Advances in Resource Selection

At our faculty meeting last week, we were all introduced to the newest members of our school community: our new school set of iPads. Our district is in the middle of a large initiative to get every school equipped with at least one set of iPads to share with the whole school. Considering our school just had WiFi installed for the first time about month ago, this set of 30 iPads is actually a pretty big deal. We talked about the sharing procedures, different useful apps, how to transport them to our classroom, and other basics. I had just completed the Professional Development module last week, so I was excited to get to participate in this new PD in our school, as well as take part in using the iPads. 

However, even though there was much excitement surrounding the possibilities that come from having iPads available, when I went back to my classroom, I was met with another, less welcome, surprise. Our district has some pretty strict filters and restrictions on the internet, and when I went to look something up on Google, I could not access the website. The website, www.google.com, was blocked on my computer. It usually works, but for whatever reason that day, I could not access Google. This experience prompted me to really get to work on researching and proposing some changes that could be made to our diocesan technology resources. 

I found out that the diocesan educational technology office supplies resources and provides support for 8,500 students in 36 elementary, middle, and high schools across southern Nebraska. The budget although sufficient, is by no means overflowing, and the people in charge are rather strict about what is and is not allowed in the schools. In today's society, I do understand the need to make sure that the media our children are receiving are high quality and beneficial, but the teachers also should be able to teach without being worried about constantly being blocked or filtered away from a website. 

The one resource that I think we are missing out on the most in our district is access to Google Drive. Thie resource is hugely helpful to both students and teachers. Basically, each student creates an account on Google Drive, and then they have access to all of the assignments and resources provided for them by their teachers online. The possibilities for teachers are limitless-they can create assignments, projects, upload videos, provide links to websites, manage assignments, track progress, provide timely feedback that can be accessed at any time by the student or teachers, ask questions and give comments to students outside of class time, allow students to work collaboratively on projects at any time, and so much more. With Google Drive, teachers and students are connected in a way like never before, which greatly enhances the learning experience. Google Drive is also a great tool for communication between teachers and other teachers or teachers and parents. Teachers can send out editable documents, surveys, or videos for teachers or parents to view and contribute to, and this can all happen at any time in any place.

The project I ended up with will hopefully be at least a good starting point for a conversation about some of the issues we have regarding access to resources. I know this is a commonly discussed problem in our schools, and I hope we can make a change with the right conversations.