Going Past One Computer in Every Room

I completely agree that the current state of computers in pour schools is largely inadequate. The dream of “a computer in every class,” is long out of date. A single classroom computer ends up being just a machine to cut down on bookkeeping tasks. It’s the grade book, attendance taker, and a way to communicate with administrators and parents through e-mail, but a single PC is not enough anymore. I can understand how educators feel the have enough access to do their job, but they have not have enough training or resources to go beyond Power Points, and YouTube clips.
The was to have computer in every class, then it was to set up computer labs, but schools need to be thinking beyond having a few specific areas set up for computer use and have a school that is has technology accessible to staff and student throughout the entire campus. It should be off in just a few rooms, having technology available as a one-to-one basis can help continue the integration and modernization of today’s schools.
Educators also need to be informed as to what is available. I have been fortunate enough to be on leading edge of many of school technological decisions, but our average classroom teacher has little input as to what program are available to staff. We are also limited to what is supplied by our textbook publishers. With software licensing so expensive, our school mostly will install what is freeware, of what is given to us. Many of our teachers do not have the time or resourses to search for things on their own. So it now becomes the responsibility of our tech teams to make decisions for our faculty.
With the increase technology in class it is important to look at the pedagogical implications. Technology does not cause teachers to tech differently, but it does increases the ability of things they can do in class. With this increase is resources, teachers need to be properly trained with what is available.
My school has been taking steady steps to improve the training of more staff. We started with two technology staff developers, one for either campus. They we added an additional one per campus when we had half the staff with tablets. Now with ¾ of the staff with tablets, we now have technology staff developers for each content area. We now run into the situation where we must properly train our trainers to work with our staff. We’ve taken slow and gradual steps, but we need to make sure to maintain focus and also reflect upon what our goals are for technology in our class.
I know I've been fortunate enough to work in a school where the cost of technology is not usually a hindrance. In other schools where financial decisions are made with grants and donations, it is difficult to make progress with increased classroom technology. I ran into this with my $2,000 tech classroom. You make decisions on what is available to get you your biggest bang for your buck. I did have the tough of leasing much of the equipment I was proposing, but then you run into the problem of what if it's not in the budget for next year. However, if you can establish a school's infrastructure you may be able to better budget and lease equipment for future years.