Feb 2005 :::

LT Community Advisory Council Minutes

February 16, 2005

Edline and Technology at LT ~ Part II


I.   LTCAC Call to Order (7:00 pm)

Frank Painter called the meeting to order.

A.   Minutes

The members in attendance unanimously accepted the minutes as written for the January 19, 2005 meeting.

B.   Announcement

Volunteers were solicited for two committees: Nominating Committee (will work on finding co-chair replacements) and Recommendation Committee (will fine tune and present LTCAC recommendations to the School Board at their monthly meetings)

II.   Superintendent Report - Dr. Dennis Kelly (7:15 PM)

A new Athletic Director (one of three excellent finalists) will be selected by noon 2/17. A new Assistant Director for Physical Education (prior LTHS graduate) has already been hired.

Dr. Kelly reported LTHS’s participation at the College of DuPage Job Fair (2500 candidates) proved to be a great tool in finding qualified candidates for many of the staff/faculty positions, which have yet to be filled. Fifty-two (52) staff members helped interview over 1000 candidates at the fair as unpaid volunteers.

Dr. Kelly rated the recent 5 th Annual All School Assembly as the second best ever, coming after the first, which was so good because of its novelty and newness.

The Freshman Class of 2005 will consist of +/- 1000 students. Total school enrollment in 2009 will be +3800. LTHS is in the top percentile for size in the USA.

A LTCAC member asked whether more counselors were being hired to help cope with anticipated increase in student headcount. Dr. Kelly mentioned that this is an issue that is currently being considered. The new positions would have to be approved within 60 days in order to have them filled for the 2005-2006 calendar year.


III.   School Board Member Report - Mark Pera (7:15 PM)

All three construction projects under consideration for South Campus have been approved. The projects were approved because of need. Project pricing came in at one million dollars less than the first set of bids that was submitted for the projects. A handout detailing the scope of the projects from a meeting that took place immediately before the LTCAC meeting was available for LTCAC membership. Mr. Pera welcomed the council members to read the handout and keep up with the project’s progress on the LT website.

The financial forecast for the LT school district looks great for the next eight (8) years. There will be no tax increases or referendums. Monies from UPS, the sale of the Willow Springs property and other sources are responsible for this unusually comfortable position.



IV.   Review LTCAC Edline table suggestions from the 1.19.2005 meeting (7:20 pm)

Frank reminded people to look at the table discussion topics from the last meeting (included in the minutes). He identified the following consensus issues from the discussion:

  1. Edline use should be considered mandatory for staff.
  2. Frequency of updating Edline information should be somewhere between one month and two weeks, closer to the two week interval.

Frank also reminded the membership that Recommendation Committee volunteers are needed to "boil down" the table discussion results from the last meeting and develop formal recommendations that can be presented to the School Board at the next meeting. The Recommendation Committee membership would be responsible for both of these tasks.

Kimberly Gerken and Rebecca Rivan gave a presentation on their roles as Technology Staff Developers. They presented a handout that reflected district requests, class requests, levels of training achieved by staff members, examples of how teachers and students use technology or are benefited by the Individualized Technology Program.

ITP is a volunteer program for faculty. It is geared toward expanding the faculty proficiency with software and hardware available to them and to address specific issues on an individual need basis.

Teachers are tested for baseline technological ability (for Outlook, GradeQuick, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Excel) to assess their levels of expertise. Surveys were conducted to assess what training the teachers wanted to receive and also identify their levels of comfort.

Ten teachers are trained per semester and fifty have been trained to date in the ITP. The goal is to bring ten new teachers per semester.

Kimberly and Rebecca thought that with the influx of almost 50 new staff personnel, they would need some assistance in the training program. Their biggest concern was introducing GradeQuick and Edline to all the new personnel. They did expect the new personnel to have a higher baseline of technological expertise because of their age and familiarity with college systems.

They envisioned "specialists" that could assist in training by department and help integrate software and technology use for individual situations.
Microsoft Office Certification is available for teachers who pass the testing offered through ITP.

Edline use is evolving as teachers become more adept in software application.

ITP is working on grant development to help secure funding and assistance for their various programs.

Kimberly estimated that the teachers use the ITP program as much for developing their proficiency as for developing technology in their respective curriculums.

Introduce Teacher Panel

  1. Kristen Campbell, Applied Arts

  2. George Lowen, Global Studies

  3. Guido Arquilla, Physical Education

  4. Will Meuer, Global Studies

  5. Michelle Meuer, Language Arts

  6. Linda Gilmore, Math/Science

  7. Rebecca Baudler, Math/Science

Guest attendee: David Sellers, LTHS Business Manager

Question 1: How is technology incorporated into classes/teaching? Give specific examples.

  1. Online testing

  2. Web Access for homework assignments

  3. Computer Assisted Drawing

  4. Computers in classroom

  5. 3D Model software

  6. Turnitin.com
    Proxima (LCD projector) classroom presentations (approximately 25 in use today, 15 budgeted for 2005-2006 school year)

  7. Edline (in lieu of textbooks, for assignments, for notes, etc.)

  8. Graphing Calculators

  9. Computer Based Ranger (math department)

  10. PowerPoint for notes

  11. Classes comported in the Discovery Center

  12. VCR/TV  

Is Technology applied through all levels? If not, why? 

  1. Some students/parents do not have access to computers

  2. Labs are used more for the trans students because they are the group least likely to have computers at home.

  3. All software available to students at school is not necessarily available at home (e.g.: Microsoft Publisher)  

Are you aware of software/hardware or technology that would enhance your curriculum? Would you and how would you incorporate this into your classroom?  

  1. Video conferencing capabilities are desired at both campuses. The equipment that would be most effective would cost about $12,000 to get both campuses equipped. IT support would also be required to help set up the calls. TV’s would have to also be available.

  2. Proximas are in demand and there are not enough for the number of faculty that would like to use them.

  3. Proximas that are not hardwired/mounted into the classroom are problematic. The equipment cart takes up the space of a student and some classrooms are already too crowded to accommodate the carts. Cords running from the cart to the wall present tripping hazards.  

Are you given opportunities to review new software/hardware? How could these opportunities be expanded?  

  1. Because of the school network, software testing is not a realistic option.

  2. Supply a few computers (in ITP Labs) per campus that are "off the network" to be used specifically for software testing.  

How do departments include technology in developing the curriculum or department goals?  

  1. Access to hardware drives some of the curricular development. If hardware is available, teachers want to use it.

  2. In some cases lack of IT expertise with the faculty precludes technology development in the curriculum.

  3. Accelerated classes have been given some study/project goals that incorporate technology.

  4. Technology is not currently mandated as part of the school curriculum.

  5. Literacy skills and plagiarism are considered to be a better focus than teaching "technology" per se. 

Do you have the technology tools adequate to accomplish your curricular goals?  

  1. Sharing hardware is problematic when you had exclusive access in the past.

  2. Mounted Proximas would work best if teachers did not have to share classrooms.

  3. IT89 Calculators are desired by the Math department.

  4. Presence of technology drives the use. If it is not there for the teachers to use, they continue to use their old methods of teaching. (E.G. Wireless PDA’s would be a great addition for the PE department.)

  5. PDA’s to teach students how to use them and/or Tablet PC’s implemented through pilot programs would be welcome. 

Do you have difficulty getting lab time for your classes or avoid using the labs due to lack of availability?  

  1. Overbooking/non-realistic booking of the labs prohibits other teachers from lab access. Lab reservation system is frustrating. The lab availability issue seems to be prevalent at both campuses.

  2. Teachers thought that adding computer labs would be a good thing.

  3. Discovery Center access is a must for some teachers. When it is not available, it causes a breakdown in the way that class planning can be executed.

  4. The teachers did not want additional computer labs at the expense of classroom space.  

Do you know of technology programs in other districts that would benefit you or LT?  

  1. Tablet PC’s for note taking

  2. Paperless environment through better student access to computers
    is software available on the internet. Upload documents for downloading rather than clogging email servers with documents.

  3. Blackboard

Does anyone know the percentage of students who do not have access to computers?  

  1. No specific number, but it was thought that the Trans students had the least amount of access.  

How many of you travel to both campus or have students that travel to each campus? Are Webcasts a solution for you?  

  1. Dr. Kelly does not believe that Webcasts are the medium through which high school should be taught.

  2. By law, teachers must be physically present for a class to be taught.  

If there were no obstacles and unlimited funds, what would be your ideal classroom or curriculum? How would it incorporate the latest technology? (There are about 220 classrooms at LT.)  

  1. Have an average of 8 working computers per classroom.

  2. Have TV/VCR/DVD Player carts readily available for classroom use.

  3. Add two or three more computer labs.

  4. Add video conferencing equipment and support for both campuses.

  5. Provide Proxima (LCD) projectors as requested to the faculty as regular fixtures in their classrooms.  

Technology Development for LTHS Staff – Kimberly Gerken & Rebecca Rivan (Handout available on web) (7:22 PM)

 

Technology at LTHS (7:40 PM) 

Adjournment (9:05 PM)