Technology Plan

Guiding Principles Aligned to District Goals

The Pittsfield Public Schools is committed to preparing their students for the challenges of the twenty-first century. To accomplish this, the district is continuing to develop an ever-broadening technology rich environment. A richer environment will allow students to:

  1. Attain mastery in the use of grade level appropriate technology as it is infused into the curriculum.
  2. Be confident and master the ability to use the latest technology.
  3. Imbed technology into all learning opportunities.
  4. Access, retrieve, and disaggregate worldwide information.
  5. Transfer technology skills to the workplace environment.
  6. Use technology in a responsible and ethical manner.

We base these goals on the principles that:

  • Proficient use of technology is critical to student success
  • Curriculum and instruction shape technology in the classroom
  • Technology needs should be adequately funded with a five year renewal cycle
  • Educators need to model and teach ethical use of technology
  • Students, teachers, administrators and staff need ubiquitous access to technology
  • Family involvement is critical to student achievement

Goals for the 2007-2009 school years are:

  1. Year 3 implementation of BWLI laptop pilot.
  2. Maximize student take-home of laptops.
  3. Give all secondary students internal email access for hand-in/handout of assignments.
  4. Finish wide area network redesign in cooperation with City to provide 40 Mbs speed
  5. Transition of all schools to OS X operating system
  6. Implementation of LAN-REV remote access system for upgrading and remote administration of computers and peripherals
  7. Continue to develop teacher websites to disseminate lessons/homework
  8. Apply for Data Warehouse grant in conjunction with Deputy Superintendent goals to maximize use of data for decisions
  9. Implementation of EPIMS system and develop local databases for the project
  10. Implementation of PLATO learning system for Summer School credit recovery and academic year work and for remediation
  11. Develop a Summer Technology After School Academy in middle schools
  12. Publish online Street Directory for families seeking school information
  13. Upgrade anti-virus software
  14. Work towards more projectors in classrooms for teachers and adding laptops for teachers at elementary and high schools
  15. Implement a technology renewal cycle
  16. Give all teaching and support staff licenses to Atomic Learning
  17. Design a discipline referral system for tracking positive behavior data
  18. Increase technical staff support positions and redesign Help Desk support
  19. Reorganize technology organizational chart with hiring of an Assistant Superintendent for Technology Education
  20. Increase Internet bandwith from 6Mbs to 9MBs
  21. Complete high school network infrastructure overhaul
  22. Increase parent access to PowerSchool records for Home-School improvement
  23. Upgrade infrastructure to improve performance of PowerSchool student management system
  24. Transition from PowerGrade to web-based Teacher Web Gradebook in PowerSchool
  25. Upgrade from PowerSchool Pro to PowerSchool Premier

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Learning and Teaching Initiatives with Educational Technology

It is central to current educational practice that technology be an important part of all phases of educational design, from curriculum planning to administrative practices to classroom instruction. The following initiatives are in the process or will be implemented over the next five years:

  • Teachers and students will demonstrate regular, effective use of technology in the classroom
  • Students will prepare for community partnerships and career experiences using technology
  • Adoption and support for K-12 technology standards for students and teachers
  • Use of data warehousing structures to inform curriculum development, assess student learning and help to formulate district education policies

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Student Utilization and Knowledge of Technology Tools

Our technology mission statement says:It is our mission to provide students with effective, responsible tools, teach them their use, hold them accountable for the output of those tools, and model educational standards that enhance human intellectual growth for them and for ourselves. We hope to address the following:

  • student effective social and educational use of:
    - email
    - blogs
    - wikis
    - chat rooms
    - IM
    - podcasts
    - web quests
  • productivity and use of technology tools for learning, remediation, and achievement
  • online skill building, remediation software
  • online assessments
  • long-term student work archives and projects
  • preparing students for college and workplace assignments
  • meeting the needs of local workforce employers

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Professional Development Initiatives

It is our goal that technology professional development will support the integration of educational technology at all levels of the district. Expansion of professional development delivery includes:

  • Anytime/anywhere professional development
  • Integrate technology professional development with district-wide professional development, particularly in the curriculum areas
  • more online opportunities for students and teachers

Professonal development offerings include:

  1. PowerSchool: Family Orientation Sessions
  2. Computer Desktop / Email / Laptop
  3. using Faculty Websites to Deliver the Curriculum and Family News
  4. using the iLife Suite (iPhoto and iTunes) To Deliver Curriculum and Engage Your Students
  5. using Inspiration to Create and Engage Students With Your Curriculum
  6. using Timeliner to Create and Engage Students With Your Curriculum
  7. using iCal in the Classroom
  8. effectively Using the World Wide Web
  9. creating Online Rubrics to Assess Classroom Lessons and Units
  10. PowerGrade Support and Professional Development
  11. using Keynote and Pages for presentations
  12. uses of databases for instruction and administration
  13. formative assessment for administrators and principals
  14. editing student work electronically

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Network and Connectivity Improvement

We are constantly upgrading and improving our network capacity and reliability. With rapid changes in technology and the need for faster and secure connections the network design must remain current. We are striving for:

  • centralized authentication system
  • upgrade of servers and basic infrastructure for speed improvement and redundancy
  • wireless access at all buildings and in all spaces
  • security of internet to allow students and faculty to bring personal computers to school
  • ensure that servers and client machines work for:
    - shared printers
    - centralized file sharing
    - access to library databases
    - connections that are reliable for external networks
    - maintain security and operability of school information systems
  • database connectivity
  • guest access to the internet without compromising the network security
  • increased speed at all levels
  • reliable wireless access in all buildings

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Renewal of Resources and Financial Support for Technology

It has long been our goal to initiative and maintain a technology renewal cycle. The district currently has a large number of computers and electronic devices over eight to ten years old. We hope to implement:

  • a five-year renewal plan for all equipment
  • laptops for all teachers
  • laptop carts in all schools for assessment
  • one to two computer labs in schools for teachers to schedule projects
  • expansion and redesign of one-to-one laptop pilot from middle to high schools
  • class sets of laptops at middle schools if the one-to-one laptop resources are not sufficient to replace damaged machines

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Family Connections

Maintaining communication between schools and families is a district goal. We are constantly updating our methods for giving parents access to teachers, administrators, and their children’s school records. Tools include:

  • newsletters generated electronically
  • teacher websites for lessons and homework
  • PowerSchool Family: families are given secure accounts to access student:
    - schedules
    - grades and report cards
    - attendance and discipline records
  • district Website
  • internet safety materials
  • family literacy information
  • ELA resources
  • encouraging parents to use student laptops from the one-to-one project

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