Working as a third party provider funded by the NCLB Act and working with over 60+ plus publics schools I can tell you there are so many issues with technology in the schools.
- Just because a teacher is good with Excel does not mean he should be given the responsbility of IT at a school (it happens).
- The old analogy, "you get what you pay for" holds true in schools. If the schools are only willing to pay a tech coordinator 30k a year do they really think they getting a well rounded (Mac, Windows, Open Source) hire?
- "Teach an old dog new tricks". Getting teachers who have been teaching a particular style for 20+ years to change, difficult.
- NCLB. Since it pays my paycheck I have to be a little biased. The benchmarks do need to be addressed in how they measure success and they do need to give the schools the resources to handle the NCBL process.
My Recommendation - Take all the best tech coordinators from the school district and create a team that has:
- Mac, Windows, and Open Source Experience
- Has a grasp of hardware and software inventory as well as maintaining tech budget for each school (there are so many P3's laying around in closets that could get Edubuntu'd)
- Professinal Development skills. Some that can get in front of a bunch of stubborn teachers and explain to them how this techonology can help them and how easy it is to use.
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Working as a third party provider funded by the NCLB Act and working with over 60+ plus publics schools I can tell you there are so many issues with technology in the schools.
- Just because a teacher is good with Excel does not mean he should be given the responsbility of IT at a school (it happens).
- The old analogy, "you get what you pay for" holds true in schools. If the schools are only willing to pay a tech coordinator 30k a year do they really think they getting a well rounded (Mac, Windows, Open Source) hire?
- "Teach an old dog new tricks". Getting teachers who have been teaching a particular style for 20+ years to change, difficult.
- NCLB. Since it pays my paycheck I have to be a little biased. The benchmarks do need to be addressed in how they measure success and they do need to give the schools the resources to handle the NCBL process.
My Recommendation - Take all the best tech coordinators from the school district and create a team that has:
- Mac, Windows, and Open Source Experience
- Has a grasp of hardware and software inventory as well as maintaining tech budget for each school (there are so many P3's laying around in closets that could get Edubuntu'd)
- Professinal Development skills. Some that can get in front of a bunch of stubborn teachers and explain to them how this techonology can help them and how easy it is to use.