The Crown Point School Board has approved the spending of nearly $4 million for technology upgrades in the classroom.
The board approved the new equipment during Monday’s meeting. The technology was piloted at Winfield Elementary, officials said.
Classrooms across the district will each receive an 86-inch ClearTouch interactive panel with a document camera and webcam at a cost of about $2.62 million.
Each screen operates like a giant tablet or smartphone at the front of the room. In the coming months, 425 panels will be installed in district classrooms. Winfield Elementary received the panels in early February.
Teachers can download apps that supplement the district’s existing curriculum and have access to additional apps such as coding games and on-screen tools for math and science.
Dovetailing with the interactive panels, the board also approved the purchase of 425 Lightspeed Amplification Systems at a cost of $555,700.
The sound systems are made specifically for classrooms. Teachers wear a small microphone which helps students hear lessons more clearly, and officials said the sound is distributed equally throughout the room.
The board also approved the $674,000 purchase of 757 Wi-Fi access points, replacing all of the existing points, to improve wireless connectivity.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
