District Technology Committee January 2015 Meeting

The January 2015 meeting of the District Technology Committee (DTC) included the following topics for discussion:

• One to World Update
• District Website Update
• Formulation of iPad Questions to Answer during the Upcoming Pilot (Grades PK-5)
• DTC Student Selection Matrix for Grades 6-12
• iPad Site Visit Volunteers Sign-up
• Tech Integration News/Issues/Share-outs from Buildings/Departments

All DTC meeting agendas, notes, and meeting materials are available for any Barrington 220 staff member to access at any time on the DTC website at bit.ly/220dtc.

You are encouraged to visit the DTC Meeting Highlights page to read the highlights from the January 2015 meeting (and all previous meetings).

To see a list of the DTC members, please refer to the Technology Committee Member Matrix.

District Technology Committee December 2014 Meeting

The District Technology Committee (DTC) met for the first time in December 2014 for a full-day meeting. Major topics discussed included the following:

• One to World Update
• Considerations for iPad use in Barrington 220
• Technology support structure for Barrington 220
• Learning Management System (LMS) needs and issues
• Email/calendar system transition
• DTC communication process
• Identification of priorities at the PK-5, 6-8, and 9-12 levels

All DTC meeting agendas, notes, and meeting materials are available for any Barrington 220 staff member to access at any time on the DTC website at bit.ly/220dtc.

After each DTC meeting, Meeting Highlights are presented. You are encouraged to visit the Meeting Highlights page to read the highlights from the December 2014 meeting.

To see a list of DTC members, please refer to the Technology Committee Member Matrix on the DTC website.

New Technology Support Options Coming Soon!

Since the beginning of the school year, the Technology Department has been planning some changes to provide more options for staff members to get technology support in Barrington 220.

BEGINNING FEBRUARY 2, 2015, you will have three ways to request technology support, in addition to working with building Support Technicians (“Techs”):

Call extension 1500 (224-655-1500), 

our new Service Desk (7 AM-3 PM).

Visit http://help.barrington220.org 

and start a remote support session (7 AM-3 PM)
[instructions on page 2 of this flyer].

Open a ticket at http://techsupport.barrington220.org 

if you do not need immediate support.

Support Technician Schedules

• Barrington High School: Carolyn Glenn and Lisa Gough (Monday-Friday)
• BMS - Prairie: Jason Bryant (Monday-Friday)
• BMS - Station: Kim Martinez (Monday-Friday)

Elementary Support Technicians are each assigned to two schools and support the entire district. Specific building times will be published online.

• Arnett Lines: True Kong (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)
• Barbara Rose: True Kong (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)
• Countryside: Patti Hecker (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday)
• Grove Avenue: Dennis Solinko (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
• Hough Street: Sandee Kramer (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)
• North Barrington: Dennis Solinko (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
• Roslyn Road: Sandee Kramer (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)
• Sunny Hill: Patti Hecker (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday)

Click here to download a flyer that summarizes the technology support options.

Questions? Please contact Mark Polzin, Barrington 220’s Technology Support Supervisor, at mdpolzin@barrington220.org or 847-756-2486.

Taking a Hammer to SAMR: Augmentation

An earlier article defined Dr. Ruben Puentedura's SAMR model as a tool teachers can use to measure the opportunities afforded to students by technology integration. In this fourth article of the "Taking a Hammer to SAMR" series, we learn about Augmentation, the second level of the SAMR scale: the use of technology tools that add functions, but do not change the original task of the lesson.

The SAMR Activity Scale:

The SAMR Activity Scale outlines how technology use affords students opportunities to learn and demonstrate learning. In the SAMR continuum, Augmentation refers to the use of technology tools that add functions, but do not change the task of the lesson. At the Augmentation level, technology use offers some advantages to the teacher or the student. An activity is completed in the same manner as a non-digital activity, but uses technology as a tool to offer additional functionality.

Example First Grade Lesson: Types of Clouds (Weather Unit)

The student uses an iPad to navigate to a website to read an article with photos of different types of clouds online and then uses Google Docs to type a short definition of one type of cloud.  Google Docs is used to check spelling and submit the definition to the teacher online.

This is Augmentation because the teacher is still using the same lesson and reading about the different types of clouds, but adds the functionalities of spell check and submitting a definition online.

Augmentation, the second level of the SAMR scale, refers tto the use of technology tools that add functions, but do not change the task of the lesson. In the next issue, the "Taking a Hammer to SAMR" series will focus on Modification, the first step toward Transformational technology integration.

Taking a Hammer to SAMR: Substitution

Use the Comments section below to share your reflections about the Augmentation level.

Taking a Closer Look at Online Resources

As our district transitions to the new website, we are taking a close look at how elementary students access resources from school sites. Members of the district technology committee have volunteered to work with a team of librarians and technology support assistants to re-envision the student entry point for all technology and library resources. Our goal is to provide a site that is both easy to use and visually appealing to Pre-K–5th grade students.  

Our sub-committee will present an initial design to the District Technology Committee for feedback in February 2015. Keep an eye open for updates to this process.