The Vision for Technology in
Madison County Schools
2001-2005
The personnel of Madison County Schools envision an educationally rich and
exciting school environment in which the students have the advantages of the
highest quality and most current instructional methods utilizing equal and timely
access to local, state, national and global information resources. It is
believed that all children can learn and that technology is a uniquely empowering
tool for enhancing and broadening each child's learning experiences. Mastering
the tools of technology through their daily living and learning experiences will
prepare students to compete successfully in a global economy, to exercise the
rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and to be lifelong learners. Our
vision correlates with "The Vision for Technology in North Carolina's K-12
Schools, 2001-2005" which promotes high student achievement; safe and orderly
schools; quality professionals; effective, efficient operations; and community
and family support.
High Student Achievement
Technology is a tool that enables teachers and administrators to work more
productively, offering solutions for time management, student monitoring and
intervention, and more interesting and effective lessons and classroom activities.
Technology is a tool that enables students to interact with and explore the
world, bringing a wealth of information and experiences into the classroom,
thus potentially overcoming geographical isolation, physical barriers, and
economic hardships. Technology is a tool that encourages student creativity and
self-direction and helps students develop skills that prepare them for
responsible citizenship within the nation and world. Ultimately, technology is a
tool that helps every teacher and student be successful, fostering mastery of
basic skills and development of critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
Technology can be a support tool to reinvent schools so that all students achieve
more and are better prepared for the workplace. Recent studies are showing
students with exposure to computers are doing better academically than their
peers. (Sharp, 1999)
Safe and Orderly Schools
The advent of technology into site planning and building design has increased the
potential for creating a safe environment for teaching and learning. A
technology infrastructure that includes integrated security and protection
systems such as telephones in every classroom, warning devices, and monitoring
cameras protects individuals and the facility itself. The real benefit of
technology in a safe and orderly educational environment, however, is in the
resources it brings into the classroom and school library media center. Because
technology opens doors to the world while simultaneously focusing students onto
the task at hand, student interest and motivation is heightened while discipline
problems decrease. When students are motivated and successful, they tend to work
harder and longer, in turn raising the possibility of higher student achievement.
This success fosters a culture in which learning is the expectation and ultimate
goal.
Quality Teachers, Administrators, and Staff
Because technology increases productivity, brings experience and expertise into
the classroom, and stimulates interest in learning, it is the ultimate weapon in
the professional educator's arsenal. As such, it offers a variety of tools that
help decrease the time spent on paperwork, thus increasing time available to
spend with students. Access to the Internet offers endless opportunities for
professional development, educational research, and up-to-date curriculum
resources. With statewide tools such as NC WISE, HRMS, BUD, and NC WISE OWL,
teachers, administrators, and staff have desktop access to a variety of
information that allows them to track individual progress and mastery of skills
(and the conditions that might affect that progress); develop strategies, skills,
and policies that assist in that mastery; and ultimately create a quality,
data-driven environment that affects high student achievement.
Effective, Efficient Operations
Technology is an infrastructure, a seamless network of wires, cabling, equipment,
and personnel that supports North Carolina's goal to be First in America.
Through state-driven economies of scale and individual outcomes of increased
productivity and more efficient time management, schools realize the benefits
of a technology-rich environment that enhances teaching and learning. A study
released by the American Association of School Administrators in 1999 concluded
that the most effective schools in the 21st Century will be both centers of
lifelong learning and "digital hubs which will be open electronically 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year."
Distance learning, brought into the classroom via the Internet, satellite video,
fiber optic, or even cable, also allows students to complete college courses, get
AP credits, take classes when no certified teacher is available locally, or even
complete a high school degree at home.
Through statewide resources such as NC WISE and NC WISE OWL, every educator in
North Carolina has the opportunity to access a broad range of essential
information and resources that affect teaching and learning. With adequate
technical support within each school and school system, teachers and
administrators can focus on the important aspects of instruction, not the wires
and hardware themselves.
Community and Family
Technology is the ultimate vehicle for communication with the community and the
family. E-mail, telephones in every classroom, community-access television, and
school resources electronically available throughout the community allow and
encourage adult participation in a child's education. The highest level of
student achievement occurs when families, schools, and community organizations
work together. (Dede, 1998) Parents can increase involvement as time constraints
dissolve and education-related interactions can occur in the comfortable,
familiar context of home. Technology can enhance and extend teaching and
learning to every individual regardless of age or socioeconomic status.
Ultimately this ubiquitousness creates the culture that enables North Carolina's
schools to become First in America by 2010.