FNESU

Description

Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union (FNESU) continually strives to provide students with the tools and opportunities to gain the knowledge and skills required in the 21st Century. The advantages of technology resources and their utilization are evident in daily routines from the classrooms to the administrative offices. FNESU also recognizes the needs –and consequent role of technology- for teacher professional development, school-to-home/community communications, efficient and cost effective school operations, and student/teacher/administrator leadership. All schools in FNESU have joined collaboratively on several technology-related efforts such as a common student information database, electronic portfolios for students and teachers, centralized special education database, emergency communications system, electronic mail and communications system, and a web-based curriculum-mapping database. These efforts model and reflect many of the standards set forth by the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) for students and teachers. FNESU schools have leveraged e-Rate, Title grants, local budgets, and other grants effectively to provide teacher professional development and technology equipment for classrooms. Each school has experienced a large shift in focus from computer “lab classrooms” to mobile labs. This change has facilitated better connections to the classroom curriculum and embedded technology use. Mobile devices, in general, have become more affordable, allowing for better access and enabling some schools to begin developing 1-to-1 computing initiatives. Devices such as iPods, GPS units, and digital cameras have been used in the field to record and interact, then return the digital content to the classroom to enhance writing assignments. Examples such as this span the grade levels and content areas, demonstrating “true” integration of technology. Access to technology also includes adequate bandwidth and available online resources. In the past three years all schools have expanded or improved their networks and most have increased their Internet connection speeds. The increased bandwidth required to accommodate an ever-increasing wealth of digital resources, as well as an improved network between school buildings and towns, is seen as a consistent need. FNESU has invested in online coursework as a “pilot” effort for the 2008-2009 school year. It is our continuing goal to increase these opportunities of providing increasing numbers of online course offerings and resources. With a steady increase of computer devices and dependencies, technology support and training demands continually increase as well. FNESU has offered after-school workshops for teachers as part of our Tech Teacher Leaders program, supports technology-related conferences, provides training at in-services, and has made the investment in local technology support personnel.

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