Oceanside Unified rolls out school technology plan


Oceanside Unified rolls out school technology plan

The Oceanside Unified School District is introducing a technology plan that would provide one-to-one digital devices, and allow teachers to tailor lessons and curriculum to meet individual students’ needs.

This month, Chief Technology Officer Greg Moon presented the school board with the plan, which calls for adding one-to-one electronic devices in all classrooms over the next three years, starting with high school students next school year, and then expanding to middle school and elementary school grades.

“The goal is to have all high schools outfitted one-to-one next year, so teachers have all the equipment, software, they need and students have devices they need, so we can switch pedagogy in classrooms to more 21st century, blended learning approaches,” Moon said.

Third- through 12th-graders would be assigned Chromebooks, while younger students in kindergarten through third grade would receive tablets with touch screen capability. Those would be replaced on a four-year rolling schedule. The district will provide advanced Chromebooks and iPads for teachers, he said.

“One of the things we would like to do is un-tether people from walls, and allow the teacher to work the classroom as facilitators of learning,” Moon said.

The system would support personalized learning programs, which give students some choice in their educational experiences, provide data on student performance, and use the data to tailor individual or small group instruction with different levels of support, he said.

Oceanside Unified employs two instructional coaches, and will use online training systems to familiarize teachers with the new systems. It has extensive internet coverage, and will purchase additional Wi-Fi coverage, expanding it from classrooms to common areas of schools, Moon said.

The technology systems will cost $1 million next year, and $1.2 million the next year, rising $200,000 per year until it peaks at $2 million annually in the fifth year, he said.

The proposed plan is based on a system called the “Future Ready Framework” for educational technology. The framework, developed by the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit, provides guidance on elements including curriculum, instruction and assessment, data and privacy, infrastructure, teacher training and others.




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