Posted by:
John Rinaldi
District admin/coordinator
Hinesburg, VT

Topic:
Analyzing the impact

Message:

If we assume that technology is a tool to improve teaching and learning, then the use of standardized test scores as indicators of success may be very difficult to correlate. It is not the physical presence of the technology that impacts learning, but rather the effective use of that technology. The rise or fall of test scores may have little to do with the implementation of technology. To better understand the impacts made by technology, I believe that we must direct our efforts at analyzing the impact the technology has on our clients, that is our teachers, students and parents.

Within our school district, we use various instruments to solicit information from these constituents. We depend heavily on survey results. We ask our teachers to respond not only to their ability to utilize the technology, but also their facility in aiding their students to use the technology as a learning tool.

We ask students, especially at the high school level to reflect on the advantages that they believe technology has brought to their learning experiences. Our seniors are all expected to do a Senior Challenge project as a culmination to their K-12 learning. We monitor their work and presentations to document the extent to which they use technology as a resource to their work.

Finally, we try to maintain dialogue with our parents. We have had great success in utilizing strong support in the home as an asset to the implementation strategies for technology used in the schools. We have found our school web sites to be excellent resources to communicate with our communities and to engage them in our efforts.

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