Tech+Committee+Report

Minutes from our first 2012 Meeting

 * Wednesday Nov 7th we met to discuss technology at Glendale.**

1. -Where we have been and where we are going in general was discussed.

2. -The resources we have and how they are depoyed in the school was discussed

3. -The next steps to ensuring our K-4 classrooms are supported with technology was discussed

-Talked about Ipads and how they may be used in the class

-Talked about Android tablets and how they may be used in class

-Discussed whether Laptops or other devices may be useful

( In the interest of **Inquiry**, Lucille and Carmen will pilot the uses of Apple TV units in their rooms. I will have 2 extra units to deploy for pilot.)

-Spoke about cost effectiveness of the tablets and ipads and which may work best for K-4

-Spoke about where Cyber safety an keyboarding might best fit into the curriculum

-Thought formal keyboarding should begin at grade 5 (to be discussed further with Ron and others)

-Thought we should incorporate cyber safety in grades k-4 where appropriate but more full scale when we get to the one to one environments of 5-8

4. -Discussed other technologies that we may wish to look at

-Kobo or Kindle for novel studies

-Cart of laptops for K-4

-Cart of ipads for k-4

-Cart of tablets for K-4

5. -PD was also discussed.

- The tech committee would like to see Google PD as the focus for the next few months for the 5-8 group who are using it extensively in class

-Other PD will be offered on demand to staff wanting to move forward in an areas of interest

-It is understood that staff is all at a variety of levels and we need to recognize the diversity of backgrounds we have as well as the diverse needs in the classrooms. Being an Inquiry school means that we should support staff as they move forward asking the question, "What is the best Technology, Apps and other hardware that would make our learning environment better?"

-Tech Committee discussed the need to have staff look at Blogging (as a communication and professional tool it is very powerful, we need to give staff time to learn the basics then they will feel comfortable blogging themselves)

-We are a technology School and staff pointed out at the staff meeting they want to learn more and be able to put the technology into our name. That being said we need to be respectful of time, levels of knowledge, resources, school calendar and other events in our busy lives. **Staff that are ready to move on should be allowed of course to do so, but staff not ready need to be offered PD when they are ready.**

6. -Conclusions:

-Pilot the Ipad and Apple TV in a couple of classrooms

-Pilot a tablet or 2 to see and be able to compare

-Confirm whether school council will help out with funding some pilot projects in the K-4 area

-Ensure we get the best bang for the buck with good research on classroom practices and support using technology

-Tech committee also requests that our PD offerings, Tech information and other items be placed in one easy to access place. **Sean has the Tech WIKI up and running, so here is your one stop shop for Tech Information from Glendale.**