school board member asked if your school should implement a one-to-one initiative?
I would definitely say yes.  Having been involved in a 1:1 school for some time, I don't see any other way at this time in education.  However, I would make sure they understood the compexities of this endeavor to gain full support of this decision.

Copyright Policies

• Does your school district have a Copyright Policy?

Yes.

• Does that Copyright Policy need to be updated to reflect technology issues?

It needs to be reviewed regularly and updated as new technologies surface.  Our current policy has been reviewed and adopted within the last two years.

• Does your school district follow copyright laws?

I believe our school district does a good job following copyright laws and adhering to copyright policies. 

• What are your feelings about copyright laws?

I believe them to be necessary.  I believe if district personnel are made aware of them and the importance of them, that they will do the right thing when presented with a copyright scenario.  District administration is going to address violations in a quick and orderly manner.  However, I don't believe it is a high priority in our day to day responsibilities.

Cellphones in the Classroom

After having looked at these articles on cell phones, go to your blog and explain your thoughts about cell phone use in schools.

I believe that cellphones need to be embraced in the classroom.  Most of our teachers, have the students place them on their work areas and they have to manage them as young adults.  They should be placed on silent and not disrupt the work flow of the class.  This has changed dramatically over the last couple of years.  Cellphones have really become a non issue in our school. Some of our faculty are using them as interactive learning tools in the classroom as well.  I think we need to treat them as a learning tool and manage their use within our classroom environment. 

Technology Policies

Does your school district have an Internet Acceptable Use Policy?  YES
Does your school district have an Internet Publishing Policy?  YES
Does your school district have a Distance Education Policy?  YES
What does your district need to do to get these policies up-to-date?  These policies have not been updated for a couple of years.  We have recently updated policy to conform to CIPA requirements in July.  We need to review our other policies and use the resources available to us to do so. 

Total Cost of Ownership

* Did you find the CoSN website useful?
Yes, I think it provides a number of useful tools for school districts in making strategic decisions in technology acquisitons.
* What information on the website was most useful to you?
I like the Broadband News and Current Resources.  Technology is changing so rapidly that it is a challenge to be informed with current information.  This information is current.
* How will information from this website help your Technology Committee?
I think it will serve us well as we conduct our technology audit annually and budget to our needs. 
* What implications does this information have for technology planning in your school?
I believe the CoSN website will provide us with information to make more educated decisions in developing our technology budget. 

Assignment 2 - Websites

• What are your reactions to the websites you looked at?

They are all very different.  Some of them have useful information.  Some them are more professionally constructed than others.
 
• Is a website like this useful to a school district?  Yes, depending on the community e.g. size, demographics and expectations.
• Is it worth the time and effort to establish and maintain such a website?  Having a website is important.  Depending who you are trying reach out to, will determine the content on your site.
• What is the condition of your school’s website?  It has a good look and feel.  The secured portion is not what we were hoping for.  We are actually tranisitioning sites.  http://wessingtonsprings.k12.sd.us/wessingtonsprings/site/default.asp We hope to launch our new site in the coming days.
• What information should be included in a school website?  I think it is dependent upon the community and goals for the site.  We think the calendar feature on our site is very important.  This is able to be synced to smartphones. This is something that is used heavily by our community.  The community likes the photo loop.  A large majority of information, is information which is static and not dynamic. 
• What role should the superintendent have with the school website?  Depending on the size of the district.  Obviously you want your school to well presented.  So having some say in the design e.g. look and feel in a large district.  Smaller district you would become more involved in content etc..
• Should each teacher be required to have a link on the school website that contains information about their classes (such as assignments, web resources, etc)?  We have transitioned  long ago to wikis, secured sites, edmodo etc... Yes they should have a communication tool.  I don't think this is necessary on the school site with all the other tools we have. 
• How can students be involved creating and maintaining a school website?  They can be involved.  The best way to do this is through a content management system, where they design and a administrator approves prior to the posting of information. 

 

Wessington Springs School District Accomplishments

A recently published article in the Prairie Tracks publication.  http://www.prairietracksonline.com/prairietracks.pdf Wessington Springs School District Accomplishments, page 19.