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| Striving to Serve Students and Staff |
The Department of Technology Resources strives to provide teachers and staff with the technology resources needed to complete work tasks and improve student learning. The use of technology permeates all aspects of personal and professional lives and is now a vital part of every day. The school district mains a 100MB fiber cable wide area network (WAN) with 21 physical servers, 24 virtual servers and approximately 1,500 desktops, laptops, and other mobile devices. The district provides all teachers with an internet-enabled computer, an email account, and the Microsoft Office Suite. In addition to classroom computers, each school has standard and mobile computer labs and each elementary school has a Literacy/Writing. Typically, elementary students attend the computer labs one time per week for 30 minutes. There are over 100 Promethean interactive whiteboards thoughtout the school district, with more being added each year. We have recently completed the installion of wirless networks in each school which will allow us to add more mobile devices for students.
Teachers and administrative staff also use a student management system, InformationNOW, to manage attendance, grade reporting, and student demographic information. Additionally, numerous instructional software programs and online resources are used in every school to enhance learning and reinforce curriculum concepts.
The technology department works to maintain local area and wide area networks by enhancing data wiring and network equipment. Internet filtering software is used in an attempt to protect students and staff from inappropriate information on the internet. Virus control and anti-spam software are also used to protect computers and the network from computer viruses and spam mail. The school district has and "Internet and Computer Acceptable Use Policy" that outlines acceptable uses of the internet and the equipment provided by the district. Employees and students are expected to abide by the policies outlined in this document.
The integration of technology into the curriculum is a priority. This goals of this department are to help teachers identify ways to enhance their curricula goals with the use of technology and improve their personal productivity by utilize technology tools. Student technology competencies are outlined in the Alabama Technology Course of Study. This document helps teachers identify appropriate technology activities based on grade level. To help achieve these goals, various technology-related staff development opportunities are offered to teachers during the school year and during the summer.
The department welcomes suggestions for improvement and volunteers. Please feel free to contact us or drop by our office at any time. The office telephone number is (256) 233-6600, extension 1121.
