What’s ed technology really about? In Ithaca, focus is teaching, not tools

On Board Online • June 9 2014

By George Basler
Special Correspondent

In a fifth-grade classroom in the Ithaca City School district, students haven’t been writing compositions the time-honored way. Instead, they research and write blog entries that are posted on their websites.

And instead of traditional reports, they create multi-media projects, such as a recent one on the Incas using the Prezi software and storytelling tool. The destination of their finished work? Personal websites.

These are two examples of how teachers in the Ithaca City School District are using technology in their classrooms as part of an effort that has gained national recognition for this upstate district and its superintendent, Luvelle Brown.

The National School Boards Association recently selected Brown, who came to Ithaca about three years ago, as one of the “20 to Watch” educators. The annual designation recognizes educators who are pushing innovative technology.

Brown also has been named as one of the nation’s eight most “tech savvy” school superintendents by eSchool News, a leading educational publication that covers the melding of education with technology.

“Dr. Brown has taken this district to a much different place than it was just a few short years ago,” said school board President Rob Ainslie. “Beyond the use of any particular device or system, he’s changed the culture of our district to embrace the use of technology.”

Brown stresses: “I’m no techie. I’m an instructional leader.” What’s happening in Ithaca is not a technology initiative, but an instructional one. It focuses on integrating technology into the curriculum to enhance teaching and learning and engage students, he said.

Fifth-grade teacher Brian VanGorder has seen the changes. When he taught fourth grade in Ithaca two years ago as a student teacher, only one computer cart was in place for his entire floor. Now, each of his students has a wireless device and website. He mixes traditional classroom practices, such as book groups and hands-on projects, with technology.

“I came here because I wanted a forward-looking district,” said VanGorder, who is finishing his first year of teaching in Ithaca.

One impetus for Ithaca’s technology expansion was a strategic plan developed in-house with input from the community. The plan spells out what the community wants in terms of classroom instruction and skills students need to master, Brown said.

“We wanted young people to be collaborators, problems solvers, critical thinkers and write well. We knew we had to engage them in different ways to meet those needs,” he said. “That led to deep conversations about what engagement looks like in the classroom.”

As a result, the district made several technology improvements, despite budget problems:

• The district tapped $2 million in cost savings from a previous capital project to install ubiquitous wireless coverage with access to high speed Internet, even on playgrounds and in parking lots.
• The district finished installing interactive white boards in classrooms, libraries and gyms using money from another capital reserve fund.
• Officials renegotiated the district’s bandwidth contract to quadruple
• capacity.
• The district upgraded its website, including videos and a “Your Voice” portal that allows residents to submit comments and criticisms.

At the same time, the district’s technology budget has stayed flat at about $400,000 annually, Brown said. Officials have ways to work with BOCES to maximize resources, he said. For example, officials signed lease agreements with the local BOCES for tools, such as laptops and tablets. Ithaca’s tools now are five years old or less with one device for every two students.

Schools’ use of technology is evolving, so changes would have occurred no matter who was superintendent, said Adam Piasecki, president of the Ithaca Teachers Association. But Brown has shown “a strong passion” for the topic, he said, noting the upgrading of wireless coverage has been a key move.

But infrastructure upgrades are only part of the story. Ithaca isn’t focused on “the glitz” of technology, but integrating this technology into instruction, said Lee Ginenthal, a special education teacher on assignment as a training leader.

“It’s critically important for teachers to facilitate thinking that is being enhanced by the use of technology,” Brown said.

As part of its efforts, the district has hosted a national conference focused on educational innovation the past two summers and will do so again this year. The conference is followed by local work in curriculum development and lesson planning, Brown said.

The district also has expanded professional development opportunities in the summer, and it releases teachers one day per quarter during the school year for planning and training. The training has become more targeted to the classroom, including the use of technology, officials said.

Besides this, the district is piloting the use of computer game software to help English as a Second Language and special needs students learn
literacy skills.

Teachers are at various stages in the use of this technology, Ginenthal acknowledged. Some are totally comfortable while others are more cautious. “We’re getting more folks involved, not by mandating, but by providing support and encouragement,” he said.

There are also financial issues. Ithaca is facing budget concerns. The issue of spending money on technology, while making other cuts, came up during this year’s budget preparations, said Ainslie, school board president for the past six years.

But, Ainslie emphasized, the district’s spending has not been excessive, and technology is a needed tool if students are to reach higher academic standards.

Brown makes the same point. Students are changing, and classrooms need to change along with them, he said.

Aidan Pan, 11, a student in Van Gorder’s class would agree. Technology makes learning more fun, he said: “It’s teaching us in a way we like instead of in a way that’s boring.”