The 21st Century has brought technology into nearly every aspect of our lives. It has enhanced modern entertainment, communication and organization. Big businesses own offices full of the latest computers, while many high-schoolers have some sort of smartphone. As students and teachers become more familiar with the benefits of technology, administration has debated the best way for Scituate Public Schools to incorporate more technology into the classroom.
Because of these benefits, Scituate Public Schools have created a new District Technology Initiative. In a recent newsletter, SPS Superintendent, Mr. McCarthy said, “We will develop comprehensive facility and technology plans so that by September 2018 we have created, or planned for the creation of, schools where technology is seamlessly integrated into teaching and learning and students and teachers are able to collaborate, communicate and
creatively solve problems using 21st Century.” Students agree that SPS could benefit from more technology. Sophomore Casey Kelleher said, “technology can’t be ignored i today’s society.
Two Technology Integration Specialists, Mr. Mills and Ms. Foley strive to implement more technology into the district. Mr. Mills leads grades 8-12 and Ms. Foley leads K-6.
With this new initiative, the district plans on aiding teachers in using more technology inside and outside of the classroom, so students will have access to different academic resources.
Ms. Foley said she hopes to “be a resource for technology tools” for the Scituate Public School District.She understands how teachers lead very busy and demanding lives and so she created a website (http://spsintegratingtechnology.weebly.com/) for teachers to be able to access helpful resources more effectively. Other than sharing resources, Ms. Foley has three main goals as Instructional Technology Specialist. She is striving to “provide training and support to teachers with Aspen,” “provide training and support to teachers with BaselineEdge” and “support the new Model Classrooms for 21st Century Learning,” she said.
She is enthusiastic about the district’s new vision for the ideal classroom. During a three day Visioning workshop, Ms. Foley and teachers, administration, students and parents, created a vision based on the group’s collaboration” she said.
As Technology Integration Specialist of the elementary schools, Ms. Foley shares the same goals as Mr. Mills . Both hope to work together to unite SPS and begin to integrate technology smoothly into all of the classrooms within the district.
During a technology audit, Mr. Mills said he “realized how far behind we were” in the area of technology. He thought that SPS needed to incorporate more technology into its classrooms. Because of this, he collaborated with Ms. Foley and other administrators to agree on an attainable vision for the entire district.
Mr. Mills strives to “integrate technology seamlessly,” he said, in the hopes that changes can be seen over the long term and not necessarily overnight. He added that integration of technology raises issues of equity, considering not all students share the same situations at home in terms of internet access or capability of purchasing a smartphone or iPad.
A possible solution for this problem would be to supply teachers with iPads so that students without smartphones can use them. Students agree that this solution would be effective. Junior Julia Francese said, “I think supplying teachers with iPads would be really beneficial because it would allow students to look up information during class on that particular subject.”
With so many forms of technology available, the world of education can potentially be transformed. SPS’s new vision will allow the school to experience the benefits of more technology in the classroom.