Technology for Classroom Practitioners
An interdistrict project funded by the TLCF

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Introduction

An Interdistrict Project

The purpose of the project is for every classroom teacher to integrate computer technology into the curriculum so that the 2001-2002 school year will see an increase in technology integration across grade levels and disciplines in all three districts. Every classroom will show an increase in use of technology-based curriculum units. The ultimate benefactors of this project will be the students in those classrooms where technology is a key component of curriculum. Teachers will emphasize the importance of technology by modeling, consistently using it in their interactions with the students. As a result, over 5,000 students who interact with 328 teachers in the three districts will experience increased hands-on use of and practice in the technology that will drive the world of the 21st century.

The week-long workshop will be conducted by Jeff Andrews, Michael Kravets, Erica Schaapveld, and John Yost from July 9-13, 2001.

The Piper Middle School technology lab, where the workshop will be conducted, has 50 computer stations. Macintosh and Windows-based PCs were used for the workshop, but the products of the project will be cross-platform accessible.

The primary purpose of this project is to provide students with an education that includes exposure and practice with technology that will become and integral part of their lives in the 21st century. That purpose will be achieved by increasing the technological competency and confidence of teaching staff in the three districts.

The power of this collaboration by Piper USD 203, Basehor-Linwood USD 458 and Lansing USD 469 is this:

The 25 staff members of the ASIST Team will be committed to going back to their districts after completing an intensive, collaborative 36-hour workshop in integration of technology. There they will share with their peers what they have learned and created. The three school districts combined have 328 certified staff members and a K-12 enrollment of 5,291 students. That means, then, that almost 6,000 Kansans will experience immediately the effect of increased technological integration in the classroom. Their experiences will be then shared with other districts via the Internet. Like the ripples from a stone thrown into the calm waters of a pond, the training can reverberate across the state and nation.

The ripples can become a wave, affecting teachers and students throughout the state from Elwood to Saint Francis to Elkhart to Galena; from Alaska to Hawaií to Florida to Maine.