The Dexter Leader
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Logging on to the future
Ambitions for bond money go far beyond high-speed computers
By Sean Dalton, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2008
If the upcoming school bond renewal could be categorized by a dominant theme, it would probably be technology.
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That alone accounts for more than 25 percent of the overall outlay of the $47.9 million.
More than $12.6 million will be invested into network infrastructure upgrades that the district hopes will translate into meeting the greater demands throughout the six school buildings, and potentially an additional school built in the future.
That money will also be spent on "remodeled classrooms" or the "classroom of tomorrow," as it has been called in the past.
These multimedia-networked classrooms will be designed to streamline communication between student and teacher, as well as provide new tools for teaching and learning.
Parents in the district who know how important technology is are in favor of the bond, according to Joe Nowak, owner of Absolute Computer Services on Main Street.
Nowak has a daughter who will be in kindergarten next year and a son who will be in third grade, and he wants them to be exposed to computers at school as well as at home.
"The computer nowadays is kind of like a telephone," Nowak said. "It is a social tool as well as an educational tool. Homework assignments are online a lot nowadays, and from what I understand it's kind of tough to do your homework and take tests without an opportunity to use the computer and other different types of technology in school."
Nowak's list of desires for technology in the school system, particularly during his kids' time there, is well covered by the district's proposed remodeled classrooms.
Document cameras will allow teachers to show detailed drawings, three-dimensional renderings and photos for class review and discussion. Even a small object such as a coin can be magnified and projected for an entire class to inspect down to the tiniest detail.
Wireless feedback devices or "clickers" are as simple to use as remote controls.
They will allow students to answer multiple-choice, true/false, yes/no, and survey-style questions immediately as teachers pose those questions to the class. Results are instantly tabulated and presented, allowing the teacher to gauge how well the lesson was received.
"Sound reinforcement systems" will take acoustic engineering out of the architect's hands by projecting a teacher's voice from a microphone that he or she is wearing to speakers at all corners of the classroom in surround-sound configuration. According to district officials, studies have shown that such systems improve learning.
The centerpiece of the new classroom will be interactive white boards or "Smart Boards," which are akin to large flat-screen computer monitors.
The interface is point or touch-driven, operating on the same principal as a mouse, with single clicks highlighting something displayed on the board and a double click opening a file or launching a program. Any work done on the white board can then be printed, e-mailed or posted online for the entire class to access in a variety of ways.
The boards even have character recognition software embedded into their design, so that notes written with special board pens can be translated to type.
The demands of education have changed since Nowak was in school, and simply setting up a couple of computer labs with a couple of dozen or so Apple IIe desktop units (or today's equivalent) is no longer adequate.
Things are much more complex these days, Nowak said.
"Wireless networking and audio-visual technology has changed a lot since I've been in school," he said. "As a professional I can see that it is a pretty integral part of an education these days."
Nowak likes the idea of a classroom rich in technology; a district should keep up with technology as much as possible.
"Once kids reach a higher level of education, I would say it's pretty crucial to be learning current processors, software and operating systems," he said. "Even just using Office 2007 as opposed to an earlier version of that is important."
The district's plan is to introduce newer technology into computer labs at Dexter Community High School and roll the equipment back down to the middle school and further down to the lower grades as it becomes older, and newer, more cutting-edge technology is introduced back into the high school.
NASCOM Group Inc. of West Bloomfield will consult with the district to nail down the specifics of what to order, where to install it and how to parcel out the work during the district's three-phase upgrade plan.
"NASCOM will be working with feedback from staff and teachers to purchase what is needed," said Supt. Evelynn Shirk.
According to Technology Supervisor Dick Weaver, NASCOM was chosen for its success in Ann Arbor schools.
"We thought we could work with them," he said. "They are experts, but we bring a lot to the table - there is always the uniqueness of what we see in Dexter."
Weaver said the white boards make sense for kids in Dexter Schools, where close interaction between teachers and students is one of the keys to success.
"The boards are tied to a data projector and mapped back to a computer," Weaver explained. "And the teacher and kids can interact on it," bringing everyone in the classroom closer together.
"These upgrades will make kids more efficient learners."
Weaver said that teachers are already writing grant proposals for the equipment rather than waiting for Tuesday's bond vote. Many teachers have received grants from the Dexter Education Foundation for white boards, particularly at Wylie Elementary.
"The game plan is if our bond passes, we want to incorporate this concept into every classroom," Weaver said, indicated that there are almost 200 classrooms in the district across all six school buildings.
"Kids will not have to worry about having this stuff in one grade and not another," Weaver said.
While consistent exposure to new technology in school is important, Nowak reminds people that sometimes a child's only chance to be exposed to technology is in the school setting.
"Believe it or not, there are people who still don't have computers, which makes that exposure in school even more important," Nowak said.
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