For
at least one school board member, a snazzy presentation to the board of trustees on Monday from
AISD’s instructional technology development group evoked a strange longing to
go back to high school. Several of AISD’s veteran, technologically adept
classroom teachers demonstrated to the board how they’ve applied technology to
their instruction for years (often spending their own money do to so), which
entails everything from compiling student portfolios in digitized video to
downloading NASA images of Jupiter’s moons off the Internet.
The sheer enthusiasm and obvious dedication of these teachers — David
Sanders, Janie Ruiz, Dan Gohl, and Scott Robuck — was quite infectious. As
Gohl explained to the board, the resources for the district’s technology plan,
which will be paid for with some $50 million in school bonds, don’t come from
an elite team somewhere off in the stratosphere, but from classrooms. Trustee
Geoff Rips, a board member who tends to be reserved in his total endorsement of
instructional technology, said he wished he could go back to high school.
Nonetheless, he wondered aloud about the implications of the expense involved
in deploying technology. “What are the tradeoffs, is just what I’m struggling
with,” he said.
At that point, the teachers switched into denial mode, refusing to admit to
any tradeoffs, and instead explained how using technology gets students more
involved and makes learning more meaningful. But if he were going to circumvent
Rips’ question, fifth grade teacher Sanders was extremely smart about it — he
explained to Rips (who is himself a writer and editor) that kids who don’t have
much heart for writing themes in longhand develop a keen interest in revising
and improving their work when they’re given technology to use.
High school physics teacher Robuck said that when he attempted to explore some
concepts with his students in the traditional way (for example, figuring out
movement on a two-dimensional time/distance chart), the kids tended to respond
to him “like a dog watching juggling.” But when he introduced technology to the
lesson, he said, the concept became kinetic and real-time.
AISD Associate Superintendent for Instructional Support Services Darlene
Westbrook hastened to add that technology is only a tool. It won’t replace good
teachers or strong curriculum, she emphasized, and it won’t relieve overcrowded
classrooms. But the teacher’s impact or importance in the classroom will be
enhanced, she said. Some 3000 teachers, under the tutelage of Sanders and
company, are going to be trained in technology by August 1997.
Monday’s presentation may not have made converts of all skeptics, and may not
have quite demythologized the god of technology. But it offered a preview of
what instructional technology will look like, and a glimpse of its
possibilities.
In board action: The district’s bond program barrels on with a vengeance.
Trustees approved designs for additions at Harris, Sunset Valley, Langford, and
Linder Elementaries and Bedichek Middle School, and selected
Fields/Barnes/CasaBella Architects to design two new elementary schools. The
board also approved spending $220,809 to use in-house personnel to install fire
alarms at the following elementary schools: Allison, Becker, Oak Hill, Sanchez,
Andrews, Joslin, Pleasant Hill, and Widen. The board will hold its next regular
meeting January 13, 1997.
This article appears in December 13 • 1996 and December 13 • 1996 (Cover).