SCHOOL ZONE 6-23-16

By Treasurer Suzanne Wilson

In 2012 the Vermilion Board of Education began a program to provide students and staff with access to computers in an effort to enhance and promote online learning in classrooms.  Computers are a necessary tool in today’s workplaces.  In keeping with our district Mission Statement to make every student college and career ready through personalized instruction, the laptops and other technology devices expand opportunities students have to grow and learn at an individualized level.  The use of laptops in school allows our teachers to expose students to skills they will need to succeed in work environments now and in the future.  

We began our technology program through Apple with a three-year lease for 1,900 Macbooks.  These original laptops were operational for the initial lease period, and we were able to extend their use through 2016 at no additional cost.

On May 23, 2016 the Board of Education approved a new four-year lease with Apple that will allow us to provide students and staff with 1,350 new laptops.  In addition, our technology team will update and re-issue 550 laptops that are still in good condition.  The buy-back of the original 1,350 laptops is approximately $350,000 and will cover the majority of the year-one lease payment.  By only replacing 1,350 laptops, the savings to the district is over $600,000 for the term of the four year lease. 

Laptop computers are used to support our Mission Statement and student learning objectives by:

·         Providing immediate, specific and objective feedback on learning that can also serve as a dialogue trail about learning efforts and activities;

·         Sustaining motivation by providing choices of relevant content, customized learning pathways and varying levels of difficulty;

·         Capturing real time data that support analysis and tracking of student learning.  For many activities, technology can be used to record and share results immediately, helping teachers to analyze areas where students are struggling, and offer interventions quickly before confusion and misconceptions set in;

·         Supporting student reflection on learning strategies, challenges, ideas and experiences and facilitating the sharing of those reflections with others;

·         Tracking progress of learning goals, action plans, student achievement and assessments;

·         Communication and collaboration among teachers and other educators;

·         No longer must learners depend solely on textbooks, field trips or the knowledge of educators to explore and understand perspectives. 

Our ultimate goal is to encourage students to explore and learn on their own.  The role of educators will move toward a supportive and facilitator role as teachers guide each student to follow their individual passions. 

On the business side, computers have increased cost savings as we have achieved a paperless environment (wherever possible) using scanning, emailing and electronic storage of documents.  Our maintenance and technical staff are able to connect to climate control devices and work orders through both laptops and mobile devices, saving money on labor and supplies. 

We are excited to begin the task of preparing the new laptops for use by students next school year.  Look for additional information on laptop distribution that will be publicized on our website, Facebook page, Twitter and the Photojournal in August.