Technology meeting for 18 November

An agenda of sort – please mail me if anything else should be added. This is still a very ‘early days’ formation of a tech committee. I made a tofu cheesecake with fruit and sweetened with maple syrup (real not imitation maple) if you need food.

Firstly we are working on crafting a mission statement I have received two edits of what was sent out a few days ago:

I. Mission statement – a start – the first one is toward a general public based Mission Statement the second is for in house teacher/staff training.

1. The mission of technology at Albany Academy and Albany Academy for Girls is to optimize, enhance, and expedite creative and critical thinking in a technology-based global society. Technology is integrated into cross-discipline curriculums in order to develop the cognitive skills necessary to communicate in a diverse global culture.

Software and hardware available in each department prepare students for life-long learning whether in the arts and academics. Technology in the Academies encourages problem solving, exploration, and learning in and out of the classroom, promoting higher-order thinking and technological literacy within a student-centered learning environment.

A different version of the second paragraph is:

Technology prepares students for life-long learning whether in the arts and academics. It encourages problem solving, exploration, and learning in and out of the classroom, promoting higher-order thinking and technological literacy.

2. The technology department at the Academies will provide access and training of technology for all staff. Technology should not drive the curriculum but should be used as an appropriate tool in the learning process and training will facilitate this. The technology mission of the technology staff is to provide leadership and guidance for faculty, administration, and other school personnel in the areas of hardware, software, application, and usage to support and enhance the instructional program for students across all curricular areas.

II. Setting of a time to meet that would be best suited. For example, meeting once a month at 5.30 as was done in the past so as to include teachers doing sports after school.

II.. Teacher’s webpages (should this be a requirement by next year?)

III. Use of grant money we have for software and hardware,

IV. Video streaming – this is a very new, as of this week, project that Capital Region BOCES is setting up and I am hoping we can be a trial school for this. Video streaming would include going both ways for content, we would be able to use their library of some 8,000 instructional titles in our classrooms and we would be able to put content from here, ie. Musicals, concerts, sports on line for the community

V. Cross curriculum courses such as Project lead the way which would be a collaboration of math, science and computer departments as well as cross curriculum courses between the computer/art/music/drama departments and the history/English/computers departments

VI. Should we communicate via a blog?