So you have a brand new school...

Hi all. This is my first post to this forum. I'm looking for some ideas. I've just become principal of a brand new elementary school. It is being built in a few weeks and I may have some influence in what goes in. A dream come true but where to start?

What would you guys ask for technology-wise to be put in each classroom and throughout the school in general? I've decided that I want our communication system to be as Web 2.0 as possible but can't think where to start aside from a school blog web site.

If you do have any ideas, I'd appreciate it.

Simon

Tags: new, school

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on June 11, 2008 at 8:56pm

Our class has 6 classroom desktops (+2 teacher stations), projector in ceiling (a must), Airliner (tablet that writes on the screen), digital cameras, video camera, and a bunch of other stuff that I wouldn't consider necessities. We also have access to laptop carts on wheels (COWS). We have done tons of Web 2.0 stuff, let me know if you'd like to see what we've done. N.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Simon Lewis on June 12, 2008 at 12:26am

That would be great, Nancy. Any other ideas?

There's been a lot of talk over here (in Ireland) about very cheap laptops, specifically made for children - Elonex - any experiences?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lorraine on June 26, 2008 at 8:53pm

I work in a K-6 school. Each of the teachers have an iBook that they can use for record keeping, research, professional development. With 18 teachers we share 4 LCD projectors which is not enough so I would recommend an LCD projector in each room (ceiling mounted) if you had the funding. I don't have an interactive whiteboard, but many schools do. If we get one, it might be good to have a portable one so that it can be shared until funding allows for each classroom to have one. Each teacher has a digital camera that is used frequently for all kinds of web 2.0 activities including voicethread, powerpoint slidehows for open houses, newsletters etc. The applications we use include Kid Pix, Office, http://www.scratch.mit.edu (Scratch), http://www.voicethread.com and the DiscoverE virtual classroom through http://www.compued.com.au We have a computer lab and printer but we are looking at setting up a second lab with laptops so that teachers can schedule additional time with a computer during the school week. One other tool that I use all of the time is an Olympus digital recorder. It's great for student recordings that can be used in podcasts. We also have one videocamera that we share.