KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
At the Kodiak Island Borough school district’s regular monthly board meeting, Director of Operations Scott Williams outlined a district technology project for the school board members.
Williams said the project began last November when eight district representatives attended a national conference on blending technology in the learning environment. Williams said the conference left the attendees with the desire to hire a consultant to improve the district’s use of technology.
The specialist that was hired to do the assessment was Twan Gwynn. According to Williams, Gwynn is a nationally recognized education technology expert.
— (KIBSD Technology 1 "Twan conducted his … our documentation.")
Last week, Gwynn’s findings were shared with the district. Williams said that while the point of the assessment was to find the district’s technology short-comings, it starts off on a positive note.
— (KIBSD Technology 2 "these are his … valuable asset.")
Williams said that while the rest of the report focuses on negative findings, he believes the results are not the sole responsibility of the technology department itself.
— (KIBSD Technology 3 "Limited rescources …and support.")
Deficiencies in the system include security issues and a lack of bandwidth. There’s also a need for standardizing the equipment. Currently the district uses many different kinds of computers which has created a mis-matched system. The school board recently authorized the purchase of new, commercial-grade routers to replace what Williams called the "daisy chain" of individual home routers that the district currently uses. He went on to describe some of the other findings.
— (KIBSD Technology 4 "Our server infrastructure …adequate storage.")
Williams said that the district’s goal for its future use of technology is to achieve a system that is easy, accessible, reliable and standard; goals that are also in-line with Gwynn’s recommendation’s.
