• Technology Department Update
     
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    Smartboards
    Over the past year we have been busy installing equipment and training teachers on the use of Smartboard technology. We have installed many boards in our elementary and junior high classrooms, and have several in our high school classes. These boards can turn an ordinary lesson into an active and engaging lesson - often keeping students more focused. The hardware is touch sensitive and works with Smart Notebook software to give teachers and students the ability to interact with content on the screen rather than just viewing the lessons. Class work can be recorded and saved for review later or to allow students who were not in class the ability to see the days lesson and not get behind because they were not able to be in class.

    Younger students are especially drawn to the smartboard and get excited about being able to use it. In turn they become very engaged in their education. Veteran teachers are amazed at the success of the boards and cannot envision going back to teaching without them once they have used the equipment for a few weeks. Rebecca Burtoft from Young Elementary said:



    students at smartboard
     
    New this year to the Smart line of products utilized at Springfield are the student response systems. Student Response Systems are 'clickers' that each student uses in class to respond to teachers questions posted on the Smartboard. The questions are commonly multiple choice questions, although they can be extended response or fill in the blank type questions. The system immediately collects the responses and calculates the results, displaying them to the teacher or the entire class. If the results are displayed to the class, the answers are not tied to a student. This allows students to become more involved in class, even if they would not normally be willing to openly participate in class. This also gives teachers immediate feedback - letting them know whether or not the topic they are covering is understood by the class or if they need to review the subject matter further to make sure that everyone understands the material.

    Looking into the future, we plan to install Smartboards into every classroom in the new 7-12 building. The new units are all in one and mount just above the writing surface to minimize shadowing from the person standing at the board. Teachers will all be trained in the use of the software and how to integrate it into their lessons. Our technology coaches will continue to be available to provide ongoing support and innovative methods of utilizing our available technology.

    iPads
    A lot has been happening with iPads in our schools. We currently have over 400 ipads in our schools. Teachers are finding new and innovative ways every day to integrate these into their lessons and enhance the learning experience for the students. The possibilities are endless of what this handheld device can do. 
    Read more about our iPad program [ click here ].
     
    Cafeteria Point of Sale (POS)
    At the beginning of this school year the Technology Department assisted the Food Service Department in implementing a computerized point of sale system. The system has proved to be very beneficial. Staff and students have picked up the system quite well. Learn more about the program in the update from Business Manager, Daniel Laskos [ click here ].