News From St. Ignace Area Schools
By Mike Springsteen, Superintendent

The technology explosion is revolutionizing our world in the way we communicate, learn, and work. At St. Ignace Area Schools, we have embraced the changes and are moving to integrate their use as a way to provide a better and broader learning environment for our students.

While technology did make changes in the 20th Century, the changes that impacted education the most were the electric typewriter and the Xerox copy machine. Since the late 1990s, digitalized communication and the computer chip have not only changed the way we work and play, but are revolutionizing how we teach and learn.

Today, our classrooms are all wired for the Internet, we have wireless connectivity in most parts of our buildings, every teacher has a computer for his or her classroom, and communication throughout the district is accomplished through e-mail and the school Web site. We have many laptop and desktop computers that are designed only for student use. Some of the computers are in rolling mobile labs that can come to the classroom, while others are in fixed labs.

The Internet has opened the doors to unlimited research possibilities, greatly changing the way we view libraries. We use student record-keeping software called Power School that keeps parents, students, and teachers in constant communication regarding attendance, grades, homework assignments, and lunch charges. We have a technology coordinator to provide order to the many computers that we use and to help us keep current with constant change. New classroom materials make a connection between the text and the Internet. Many lessons involve student research with resources that are available only on the Internet. Some of our classes have what is called a Smart Board, a sort of computerized blackboard that allows the teacher's notes to be stored on the computer and then later available to students at home via the Internet. Some of our classes are completely paperless. Assignments are given on the computer, done on the computer, emailed to the teacher, graded and recorded on the computer, and returned to the student on the computer. Some of our classes come via two-way television connection. Some of our classes come via Michigan Virtual High School. Our classes today are much different than they were 10 years ago. And with the current pace of change, they will be much different in 10 years.

It is our goal to use technology for the purpose of providing better instruction and better learning. Recently, we formed a technology committee that was given the assignment of developing a technology plan. Their task was to determine what the district should look like in terms of technology right now and then put together a five-year incremental plan to make that happen. The committee was composed of the technology coordinator, teaching staff, and administration. The plan they came up with was reviewed by both the District School Improvement Committee and the Curriculum Committee. The basic premise of the plan recognizes the importance of integrating the use of technology throughout the district so that its use is as a tool to further the curriculum goals of the district.

The plan would have all students in grades six through 12 be provided with access to one-to-one computing capability all day long; would have all teachers in grades six through 12 provided with adequate training for using computers with their lessons; would have all the needed infrastructure necessary for mass one-to-one computing capability; would have one fixed computer lab in all buildings; would have a smaller fixed number of computers available in kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms, and would increase the number of Smartboards and projectors throughout the district.

Keeping current with emerging technology resources is expensive. Being as economical as possible, this plan will cost approximately $100,000 a year to implement. Computers don't last forever, and they are constantly changing. The reality is that the workplace is not the same today that it was 10 years ago. The reality is if we want to prepare our students for the future, we have to plan for the future in which they will live.

Please call or write the school to share any thoughts you might have regarding the school's technology planning.