Technology Grant Money at Work-SmartBoards for the Kids

Volume 37

Number 2

Spring 2006

By Cynthia Heupel
Public Relations Staff Assistant
Muskogee Public Schools

Sadler Arts Academy is a magnet school. Maudye Winget and her staff do an outstanding job of working with their students and have incorporated technology into career education in an exemplary manner.

Sadler students work on a new laptop computer Last spring, in 2005, Sadler Arts Academy applied for, and received, one of the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust (OETT/OK) Acts Technology Grants.

With that grant the academy requested a SmartBoard and an LCD projector for every classroom. They were also able to buy a teacher laptop for each classroom also.

They were to write their grant to three of the 10 Practices of High Achieving Schools, as documented in research. They were also required to write a "Shared Vision." Sadler also chose the practices of "Instructional Equity" and "Authentic Teaching and Learning."

The staff at Sadler shares a vision for excellence, which has been ongoing for the past 10 years. One of the original commitments by the staff was to bring equity to the group of impoverished students that Sadler serves.

As a part of their vision for equity, they have built Sadler's library collection to rival that of any public or private school. They have developed a staff that is second to none; a staff that understands the value of an education steeped in the arts. As a part of that vision for equity, Sadler now has wonderful SmartBoard technology in every regular classroom in their school.

Students touch the projected screen The SmartBoard allows direct instruction, but also it will be a tool to develop digital student portfolios, to be shared with parents by students. The SmartBoard also provides a venue for online field trips. They strive to provide a world-class education that will prepare students for the workplace. This is how SmartBoard technology assists with our collective commitment to instructional equity.

Another shared belief of Sadler's staff is authenticity. They have never used textbooks per se at Sadler. Textbooks exist in the school as just another resource for teaching and learning. SmartBoards allow Sadler's students to literally manipulate the computer screen with a touch of their hand. The online field trips and the primary sources that students have access to through the SmartBoard, address the need for authenticity.

About the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust. . .

The mission of the OETT/OK Acts is to equip Oklahoma public schools and CareerTech students with the technology and technological skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. In August 2005, $75,000 technology grants were awarded to 20 schools from across the state. In August 2006, grants will again be awarded to 20 schools.

The 20 new grants in 2005 brought the three-year award total to 62 Oklahoma public schools in an $8.68 million granting initiative designed to improve student achievement and create professional learning communities in schools statewide.

In 2006, schools that have completed the OETT/OK-ACTS Phase I are eligible to apply for Phase II grants of up to $50,000 in technology equipment and $25,000 in professional development through OK-ACTS and focused on systemic change and professional learning communities. Phase I includes a year-long leadership development for school administrators designed to involve them in a school improvement framework called IDEALS and 10 key practices of high achieving schools.

In these grant applications, administrators will describe how technology will help them implement three practices of high achieving schools.