Technology+Committee+Notes

Notes from Meetings will be posted on this page. Feel free to add comments about issues discussed and decisions made. To post a question, go the Q and A page. May 26, 2009** Curriculum Ideas – Sharing of information Julie will work on a Wikispace or some public site for sharing curriculum ideas as well as 1 to 1 Plans where staff members can read and provide input.
 * Committee Meeting Notes.**
 * Technology Committee Meeting

Dissemination – When will they get it? When will they go home? The first couple weeks of school should be establishing rules and expectations. There are basics we need to teach. During the SURGE classes, we can address some of these issues.

The committee recommended a minimum two weeks before students receive the laptops. Start with SURGE instruction for behavior and with laptops.

Issues to take into consideration: Computer ethics, file management, troubleshooting, naming conventions, submission of work. – We will talk to Luciano about setting up a drop box per teacher per period. Students should have color-coded folders, we will come up with naming convenctions.

Computers will go home after six weeks. Maybe.

Typing – Do we teach it? Make it a Power Surge. We will somehow assess the students typing skills and put them in a PowerSurge class if typing instruction is needed. We will make it one of the Surge lessons.

Ideas for Charging: Have students assigned A and a B. A students charge in math and B in English They can charge during the class when their letter is assigned.

We need to buy big power strips and when students come in, if they are not using the computers right away, they can plug them in and charge them.

Tech Support- Frank’s Tech class. We need to have a list of those kids and make them accessible to us throughout the day, not just when they have that class.

The staff needs a PC workshop for those of us more used to Apple.

Questions: Will we each get our own laptop to project. What programs will be on the image?

Storage before they go home – Triggering a circuit. Harlan will contact the district so they can perform a test to see what the outlets can handle.

Security- Laptops will most likely be kept in the classrooms and not locked up until they are sent home. Teachers will need to be cautious about leaving doors/windows open and computers unsupervised.

Charging/Storage before laptops go home. During the last five minutes of the school day, students will return their laptops to their first period teacher. Teachers will check off computers to make sure all are there. Luggage tags should be attached so they are accessible from a stack of computers. Tags should have period 1 teacher and a number so computers can be quickly counted before student dismissal. A form of communication will need to be set up between the office and teachers if a student leaves early or is detained in the office.

Computers need to be named (for the new remote software) by student so teachers can identify the students in their classroom.

Storage during PE Robbie and Jean look for bins. We would like to make something simple out of plywood that can be used as a storage unit and a bench/changing area.

Harlan presented the committee with a sample contract parents will have to sign. We briefly discussed an incentive for returning the laptop in good condition after 8th grade.

Discipline???? Next Agenda item. Report from Garcia/Cronk/Wright Battery Life: Barely making the five hours. Discussion about how long the students will be on the laptops. ABC assignments and the charge during assigned periods. We need a Fire Marshall to help us determine what is accessible for charging. Mr. Moss brought up information about the Google docs. An advantage to Google docs is that teachers can make comments/revisions and it saves those actions. We need to get a set of collaborative tools that teachers can use to work from. Provide a variety of choices. Behavior/Discipline: Remote desktop will be on the computers. Should a student being kicked off a computer be a week off computers for all classes. Advisory teachers/Parents go in to check what the students have been up to. Parent classes: Checking where they have been. Parent recommendation that the consequence not be taking computer away: We need Harlan to request from Lagace for each staff member to be able to take a PC home with them.
 * June 2nd Meeting**

//Review of Student Equipment Loan Agreement Form// Continued discussion of Discipline: Steps for consequences: Take off computers one week/one class More than one class. Make it progressive.
 * Notes from June 9th Meeting**

We need to give students a "driver's license for using the computers." Students would take a test that allows them to use the computer. Care of computers. Etc. Science and Social Studies can write and administer test.

We will stagger the distribution of the laptops by one week. 8th graders first then a week later, 7th grade.

How are we going to inform parents that they have to come to a class or we could go down to a school in their neighborhoods to give a class. Parent classes: 2 in September and 1 on a Saturday.