Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I sent out an e-mail to an administrator at a Boulder City elementary school, and did not
get a response, I am assuming due to their busy schedule. I was sitting at a friends house, telling
her of the trouble I was having, because I hadnt heard back from the administrator I originally
contacted. She informed me that she was an administrator at a private school in Henderson, for a
year, 2012 2013. She agreed to an interview. Here is how that went:
KC: We did have a technology plan, it was limited because the students were very young,
AH: Who created the plan and how were they related to each other?
KC: We had someone from the primary school create the program, he was kind of an IT/
Technology Assistant Director for the whole program. He worked closely with myself and one of
the teachers to format how we had each age range interacting with the technology.
AH: What are some of the items included in the technology plan?
KC: We had iPads. We also had them learning to type on older computers so that the keys
were more prominent and easy for their small fingers to navigate.
AH: How were the decisions made as to what technology should be purchased and where
Assistant Director about how each age range interacted with each piece of technology. For [the
older kids] it worked better to use a traditional computer to understand how to use a computer
and to grasp typing [skills], whereas [the younger kids] were just learning how to write, the
traditional computer was more difficult for them to get used to.
She also talked about how their school worked directly with Apple to make large
purchases, and how the company helped them find apps which helped the students learn but to
remain independent from the technology and can retain the information, rather than relying on
AH: If a teacher wanted a technology for their classroom, what is the process they had to
go through?
KC: Any purchasing for any new materials they wanted to try, be it a program, app or
different technology, they had to submit a plan of action and how they were going to use it in the
class, as well as a form, which were submitted to me, and then I submitted them to our
AH: If a problem arises with a technology in the classroom, who does the teacher turn to
KC: A teacher could email or call myself, or the principal, we would then contact IT. I let
them know what the issue was and it could generally be resolved within that day, the next at the
latest. As a smaller school, we were fortunate because our issues could be resolved within the
day.
AH: What kind of professional development courses or workshops are available for
teachers to learn how to use hardware and software? How often are they offered to
teachers?
KC: We had teacher work days once every semester where we would introduce anything
new, and introduce the teachers to the technologies, as well as how we expected it to be used,
and give them the tools to apply it best to each student because not every child responds the
same way to each technology. We also had refresher courses available once every quarter, where
IT would show the teachers how to handle the new updates, and any software they were unsure
of.
AH: Is there a technology committee active in the school? How much input do they have
on decision making?
KC: We did not have a technology committee per se, but we did have a board of directors
that we answered to and generally anything we were planning to do, whether technology or
AH: Are there any events or activities that involve the community with the schools
technology?
KC: We did have parent teacher nights where we would select children who best interacted
with the technology to demonstrate to all the parents what they were learning. We also had
Family Fridays once a month, kind of like a Dads and Donuts, where we had breakfast, and it
was another occasion for the kids to showcase, or for the parents to give us any ideas through a
AH: What are the schools best features related to technology in learning?
KC: Our best featurewas definitely the software that we were able to use and the stations
and structure that was given to our students. Each section of technology learning was well
ordered, well maintained, and well instructed to each child on [the technologys] use. Each
classroom had a maximum of ten [iPads, per 25 students] so it was a work station, as opposed to
KC: Probably the most lacking was the hardware for the older children. It was a bit more
difficult to get the board to approve a lot of hardware, as far as computer towers and keyboards
and things of that nature, just because even in an educational environment kids can be mildly
destructive, to which we both chuckled, We only had 5 computers to share amongst the whole
kindergarten program.
KC: We had six teachers and 25 28 children per teacher. Just in case you were
wondering, thats five computers for up to 168 students. So, our [kindergarteners] did not get
to practice typing every week, it was generally on a bi-monthly basis, even then it was limited.
Each kid got maybe 20- 30 mins, not including their iPad usage, this is only per traditional
computer use, As everything is moving toward more computer based [programming], I felt that
AH: Do you feel that a digital divide exists among schools in the school district?
KC: Our technology department allowed us to interact more with other schools, we were
fortunate enough to go another school and see how they implemented their technology program
with their younger students, and learn from their best practices and their mistakes. As a smaller
AH: How can the schools and teachers ensure that all students have an equal opportunity
KC: I think it comes down to teachers speaking up when they require something. That is not
always going to be granted. The funding is not always there. However, as a teacher, you have the
power to impart on your administrators on how extremely important it is for a child to have the
basic necessities, such as a computer, to learn to type, communicate, and what is safe. Especially
since we were teaching them at an early age, there were a lot of safe guards on our technology.
Also, its important for those teachers, and parents, to say where they feel that a child is lacking.
You can teach a child through failure, that just because they failed once doesnt mean theyre