Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Classroom technology puts Fort Worth ISD on-line to becoming a digital district

By Pegasus News wire

Fort Worth ISD is making good on its promise to become a “digital district,” installing 1,700 Promethean Interactive Whiteboards in classrooms within the next four months. By 2010, the whiteboards will be in each of the District’s 5,000 classrooms, making it the largest district-wide interactive whiteboard implementation in the nation.

Fort Worth ISD plans to install the whiteboards in three phases over the next 30 months, balancing fiscal responsibility with the District’s mission – to give students the education they need to stay competitive in today’s global marketplace. Improving technology in classrooms is also a key component of the District’s $593.6 million bond program, approved last year by voters.

“These whiteboards will help our teachers meaningfully engage our students and assist in achieving our primary objective: to move Fort Worth ISD from a system of many good and great schools to a great school system,” said Dr. Melody Johnson, FWISD Superintendent, in her recent State of Education speech.

The whiteboards consist of a large screen connected to a computer, a projector, and software programs offering literally hundreds of thousands of digital learning and multimedia resources. Teachers can access information, pictures and video from the Internet, display it for students and then manipulate it in numerous ways with the touch of a finger – the same way one might use a “mouse.” Teachers also will have access to thousands of ready-made lesson plans.

A highlight of the Promethean technology is its interactive response systems. These provide instant communication between students and the whiteboards. In some classes, students will use hand-held devices to answer multiple choice and true/false questions. In other classes, students will be able to text complete sentences and numerical answers. This interaction allows teachers to:

• Immediately assess classroom comprehension
• Immediately assess individual student comprehension
• Collect data in spreadsheet format for grading and other record-keeping

The District realizes the critical role training plays in making sure teachers and students get the most from the state-of-the-art technology.

“We are committed to providing training for our teachers within two weeks of having the Promethean board installed in their classroom,” said Kyle Davie, FWISD Chief Technology Officer. “They will receive additional training in the following weeks to ensure that this is an integral part of their toolbox for delivering engaging and rigorous instruction.”

Source: Fort Worth ISD

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