MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

I held my first Media and Technology Committee this afternoon.  It was the first planning day of the year, so I thought it would be the perfect time to get the team together.  Each year I try to get representatives from every grade level, administration & resource staff. This way all parts of the school are represented in the decision making process.  

The agenda items from the meeting are listed below:

1. Select a monthly day and time to meet
My district requires two meetings per year.  My principal requires one each month.  I prefer the monthly approach.  Meeting monthly allows us to be more proactive to the changing needs of the school.  We decided to meet on the first Wednesday of every month before school.

2. Give an update on current technology
Over the summer we had to condemn 28 computers.  They were over six years old, ran Windows XP and would not be able to run Windows 7.  We had the option to convert them to Linux, but their age caused me to avoid that option.

3. Funding - Title I vs. School funds, 

We have two pots of money with which we can purchase technology.  Over the past two years I have worked with my principal to make sure that part of the school budget was set aside to replace aging teacher workstations.  Fortunately, we were able to move money that was previously used to purchase text books to the equipment budget line.  This allows us to replace four or five teacher machines per year.  Our technology department recommends replace computers every five years.  The Title I funds allow us to replace aging student computers or to supplement classes with additional, new technology.

4. Technology Wish Lists

I created a simple Google form that allowed the teachers to make a prioritized technology wish list of up to five items.  The graphic below shows you what the form looks like. Next week I will look over the data and make recommendations to the administration as to what we should buy and why.