Anonymous said...
My daughter will be entering Pleasantdale Kindergarten in the fall. She is my oldest child. Based on your bullet point list, do you feel that technology is lacking in the Pleasantdale school system or do you feel that it just needs to remain a priority. Do children have computer time during the day? Does the school utilize smart boards? This seems pretty common place in many schools.
February 12, 2009 2:46 PM
Anonymous said...
I just read the friday packet article about the concerns of internet safety. I agree that this is a very important matter and was wondering if the administration is so concerned, why is it that the middle school does not have a certified computer teacher teaching our children. It seems that this "scecial" [sic] has been thrown to the back burner the last couple years to make room for more "important" classes and a qualified teacher is not necessary.
February 12, 2009 4:41 PM
Anonymous said...
I am not one of the BOE candidates but my youngest is in 8th grade presently and I do not feel that our students are learning the technology skills necessary for high school and for life. Way back when, Pleasantdale did employ a teacher who was trained adequately in the computer lab. Todays "Mod Tech Special," while it is a very unique class, in my opinion it seems to not teach useful technology skills, but possibly only spark a passion for a future technology based career. Also, the recent teachers assigned in this classroom are usually teachers who are orderred to leave the curriculum that they have been teaching for many years and they seem to have to learn this difficult, unfamiliar curriculum on their own and then try teach it to the kids. This is very stressful on the teacher and the student. Luckily, the kids do seem to get some computer time in the classrooms and I do believe that the teachers try their best to teach some technology skills along the way but there is only so much time in the day (especially with all of the mandated testing that must be taught to). I think kids also spend alot of time on the computer at home these days. That said, many of our kids are able to go over to L.T. during their 8th grade year and test out of a keyboarding class so then when they are freshman at L.T. they can take a wonderful class called Computer Applications. This class trains and certifies (for an extra fee) the students on Microsoft Office Software such as Power Point, Excel, Access, Word, Publisher, etc. which are commonly used formats for homework in high school. Hopefully, when your kindergarten girl gets to the Middle School, Pleasantdale will be more proactive in the tech skills department. Once they get to high school they should be using their electives to help them identify a future career choice not develop basic technology skills.
February 14, 2009 9:58 PM
We believe technology in district 107 it is lacking in many areas...
The elementary school computer classes are taught by classroom teachers not technology specialists.
Fifth, sixth and eighth graders at the middle school get a computer class called "mod tech" one trimester a year; 7th graders do not get computer classes at all. The controversial curriculum change was to provide the 6th graders with more computer time. Does "mod tech" teach the keyboarding skills and mircosoft office applications that our students lack when they get to LT?
As parents have pointed out, the middle school computer lab has an instructor that is not certified in computer technology. Also, while there are exellent computer specialists at both the middle and elementary school, neither has a teaching certificate, so they are not able to instruct our students per the Illinois School Code. It's sad that our children cannot directly benefit from their talents and knowledge.
Interactive whiteboards should be utilized in our classrooms. Our school is falling behind many other districts in this area of technology. Every other feed district (except Lyons 103) uses this type of technology. You will also find school districts like Joliet and Markham using not only interactive whiteboards, but Elmos, Senteo clickers and document cameras to name a few. For more information on the latest advances in technology, visit Smart Technology at http://smarttech.com/http://www.mimio.com
http://starboard.hitachi-soft.com/jsp/hitachi/hitachisoft/icg/index_t.html
http://www.prometheanworld.com/
Finally, in order for the community to feel more connected to the school district, we support recording school board meetings via MP3 or video for broadcast replay on the interenet. We also support making all documents distributed at meetings (Board Packets) available in electronic format on the internet.
These small steps would make the school board meetings accessible to those unable to attend.
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