School Technology

OK-ACTS, in partnership with OETT, seeks to integrate school technologies that meet the K20 Center’s IDEALS framework and the Ten Practices of High Achieving Schools.

When asked, "How does a school keep up with the rapid advances in computers?", think of Moore’s Law and the experience from a number of technology professionals: a relatively high end PC today will have a usable life span of about three years. Three years also maximizes the learning investment of the educators.

The K20 Center makes every effort to directly evaluate technologies we feel meet our guidelines either through direct purchase, or by receiving evaluation units from manufacturers. As we find technologies that effectively enhance classroom curriculum, the K20 Center staff will model use of the technologies in our professional development sessions. In addition, the center will actively seek relationships with those companies to provide our professional development staff with sufficient access to equipment and support, as well as special offers and support to our network schools.

Each year, the technology staff at the K20 Center re-evaluates current educational technologies, and investigates emerging trends to help our network schools make wise and researched decisions on their technology investments. We recommend our network schools balance their own research with ours in minimizing the risk of purchasing technologies that do not contribute to the growth of the school and promote student achievement.

The Ideal Classroom

I often speak to school staff about my vision for the ideal technologically equipped classroom. It starts with a teacher laptop, a ceiling-mounted projector, good audio system, and an interactive whiteboard. This basic setup opens a world of interactivity and authenticity for classroom lessons. I believe this should be the foundation of technology in the classroom.

2007-2008 Academic Year Recommendations (follow links on the right)

What follows are my recommendations for classroom technology purchases for this school year. The recommendations are based upon:

  • a three year life-span
  • experiences of K20 Center staff
  • experiences coming from integrating technology into our network of schools
  • the K20 Center’s testing and evaluation of technologies
  • my own knowledge of technology

Tech Talk

At the OK-ACTS Phase 1 Leadership Seminars, Brenda Craige, Our CareerTech Field Technology Specialist introduces participants to classroom technologies. See the presentation as an inline Google presentation below.