Personal Remote Responders Debut at Socorro Consolidated Schools

January Sees Great Changes in SCSD Technology

As promised in December, Santa was more than generous to the staff and students of Socorro Consolidated Schools. In what is best described as a record-breaking month, SCSD’s Technology Department unveiled its new DS3 Internet service, the new wireless network at four schools and Central Office, the distribution of the new Asus 1005HA mini-laptops and, last but hardly the least, the deployment of the new Beyond Question Personal Remote Response System units. An initial total of 15 sets of responders have been placed with the six school libraries throughout the district for use by teachers in their classrooms.

Personal response systems, often referred to as clickers, utilize a technology similar to that seen on game shows like “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” where the audience is “polled” for the answer to a question. Research has shown that responders in a classroom improve student engagement and interest, creating a more interactive learning environment where every child has a chance to participate.

Research also has proven that clickers improve a teacher’s ability to achieve instructional goals. Clickers help teachers instantly check to see if students understand a particular skill or piece of knowledge. According to Director of Technology Vern Smith, this is a great benefit to both teachers and students.

”As a teacher, I am constantly concerned about two things. First, I want to be sure my students are into the lesson, paying attention and on-task.” Smith said. “Secondly, I need to know if they ‘get it’ and can apply use what they’ve learned. The personal remote responders help me accomplish both of those goals.”

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New Technologies Arrive at Socorro Consolidated Schools

Deployment of Mini-Laptops Offers Great Long-Term Potential

Sarracino Mini-Grant Winners Vince Gargotta, Holly Mayfield, Andrea Edmondson and Margaret Stanley with Technologist Grabiel Silva

Photo by Shanee Tafoya, Socorro HS, Copyright 2010

The Technology Department is pleased to announce that the first mini-laptops purchased by the district have been deployed to classroom teachers and the new model lab under construction at Sarracino Middle School.

Using funds from both the local school bond and the grant from Enhancing Education Through Technology, SCSD purchased 85 Asus Model 1005HA mini-laptops after an extensive comparison of various models. The Asus 1005HA is an elegant yet sturdy model that does almost everything that the district’s standard Apple Mac Mini PC’s do, but at a fraction of the cost.

The first 50 mini-laptops were awarded to 16 teachers through an in-district grant application process. The award winners were:

PARKVIEW: Denise Contreras, Kristi DelCurto, Janice Jaramillo

SAN ANTONIO: John Dennis

SOCORRO HS: Gloria Baca, Laurie Heintz, Cecilia Huang

SARRACINO: Andrea Edmondson, Vincent Gargotta, Holly Mayfield, Margaret Stanley

ZIMMERLY: Sarah Claussen, Diedra Vinson

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New DS3 Internet Service Arrives at SCSD

Noticeable Improvement in Bandwidth is Predicted

The Technology Department is pleased to announce that SCSD has finally implemented its new DS3 Internet service through Qwest.

The installation ends a 14-month process that began with the approval of SCSD’s 2008-2011 Technology Plan, first presented to the School Board in October, 2008. In that plan, increased Internet connectivity was identified as one of SCSD’s greatest technology needs. 90% of the cost for the new service is funded by Schools and Library Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administration Company (USAC) through a program commonly known as Erate.

The final pieces of the installation process were completed by Integrated Technologies, a local Socorro vendor, on Wednesday, December 23. Other than a minor delay in the receipt of external email, the transfer of service and the associated Domain Name System (DNS) conversions were virtually invisible, thanks largely to the Christmas Vacation across the district for students and staff.

The new service represents a major step for educational technology across the district. With increased demand for online testing, resources, research and distance learning, SCSD now has bandwidth that is more than ample to serve the needs of all. The increased data transfer rates from 3 mega bits per second (mbps) to 45 mbps will be more than noticeable, according to Director of Technology Vern Smith.

Major Changes Coming for Classroom Technology

Santa Will Bring Bags of Goodies to SCSD in 2010

Many of us have experienced the incredible rush of activity and energy that made the first half of the 2009-2010 school year at Socorro Consolidated Schools fly by. We are approaching Christmas vacation and the end of the first semester, most have found themselves buried in great work and accomplishments. The 2008-2009 school year seems like it was a time long ago in a faraway galaxy.

Things have been equally busy in the Technology Department, and this has definitely been a time full of challenges and accomplishments. Tech is continuing the transition from a “hardware/software/cable” mentality to a greater focus on educational technology that serves the students and educators at SCSD. The changes have the potential to be truly transformational if we can take advantage of the new capabilities at our disposal.

We have already experienced the addition of teacher web pages through our new webhosting solution. These pages can be accessed and viewed at http://myschooldesk.net/socorro through an easy-to-use search feature. SCSD also successfully completed the $1.4 million federally-funded project that improved the technology infrastructure at Sarracino, Parkview, Zimmerly and Midway.

There is great anticipation for additional changes that have in the works for several months. When school re-opens following the Holiday Season, there will be more new opportunities for students and teachers to experience technology in the classroom.

SCSD Teachers To Begin Creating Their Own Web Sites

School Desk to Help Improve Communications and Sharing

As part of the implementation of Socorro Consolidated Schools’ new web hosting program through School Desk, all teachers will be encouraged to create web sites for the classes that they teach. The goal is to improve communications and the sharing of information between teachers and their students (and the students’ families).

This new project was developed by the Technology Department for several reasons. First, several innovative teachers were already creating their own web pages through a number of different providers, and the School Desk solution will give all teachers a single source for their web hosting needs.

The site is very user friendly, so parents and students will be able to easily search and locate the home page for any teacher. Pages are easy to create and modify, and teachers can create as many pages as they need. Teachers will love the site because there are a number of great modules that can be included on their page.

Some of the modules immediately available will allow teachers to publish Announcements, Assignments, Blogs, Calendars, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s), Recommended Links, School Supply Lists, and Surveys. Teachers can also upload digital video and audio media that will stream ON their website’s built-in media player.

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Socorro Consolidated Schools Approved for Erate Funding in 2009-2010

SCSD Receives over $151,000 to Support Communications

The Technology Department at Socorro Consolidated Schools is pleased to announce that SCSD has received its 2009-2010 Funding Commitment from the Schools and Libraries Divison of the Universal Service Administrative Company (commonly known as Erate) for a total of $151,289.60. This is the largest amount of Priority One funding that SCSD has ever received.

These funds will support several initiatives from the Technology Department. Most importantly, SCSD is upgrading its Internet service from two blended T1 lines that provide 3 mbps (mega bits per second) to a DS3 service which carries data at 45 mbps. This will dramatically increase the user experience for staff and students across the district and will also make streaming video/audio more accessible.

SCSD is also making dramatic imrovements to its web site with a new vendor, School Desk. Besides a new, crisp look, the site is “state-of-the-art” and it will allow users (teachers and students) to create and publish web content rather than reading content developed by a few at the district level (or from other web sites). This is the current trend in technology, often referred to as Web 2.0. Each school will have its own web site, created and managed by their own personnel with support from the Tech Department.

The funding will partially pay for the new district’s new wireless provider, Sprint, in addition to the monthly Qwest phone bills. Funding has also been approved to develop a faster, wireless connection between the Network Operations Center (on Franklin Street) and the two “remote” schools (Midway Elementary and San Antonio Elementary). The wireless project, however. is pending another joint venture that involves New Mexico Tech.

Consortium for 21st Century Learning Funded!

Socorro Consolidated Schools and Partners Win a $250,000 Grant

The Technology Department at Socorro Consolidated Schools is pleased to announce SCSD’s teachers will benefit from additional funding through the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) stimulus program from the Federal Government. As partners in the Consortium for 21st Century Learning (C21CL), SCSD will share in $250,000 dedicated to training teachers on how to integrate technology into their instructional practices.

The partnership falls under the umbrella of NMSU’s Regional Educational Technology Assistance program and includes Socorro Consolidated Schools (as the Local Educational Agency managing the funding), Carrizozo Municipal Schools, Dexter Consolidated Schools, Animas Public Schools, Las Cruces Public Schools, Lordsburg Municipal Schools and Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools. Please click HERE to download the complete 163-page grant application (prepared under the leadership of Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz From RETA RETA, and it is truly a masterpiece!)

SCSD will receive $35,000 through this program to fund professional development for technology integration by teachers and the GenYes program led by Sarracino’s Michael Torres. Included in SCSD’s allocation is an additional $16,000 for teacher stipends over the next two years. Combined with the district EETT grant awarded to SCSD, the Technology Department will have $31,000 in stipend funds available for teachers.

Socorro Consolidated Schools Receives $60,000 EETT Grant

Grant to Benefit Teachers and Students

On Friday, August 7, Dr. Cheryl Wilson received the long-awaited letter from Dr. Veronica Garcia, New Mexico’s Secretary of Education, with congratulations for having been awarded an Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) District Competitive Grant. The total allocation is for $60,000, including $15,000 committed to teacher stipends for technology training.

You can download and read the document that explains the entire project and its goals by clicking HERE. SCSD is still waiting for the State of New Mexico to release the award notification letters on Partnership grants, and SCSD could win another $35,000 (with an additional $16,000 dedicated to teacher stipends for technology training).

In summary, the awarded EETT project will create a model technology lab at Sarracino Middle School that will serve a number of functions. First, it provides a desperately-needed third lab for students to be used for work other than MAPS/Compass and basic technology classes. Secondly, the lab will include a variety of new technologies and video/audio production equipment that can be used by all students and teachers throughout the district.

Welcome Back to School

Great Things Happening in Technology

Welcome back from what we hope was a wonderful summer vacation full of rest, relaxation, fun and adventure! The start of school brings a high degree of energy and a fair dose of stress … just remember that we are all going to get through the next few days and that this is going to be a great year. From our perspective in Technology, this may be the most exciting year ever for our students and teachers.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Actually, it is really a good news-bad news thing. The good news is that our $1,000,000 replacement of cabling and the installation of a wireless network at Sarracino, Zimmerly, Parkview and Midway is approaching completion. The bad news, as a result of delays with USAC and our contractors, is that we are behind schedule. Yuck!

Please … excuse the inconveniences and focus on the benefits. Any interruptions are temporary and will be worth the struggle. Tech wishes that we could have done more to make this happen faster and be done by the start of school, but please be assured that we have done everything we could. We are still pushing the contractors.

Now, let’s get to the good news. First, it is good to see that many of the schools have invested their stimulus money into technology products! The recognition of the connection between technology and student engagement is a major step in working towards improving student learning, performance and achievement. The popular choices seem to be interactive whiteboards and remote response devices. Please remember that technology needs to be properly blended with curriculum and pedagogical skills to be effective, and the Tech Team is prepared to help you in your lesson planning.

Let’s get to the really cool changes …

Technology Integration in the Classroom

A Summer Reading List for Teachers

Wow! We are already approaching the end of July and that means the start of school isn’t too far away. I am personally looking forward to this coming year as I get a chance to get back into the classroom, teaching one period a day at the high school. “Digital Media Arts” is a dual credit course with Western New Mexico University, and the first semester is Photoshop!

The class will be available on Moodle, a FREE online learning management system, and I will make it open for every teacher to see. It will be a model for what we will call “Hybrid” on-line learning. There will be more to follow about hybrid (or blended) learning in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I hope you will take a moment to look up some of the following articles about technology integration. (Most should be available from INFOTRAC from Marian Royal’s Library Media Center for Socorro High School). Given some of the peace and quiet that comes during the summer months, I personally scanned through at least 100 articles to share the best with you while keeping myself ahead of the learning curve. I promise you that you won’t be disappointed and there is at least one good article for every single teacher regardless of grade level or content area.

Where possible, an online reference has been given … if you would like a printed copy of the artcile, you may stop by the Tech Office and make a copy for your personal use.

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