At Millridge Elementary School, in the Mayfield School District, technology is a major part of the student’s exploration, learning, and development. District wide, technology is headed by a man named John Duplay. As I spoke with my cooperating teacher, she was able to offer insight into how Mr. Duplay manages the technology and resources for Millridge, as well as the rest of the schools in Mayfield, all the way from elementary to high school levels. Along with him, school administrators, and teachers, there are IT specialists throughout the district who aid in maintaining classroom technologies, access to Chromebooks (which all of the students in the district have) and providing support when technical difficulties occur.
As mentioned, all schools throughout the district follow the same guidelines when it comes to integrating technology into the classroom. Each student has a Chromebook accessible to them throughout the school day. They typically keep them in their classroom, but if need be, can take them home with them if access to technology outside of the classroom is limited. They often take them out throughout the day to work on educational games/apps like Lexia and Zearn, or access online stories or their Google Classroom page. Illuminate Ed is a software program that they have been provided access to, where teachers can administer assessments and track progress in an organized, shareable way. My teacher expressed that the Chromebooks were obtained so that technology could be integrated into multiple curriculums, which I observe often. She also utilizes a document camera daily to project her copies of work, student work samples, stories, and any other information she needs to the students to see on the board. Each teacher has these types of cameras, their own computer, and a SMART Board in their room.
All of the technologies at Millridge are in working order and easily accessible to all students. There are no required purchases for students, and having the flexibility of taking the Chromebooks home makes it a positive and effective way to integrate technology into the classroom because each child is given what they need. If something happens to the Chromebook, the district will allow for one free replacement, which I think is an awesome perk, because things do happen and for families where money is tight, it takes away a worry they might have.
In terms of a firewall set up to limit access to various websites, Mayfield has a comprehensive list of sites that everyone on the network can have access to. I have been surprised to see though that many of my third graders can still access non educational games and websites that I see them play on during break time. I wonder to what extent this becomes an issue and a distraction, and worry that it might get worse as they grow older and learn how to better work their way around the network restrictions. My teacher expressed that monitoring the technology and finding effective ways to integrate it into the classroom has been an ongoing process and is very community oriented/collaborative in nature. She said she, along with her colleagues and those higher up, are always learning about new tools and ways to help make the integration safe and resourceful, and a way to connect the classroom to home.
Educational Technology in the World | Kendall Miller 