Students' Access To Technology Is Upgraded

Students will have greater access to technology during the upcoming school year with the purchase of iPads and the continual expansion of wireless networks at each of the district’s 14 schools.

Each elementary school will have approximately 15 new iPads available for any teacher to use; middle schools will have about 15-30 iPads. The devices will be stored in mobile storage carts that can be moved throughout each institution.

Laptops, and similar storage cabinets, will be used in the two high schools.

Each school’s wireless network will be expanded upon. Each school’s media center currently has wireless Internet access.

“We’re trying to provide the tools to inspire teachers to provide students with digital experiences,” Superintendent Ray Gonzalez said, “but we’re also marrying that with greater initiative of providing a wireless environment for this district.”

The focus on purchasing tablet devices and focusing on wireless technology is reflective of how much society uses those technologies, Gonzalez said.

“Desktops had been the major investments in the past, but now with wireless access and portability becoming more and more popular, they are becoming something of the past,” Gonzalez said.

The new technology may give teachers to share lessons using a cloud-based storage system. Lessons could be stored and shared on the database, which teachers could access at any time.

The initiative is being funded with a federal grant and local taxes. Gonzalez did not know how much the initiative costs.

Increasing the use of technology throughout the district for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year.

Officials want to “increase opportunities for implementing innovative educational technology resources for instructional, operational, and administrative use,” the goal states.

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