ISTE

As I was reading through the essential conditions of the standards I thought about how they were being met in my school.  As technology becomes more common in education, there is a great need to teach our students utilizing more digital instruction.

At my school we all share the vision of increasing the use of educational technology.  As we become more aware of how this technology can be used in the instruction of our students, we participate in consistent fund raising to try to meet our needs.  This is mainly for equipment and staff development.  Given the size of our school, approximately 700+ students in grades 3-5, there are obstacles we face in trying to meet our goals.  Our building is extremely old and it is difficult to keep up with the electrical demands that computers and technological equipment put on the system.  We currently have 9 Promethean boards and 3 Mimeo boards for 30 classrooms.  The goal  is for every class to  have a Promethean board.

We do have a computer lab but currently do not have a technology teacher.  This is due to funding and we hope that as the economy improves that one day we might secure this position.  For now, as teachers need help, other teachers just step in and help out.  Some of us are more tech savvy than others and are happy to help when there is a problem.  Our school's website is currently being updated so that we can be more involved with parents and the community online.

We have focused on improving technology in our building for several years and have made great strides.  Though we are meeting most of the standards, some issues will need to be resolved so that we are able to meet all of the ISTE standards.