Our Technology Legacy
Due to the a cooperative vision of the School Board and key administrative leaders and classroom teachers the MSD of Wayne has had a focus on advancing student achievement with the use of technology where it could most assist. In the late 1990’s, with the potential of the Internet to provide rich material for student learning and expanding the walls of the classroom, a focus was placed on projection technology. In 2000 the first 250 classroom projection systems were installed in the first of five schools and in 2008 all 900+ classrooms in the district had “PresenStations” (Projector, PC, VCR/DVD, sound-field) as digital presentation tools with very simple controls for all facilitators and learners. Using presentation technologies to illustrate and capture the power of emerging Internet opportunities, the MSD of Wayne staff then began to utilize newly available student handheld devices for learning. This began in 2005 by placing over 1400 Palms in the hands of students and expanding the use of laptops in the intermediate grades. Online learning has been at the forefront of our efforts for over ten years when we partnered with Angel Learning Labs in the late 19990’s and began the Indiana Online Academy as well as the extensive current roster of online classes which now allow students to pursue multiple pathways to graduation. Through these offerings, 6th -12th grade students are to able the take a course for the first time or recover credits. This virtual option for learning has dramatically increased our student’s rates of retention, course completion, and graduation. The Data warehouse that is currently used by the school district was developed at a time when schools were not accustomed to the idea and the software to keep track of k12 data was not within grasp. After a few years of development, In 2002 the “K-12 Datamine” went live and was followed by the visionary development of the Personal Education Plan (PEP) component to allow staff, parents and students to have a portal to view all pertinent student data. The system is now in use throughout central Indiana.
In the Spring of 2009 It was determined that a shift was needed to our long term technology vision, to include a bigger paradigm change that reflects what is happening in culture. A “TechVision Committee” of administrators and teachers was formed to envision the future of our schools and then what role technology would have to attain this. Using live and online wiki collaboration, the committee detailed a clear long term vision. With a focus on connecting the technology that students are currently using outside of school with the technology knowledge and skills currently embedded in the curriculum, a clear and more aligned future continues to be built. The direction of the TechVision committee could not be accomplished without a change in the Acceptable Use Policy. Work began in earnest by a Acceptable Use Policy Review Committee in the winter of 2009 to create a new proposal based on responsible use of web and digital tools. Using a wiki site again as well as live collaboration meetings, the committee met through the spring of the year and produced the current Responsible Use Policy recently approved by the School Board. The policy is evidence of the direction that the district has embraced and demonstrated over the past three years. On a high level it allows for personal devices at schools, fully access and utilize Web 2.0 resources and to integrate responsibility into every one's concept of digital access and use. This is a formalization of the current conversations taking place in the schools between administrators, teaching staff and students to increase understanding of user responsibility in our new social media age. Schools are now considering what aspects of responsible use are best suited to their objectives and considering modification of school codes and rules to provide for the best learning environment for their students.
