At Carpenter Elementary, we have devised many technology planning ideas to increase digital awareness and stakeholder engagement. These planning ideas are also pivotal for maintaining technology security and safety while students are online. These technology planning ideas include:
digital day - families come to see student work showcased through a technology show and tell by students
online safety class - representatives from the Department of Juvenile Justice will conduct a parent session on keeping students safe while online
copyright and wrongs - media services district leadership will provide a teacher workshop on how to maintain copyright laws for an online virtual world
coding club - fifth grade students will come to school early one day a week to participate in a coding club in the technology lab
news club - the announcements said over the intercom daily will transition to students producing a televised morning show called Cary News
flipped staff meetings - administration will send select videos to teachers before staff meetings to watch at home so staff meetings can have more structures for rigorous discourse
Technology is rapidly changing and schools can never stop refreshing their inventory. Each year, a new list is generated of devices that the district will no longer support. If schools don't keep up with replacing devices than they will lag behind as equipment breaks or phases out.
The Wake County Public School System has a three-to-one technology initiative. This means that they believe that schools should have one technology device for every three students. WCPSS promotes that maintaining this ratio will enhance the communication and collaboration initiative of the strategic plan. Carpenter Elementary believes that communication and collaboration is better when everyone has a device of their own. Therefore at our school, we have a vision of having a one-to-one technology initiative. Currently, we have enough devices to be two-to-one which means we have one laptop for every two students in grades 2-5, and one iPad for every kindergarten and first grade student in the school.
Carpenter Elementary has a technology plan that the Media and Technology Advisory Committee (MTAC) recommends for leadership consideration. For the last four years, we have used a private fundraising company called Boosterthon to enhance the MTAC's vision. Last year, $25,000 was donated to our school and was used to purchase active panel Tvs for our classrooms. This year, our Boosterthon goal is:
document cameras for every classroom
chromebooks
mounted projector in the conference room for IEP meetings
Here's a video that outlines more about Boosterthon:
To learn more about Boosterthon visit their website.
To engage stakeholders in our plans, we will have all classrooms tweet daily about learning through technology during the Boosterthon campaign. Our goal is to secure funding to expand our technology plan, and adopt MTAC's recommendations at Carpenter Elementary.
Keeping students interested in schoolwork has always been an aim of educators across the country. But in today's ever evolving world of technology, teachers must work on overdrive to engage students in their studies. Reducing teacher lectures and whole group conversations in the classroom are easier due to technology devices being so accessible in classrooms. Stakeholder engagement using technology can increase with the assistance of five key strategies:
Active Learning - students are more invested in their education when they have ownership of how they are learning through exploration, collaborative seating, standing devices, interactive technology, game playing, discussion and creation of their own projects. Teachers must tailor learning to the active needs of their learners to increase intrinsic motivation.
Flipped Classroom Model - students can be more independent and in charge of their learning when they listen to podcasts, readings, and/or watch videos prior to coming to class. Students come to class more energized, knowledgeable, and hungry to learn more about the subject matter they learned about. More class time can be used for interactive experiences, rigorous discourse, and teacher checks for understanding.
Student Response Systems - teachers can use free apps on devices such as smartphones, tablets, or other devices to allow students to respond to their learning. Students become more engaged when they use clickers to answer questions, conduct polls, and immediately graph data. Electronic whiteboards and interactive panel TVs enhance students' attention and participation in class.
Gamification - teachers can leverage students' enthusiasm for video games to enhance their learning practices. Teachers can work in small groups when their stakeholder students are working on technology games to build their skills.
Virtual and Augmented Reality - Examining things from different angles is very possible through virtual reality. Being able to explore things in 3-D instantaneously increases student curiosity. These hands-on experiences such as looking at different parts of a heart or visiting places in the world, or tracing times in history keeps students interested with long term engagement. Parents can also stay more engaged when they are able to check online to see how their children are progressing through school.
References
Brown, J. (2017, November 6) Education Dive: Five Tech Trends Influencing Student Engagement. Retrieved from https://www.educationdive.com/news/5-tech-trends-influencing-student-engagement/510028/
At Carpenter Elementary, we have devised many technology planning ideas to increase digital awareness and stakeholder engagement. These planning ideas are also pivotal for maintaining technology security and safety while students are online. These technology planning ideas include: 
