Technology is an important part of a student's education.
My district is a large suburban district serving approximately 35,559 students over 44 different campuses, including a career/technical high school, and 4 STEM and fine arts schools. While there are a few charter and religious affiliated schools nearby, most students attend the local schools. Mansfield is a 1:1 device district. Students in PK-2nd grade receive iPads and students in grades 3-12 receive Chrome Books. Students keep their devices year round and through high school graduation. The school district is diverse and serves a wide population of students. Spanish and English are the most common languages spoken but there are some families who speak Arabic, Chinese, and Vietnamese. More than 50% of the student population is non-White (Black, Hispanic, Asian, Multiracial) Most families served live in single family housing (84.3%) and apartment complexes (14.6%) (District Detail for MANSFIELD ISD, 2022). Among those households, 94.8% have access to broadband internet (ACS School District Profile, 2017).
Most of the buildings in the district were built after 2000 but the age of the buildings, except for the three new schools opened in 2023, make it hard for there to be fast and reliable internet. Moving throughout the buildings can affect connection but most students have access to the internet easily throughout the day. Staff members are issued laptops that connect to a doc station for sharing to their projectors and a desktop monitor. Some teachers have access to mobile smartboards but this not the case on all campuses. Teachers are encouraged to take their laptops to professional development but that leaves the substitutes in the classroom without access to technology in the classrooms. All teachers also have access to document cameras.
For opportunities on professional development focused on technology, teachers often have to seek it out themselves from outside presenters or conferences such as Region 10 and Region 11. There are some trainings given online or at the end of the year through summer PD classes. The district has technology coached that are available to help upon request from staff members. I think there are many staff members who would like to see more technology courses added throughout the year and about new technologies as opposed to just updates on Canvas, our LMS system. The librarians are offered a bit more technology training and work more closely with the technology department than classroom teachers, but it can be hard for them to find a time to share their knowledge with teachers due to meeting, schedules, and other factors.
Some teachers are more comfortable than others with using technology. For those that are familiar with various programs and willing to keep up with new ones, they tend to use more varied technology with their students. The teachers who feel that they do not have strong technological skills use less. On my current campus 49% of teachers said that they feel comfortable with using technology in the classroom. 34% said that they try to use at least one new piece of technology or program with their students each year. More access may help to increase these numbers. Most of the technology consistently used in the classroom consists of Canvas, where students have access to online assignments and resources. On my intermediate campus teachers use programs like Nearpod and Pear Deck, and Google Slides to deliver instruction. Students also use game driven learning like Gimkit and Blooket, students are encouraged to create their own as projects or review. Students and staff also make heavy use of Canva for creating projects and content. There are many other programs out there that can be utilized but are not being used due to lack of training or lack of opportunity for use or lack of suitable equipment.
The district is taking the right step but there are still more to take to help students and staff members become a proficient technology district.
Resources
ACS School District Profile 2017-21. (2017). Ed.gov. https://nces.ed.gov/Programs/Edge/ACSDashboard/4828920
Search for Public School Districts - District Detail for MANSFIELD ISD. (2022). Ed.gov; National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?ID2=4828920
Niche. (2023). Niche. https://www.niche.com/k12/d/mansfield-independent-school-district-tx/academics/
Your district seems to keep technology in the forefront of things. It's great to hear that there's an interest and identified need for pd in the area of ed tech.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaitlyn,
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I'm one of those teachers who isn't as comfortable with technology as I would like to be. Due to the fact that I used the internet and computers before Google existed, I was always more familiar with Microsoft apps than Google apps. I always used a lot of PowerPoint, so I was able to transition to Google Slides fairly painlessly. However, many of Google's other apps were more difficult for me to learn how to use. I agree with you that lack of training, opportunity, and access are the biggest barriers to the use of technology in the classroom. Thank you for your great post!
Technology can be great, but without the PD for teachers those great programs aren't effective. I think that is something that gets overlooked too often when it comes to implementing new technology in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteWe have to take our laptops home as well and it really makes a problem for substitutes. I wonder what could be done to help? Maybe an extra device that can be checked out to subs? I know that costs money though, which districts are lacking these days. I also thought it was a great idea that you polled the staff on your campus.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaitlyn, Mansfield seems very similar to Pflugerville in terms of population and demographics. We also follow the same 1:1 iPad/Chromebook system, but most of our schools were built in the 1970s-90s, which I feel affects the way technology is incorporated into certain learning spaces.
ReplyDelete