Schools

WiFi on the Horizon for West Hartford Public Schools

Technology Blueprint Update presented to Board of Education

It's been two years since the began the task of implementing a technology blueprint, and the Board of Education was briefed Tuesday night on the significant progress that has been made to date and developments that are looming in the very near future.

Assistant Superintendent for Administration Tom Moore likened the original task of developing the blueprint – which is now a 410-page document – to setting sail across the ocean with no shoreline anywhere in sight.

However, just two years later, the district has a plan for refreshing its entire network, has moved to fiber-optics in all schools, has sent out an RFP for the installation of wireless technology in every school, and is preparing to hire an IT director from an applicant pool of 80 candidates.

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West Hartford Public Schools, with the of the Center for Educational Leadership and Technology (CELT), has developed a matrix for prioritizing key recommendations. The complete blueprint and phasing matrix can be found on the district's website.

Pat Drago, Department Supervisor for Technical Education and Information  
Technology Services, said that through implementation of the blueprint, his department has made major inroads in addressing its goals – ultimately to update, modernize and refresh technology throughout the district.

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Jeri Van Leer, Department Supervisor for Library Media and Information Technology Services, said that a newly-implemented library information system offers access not only to materials physically located in the school libraries, but also gives students the ability to search other databases. “It’s a powerful tool available to our students at school, home and anywhere they have internet,”  Van Leer said.

Moore said that roll-outs of new programs, like the parent portal, have gone smoothly. So many of the next steps, he said, depend on installing system-wide WiFi.

That timeframe, said Moore, depends on the response to the just-issued RFP. Some bidders, he said, think it can get done in the summer and be up by September. “There will be wireless by the end of the next school year throughout the district; there could be wireless throughout the district by the beginning of the next school year,” Moore said.

Board member Mark Overmyer-Velazqez asked about the specific impact technology improvements will have on the students. Van Leer said that once wireless technology is installed, the district can begin a discussion about allowing students to bring their own technology (laptops, tablets) to the schools. That will allow for district-wide equitable access to information and technology, but administrative guidelines will have to be addressed, she said.

Administrative guidelines determine access to online content, and Van Leer said that the current two-tier system of access is about to be changed to a three-tier system, with high school students being allowed greater access than middle or elementary school students. Sites are being reviewed "with an educational lens on."

Van Leer said a test run of allowing students access to Google apps was done just this week in one of Tracey Wilson's classes at Conard. Use of Google documents, which is being done by assigning students an email address at whps.org, will allow students and teachers to engage in collaborative projects – to share and present with their peers.

Drago said that the overall task has been overwhelming because there were so many good ideas out there. However, progress has been made and technology systems throughout the district already have much greater capacity than they did in the past. “The kids and the staff can begin to do those things that they have been asking to do for a long time,” he said.

“I’m breathless by how far we’ve come in two years,” said board member Elin Katz. "We’ve moved well beyond 'if' to 'how,'" she said. One specific example is the student success plan, now mandated for all students in grades 6-12. Technology will allow Naviance (which previously was available only to high school students) to be used in the middle schools, said Drago. Through this technology, students will have a greater ability to take ownership of their learning and career plans.

Moore said the biggest challenge ahead in the evolving world of technology is the unknown. "Our newer staff has been pushing us to do things, and there are a lot of really good dialogues going on now," Moore said.

Financial issues will always be a challenge as well.

“I don’t think you’ll ever see the shore because the horizon keeps moving; at least now we have a ship and we’re on the voyage,” Moore said.


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