Improvements to District 95's Technology Program Reviewed

With a three-year technology plan wrapping up at the end of the school year, the Community Unit School District 95 Board of Education recently received a sneak preview of some of the updates that could be implemented.

Crystal Steker, the district’s director of technology, discussed some of the possibilities with the board during its March 10 Committee of the Whole meeting.

“We’ve tried out several pilot programs at the elementary school and high school level,” Steker said. “The results are very encouraging."

At Lake Zurich High School, the Student Technology Accessing Resources program was initiated earlier in the school year. The program allowed students to bring their own personal electronic devices to school and apply them to their studies.

Having students creatively adapt the electronic of their choice and use it in the classroom illustrates how school can better mirror what students are using elsewhere, Steker said.

“One of the issues with the schools right now is getting up to speed with what’s happening technologically in students' home life,” school board member Doug Goldberg said. “Does your car or your house look like it did 20 years ago? The schools are falling behind.

"Students are getting bored because they’re not being stimulated in class with all of the technological advancements that they have access to outside of school.”

The iTouch pilot was also rolled out earlier in the school year at Isaac Fox Elementary School. Melissa O’Hara, one of two instructional technologists hired by the district, strongly advocates the use of iPods by students.

“Why would iPods change the way children learn?” O’Hara said. “Kids can use voice memo to record questions and answers with classmates. That’s just one of many applications."

O’Hara handed out iPods to all of the board members as well as school  Superintendant Mike Egan to demonstrate how iPods can enhance students' learning process. By having the participants use an app that uses a spreadsheet, she showed how everyone’s answer to a particular question can be displayed.

In District 95, there are 4.2 students for every computer in the district, while on a national level the ratio is 3.1 students for every computer, according to the board.

O’Hara described the ideal 21st century classroom as an environment where there is one computer for every student, as well as multiple other high-tech devices that can be used to help teach students.

The district is also discussing centralizing the school district’s computer system, O'Hara said. There are seven different and unconnected computer systems in the district.

The district also discussed:

•  Completion of computer server virtualization for all of the schools,
•  Implementation of an automated emergency disaster program,
• Improvements in the eSchool Plus program, which shows in real time school attendance in all classrooms, as well as lunch menus and other daily information,
•  A teacher’s access center and
•  Upgrades in the district’s security system, including a password change and wireless conversion. Additionally, there will be a security data audit this summer.