Educational Research Service Making a Difference in Our Children’s Future 
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Educational Research Service Making a Difference in Our Children’s Future
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ERS Successful School Practices
A selection of successful practices, programs, and ideas contributed by school districts to the ERS Successful School Practices Collection and announced in the ERS periodical, Successful School Practices, mailed to ERS Comprehensive subscribers three times a year.
Winter 2001
District Pursues External Funding to
Achieve Technology Excellence
Washington County Schools, North Carolina
Although Washington County Schools (WCS) is a rural district with more than 70 percent of its students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, the district staff is determined to provide students with the expanded educational opportunities that technology can provide.
With the support of Technology Literacy Challenge Fund Grants, the district has created a technology plan that is aggressively and effectively integrating technology into the curriculum. In 1997, WCS applied for and received a five-year renewable Technology Literacy Challenge Fund grant. Yearly amounts ranging from $75,000 to $100,000 have enabled the district to:
Technology Centers
Technology Centers house computers, multimedia equipment, scanners, and software. The centers are used for staff development and as computer labs for students. Equipment in the centers is available for check-out so that teachers can integrate it into their curriculum.
Three of the Technology Centers contain 14 dual-platform computers (Macintosh with PC card or Virtual PC), additional Macintosh computers purchased with other funds, and various multimedia equipment (scanners, digital cameras, LCD projector, etc.). The last Technology Center to be set up contains 20 wireless PC laptops to allow for mobility and various multimedia equipment.
Technology Leadership Academies
Through the Technology Leadership Academies, district educators are provided with technology training over the course of two years. The academies are designed to enable educators to fulfill the district requirement that they complete 50 hours of technology training or five renewal credits every five-year renewal cycle. Academy participants must complete a minimum of 27 in-class hours and 23 out-of-class hours.
The in-class hours are provided by Technology Leaders in the district. Technology Leaders are two individuals at each school who provide on-site technology training and support to their school. For a minimum of seven hours support and training a month, they receive a $100 stipend.
In-class training focuses on word processing, spreadsheets, databases, multimedia (HyperStudio, Kid Pix, and/or PowerPoint, depending on the grade level), Internet integration, digital cameras, scanners, and maintenance and troubleshooting. After the initial 15 hours in the summer or after school (at the beginning of the year), follow-up sessions are offered monthly.
To complete the out-of-class hours, participants must read journal articles, complete Internet research, view technology videos, visit local businesses to see how technology is used, and conduct interviews at local businesses or organizations. Participants document what they find in each case by answering several questions (for example, How can you use this information in your classroom?).
Participants are also required to take part in the Technology Fair, a culminating event that students, parents, and community members attend at the end of each school year. At the Technology Fair, teachers demonstrate how they have used technology in the classroom, administrators show how they have used it in their areas of responsibility, and students demonstrate technology-integrated projects they have completed.
To receive technology renewal credit, participants submit a portfolio documenting their in-class and out-of-class hours, as well as a lesson plan that includes technology integration (for teachers) or a technology-integrated project in their area of responsibility (for administrators).
Innovatively Challenging Classrooms
The Innovatively Challenging Classrooms (ICCs) are model electronic classrooms with seven iMacs at the elementary school, and seven wireless iBooks at the middle school and high school level. Using a wide variety of problem-based learning activities, ICC teachers integrate the technology they have available into the curriculum.
The ICCs are “open-door” classrooms that are available for other teachers to visit. ICC teachers share the curricula and activities they have developed with other teachers.
Additional Technology Initiatives
WCS also has actively pursued other sources of funding. For example, e-rate discounts have saved the district about $300,000. Four years ago, the district entered into a lease-to-purchase agreement for about $300,000 worth of hardware and software, bringing the student-to-computer ratio down to 5:1 for multimedia equipment and 3:1 for basic computers.
Additional technology initiatives in the district include “North Carolina Information Highway” rooms at both of the district’s high schools. These rooms allow for videoconferencing between the schools and other Information Highway sites. This provides students with additional course offerings that the district could not afford to offer otherwise.
Some of the classes are Honors Chemistry, Literature in Theater, and Criminal Justice. These facilities also provide additional opportunities for staff development and college course offerings.
Both high schools offer a Computer Engineering Course and a Network Engineering Course to students. The Computer Engineering Course introduces the basic skills needed to safely configure, build, upgrade, diagnose, and maintain computers and peripherals.
The Network Engineering Technology Class introduces the fundamentals of networks and their operation. Emphasis is placed on the skills needed to design and maintain networks, install cabling, and configure routers and switches.
“Washington County Schools knew we had to prepare our teachers and students for a constantly changing technological and global society,” says Julie Gurganus, Coordinator of Instructional Technology for WCS.
“Our teachers need to integrate technology seamlessly. If we do not provide the resources and opportunities for teachers and students to use technology, then our students will not be ready for the 21st century.”
Educators in Washington County Schools have refused to let lack of resources stand in the way of providing the tools their students need to achieve their fullest potential. The district was recognized by the National School Boards Association’s Technology Leadership Network for using technology to create improved teaching and learning environments.
It also was recognized in a video presentation at the 2000 Technology+ Learning Conference in Denver, Colorado, and was publicized in the January 2001 issue of Electronic School, available at www.electronic-school.com.
For more information about Washington County Schools’ technology initiatives, contact:
Julie Gurganus
Coordinator of Instructional Technology
802 Washington St.
Plymouth, NC 27962
Tel: 252-793-5171, ext. 245
Email: jgurganus@washingtonco.k12.nc.us.
Contributed by:
Julie Gurganus
Coordinator of Instructional Technology
Washington County Schools
North Carolina
Superintendent:
Ralph A. Waltman
(enrollment: 2,430)
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Copyright © 2001 Educational Research Service. All rights reserved.
