Helping faculty members and students better manage the “information explosion in a shrinking world” is the goal of 21 recommendations made to the Stevenson High School District 125 Board of Education by the district’s Ad-hoc Technology Steering Committee.
According to a committee report submitted to the board last week, today’s schools must provide access to the “Global Village”-that is, obtain the technology needed to transmit all kinds of information “easily to and from every classroom resource center and office.”
Besides obtaining computer and communications hardware and software, staff development and support also are necessary, the report said.
No price tag was attached to the committee’s recommendations, nor was an implementation timetable given. But a report to the board at a later date is expected. The committee suggested creating a standing Technology Committee to sort out the “implementation, revision and expansion” issues.
Specific recommendations of the committee’s 8-page report included: making available to staff a multiple-option computer purchase program; installing a buildingwide network for voice, data, and video in all classrooms, resource centers, common areas, and offices; and installing a networked multimedia computer system in every classroom.
Also, the committee called for a dual-band satellite antenna dish to be installed to capture instructional programs. The panel alsue urges an Internet connection.
Technology skills should be taught to students by the end of their sophomore year, and an equipment “pool” should be created to let students handle classroom assignments, the report stated.
