With the new school year underway, many area districts are upgrading their technology to supplement and support student learning, but some are struggling with the high cost of building the infrastructure, paying for devices, and training teachers how to use them.
In Needham, the school district is devoting $100,000 to set up a 1-to-1 iPad initiative for sixth-grade students that makes families responsible for providing the devices, either on their own or through a purchase or lease program offered by the district. The town is paying for the software, wireless capability, and teacher iPads.
“We know we need the guts in the walls and building to support what our teachers want to do in the classroom,’’ said the district’s superintendent, Daniel Gutekanst. “The challenge is funding.’’
Advertisement
Students can also borrow an iPad from the district if they can’t provide their own, Gutekanst said.
State officials are eager for school districts to update technology so teachers can better personalize instruction. Computers will also be necessary as the state considers adopting a new assessment system, such as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test that is designed to be taken online.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education conducted a survey in June that asked districts whether they were ready to administer the PARCC test online. The results showed that 55 percent of the 1,600 participating schools met the recommended specifications for devices and infrastructure, such as WiFi.
Secretary of Education Matt Malone said he’d like to see every student have access to a computer in the classroom.
“The goal is to get to a place where eventually instead of giving textbooks to kids, every kid gets a device,’’ he said. “That would be, to me, the coolest thing we could possibility do in the next 10 years, but that’s going to take a lot of investment.’’
Advertisement
Malone said the investment would have to be made by the state, local districts, and families. He said the governor recently signed a $38 million information technology bond bill that will allow the state to borrow money for improvements.
So far, Governor Deval Patrick has appropriated $5 million for a matching grant program to support infrastructure improvements, said Jacqueline Reis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Districts will be able to apply for the funding this month.
Braintree Superintendent Maureen Murray said getting schools set up for wireless is a top priority.
“The PARCC test is one of the goals we’re trying to meet technologically, but aside from that, we’re trying to get technology in the hands of students so they can learn many of the 21st-century skills they are going to be required to learn,’’ she said. “To really prepare them for college and careers, we need to acknowledge that many of the standards now need to be taught using technology.’’
While many districts would like to have 1-to-1 technology in all schools, according to Malden’s superintendent, David DeRuosi, the expense makes it nearly impossible in the short term.
“It’s one step shy of a mandate and it’s expensive,’’ DeRuosi said. “That’s the struggle for most districts, so you have to do it in increments.’’
Milton has also faced funding challenges when it comes to adding technology, but received a big boost this year thanks to the Milton Foundation for Education, which raised money for new devices, said Michelle Kreuzer, vice principal of Milton High School.
Advertisement
Kreuzer said the high school is fully wired but does not have enough devices for every student. She said the district created a “digital learning team’’ that is looking at issues such as whether all students in every grade should have devices, and who should pay for them.
“The funding for it is hard,’’ she said. “At the high school, you want the devices in the students’ hands but it’s a huge commitment of money. It’s just figuring out how to get there and pay for the upkeep.’’
Patrick Larkin, assistant superintendent in Burlington, said this is the first year all students in every grade will have a device provided by the district. Larkin said it’s been a multiple-year process that involved financial support from the town and a significant amount of planning.
He said it started by collaborating with municipal officials to get wireless Internet access in the town offices, library, and schools.
“It’s like indoor plumbing,’’ he said. “At this point, this is just another utility.’’
Larkin started a 1-to-1 iPad program in Burlington High four years ago when he was the school’s principal. Since then, more grades have been added, with second- and third-graders joining the program this fall.
While the district and the town had initial costs to pay for the technology, they will also be saving money by not purchasing as many textbooks, Larkin said.
But ultimately, he said, it’s an investment the town simply had to make.
Advertisement
“If we’re trying to get our kids ready for the workforce, we need to be incorporating the technology into the work they’re doing now,’’ he said.
Hopkinton has a plan in place to update all of its technology over the next few years, though families are asked to help out, said Ashoke Ghosh, the district’s technology director. At Hopkinton High School, students can lease to own laptops or bring in their own, he said.
The cost for the device at the high school has varied, but the incoming freshman class will pay $341 in year one and then the cost will be less for the last three payments, he said.
The program has been phased in gradually at the high school, with this being the first year all grades will have devices. Also this year, the district is rolling out a district-funded Chromebook pilot program for eighth-graders in the math and science classrooms.
Over the next few years, Chromebooks or iPads will be added to all other grades, Ghosh said.
“We wanted to roll it out slowly so we could test the infrastructure and staff to support it,’’ he said.
He said the district, like Burlington, collaborated with the town on laying the groundwork to save money.
“A big part was the infrastructure,’’ Ghosh said. “It was a large expense and was funded by the town. Now we’re finally ready to add devices to the 1-to-1 environment.’’
Jennifer Fenn Lefferts can be reached at jflefferts@yahoo.com.
Advertisement