Mat-Su School Board moves technology forward

As we near the end of 2016, without question we can all look back and

say it has been a memorable year. From where I sit as a new

superintendent and as a community member, it is my observation that

there is a resounding theme of change. A number of components are

driving the theme of change:

Politically – The country has elected a new President; new leadership

will always provide change.

Fiscally – Our State faces one of its most difficult financial

challenges in the State’s history; our fiscal reality in Alaska has

changed.

Locally – We are the most dynamic Borough in terms of continued rapid

growth; this growth forces constant change.

Educationally – 21st Century Learning is requiring educators to

approach, prepare and teach in ways that are very different from how

education has traditionally been delivered.

MSBSD 5-Year Technology Roadmap

The Mat-Su School Board members remain quite intentional in how they

wish to continue the progressive education movement of the Mat-Su

Borough School District. In moving this District to provide a relevant

21st century education for students, our Board tasked administration

with the design of a five-year technology road map.

The map is comprised of objectives that are as follows:

Assess current devices and staff/student access to create baseline data

Identify and define common language/messaging on the District’s technology plan

Explore technologies to increase student access

Develop a roadmap/plan which provides for enhanced access at middle

and high schools over the next 5-10 years

Develop standards and the funding mechanism that provides for

sustaining an “enhanced access” program

Develop a strategy to elicit private enterprise funding to support

“enriched access” build-out

Develop a plan to improve coverage of wireless network access across

the District

Develop a scheme for the centralized management of district mobile devices

The basis for the technology roadmap lies in the National Education

Technology Plan (NETP), which states:

“When carefully designed and thoughtfully applied, technology can

accelerate, amplify, and expand the impact of effective teaching

practices. However, to be transformative, educators need to have the

knowledge and skills to take full advantage of technology-rich

learning environments.”

A technology plan requires much more than simply putting devices in

the hands of teachers and students.

Ultimately, MSBSD hopes to achieve what is often referred to within

the 21st Century Learning context as a Personalized Student Learning

environment. Personalized student learning is what truly prepares

students to be competent, aware, and prepared for the future. Whether

they head to college or into a career post high school, all students

must be empowered to direct their own use of technology as they

continue to learn everywhere and all the time.

In our early District Opening Professional Development day we were

fortunate to have Google Executive Jaime Casap speak to all of our

teachers.

He resonated with teachers when he shared, “Don’t ask kids what they

want to be when the grow up but what problems do they want to solve.”

This changes the conversation from “Who do I want to work for?”, to

“What do I need to learn to be able to do that?”

MSBSD Rural to the Core—A Second Piece of the 5-Year Technology Roadmap

The MSBSD 5-year Technology Roadmap is a dynamic document that is

going to change. Evidence of this came recently when an additional

$400,000 was made available through Federal Title I education dollars.

Within the District’s theme of being Responsive, Resourceful and

Relevant, I worked closely with the administrative executive team to

develop a second piece to the 5-year plan, which we reference as Rural

to the Core, demonstrating equity and efficiency for the MSBSD.

Equality is not Equity. Whether a student is at Susitna Valley Jr/Sr

High School, Glacier View School, or a special mission school, like

Mat-Su Career & Technical High School, in the Core Area, it is

important that each student has maximum learning opportunities. Rural

to the Core is slated for a January 2017 rollout-just in time for

second semester and will be an important part of addressing equity in

terms of enhanced access for our rural schools.

People in our community may ask why are we spending so much on

technology? The better question is, how do we better spend money on

technology so that we can meet the identified outcomes from properly

implemented technology plans. Those outcomes show that properly

implemented technology plans save money. Schools employing key

implementation factors outperform other schools.

MSBSD Technology Leadership

A school principal’s ability to lead change is critical.

Technology-transformed intervention improves learning. Online

collaboration increases learning productivity and student engagement.

Daily use of technology delivers the best return on investment. All of

these outcomes consistently support our guiding principles of being a

Responsive, Resourceful, and Relevant school district.

There was a time when utilities which are always a large part of

business costs were referenced as water, electricity, and fuel. Our

executive director of IT and Maintenance and Operations, Mike Brown

would quickly point out that technology is today’s fourth utility.

Without question, as technology plays an ever more important role in

education and education changes, the Mat-Su Borough School District

will operate with the fourth utility concept so that our changes

respond to meet the needs of all students.

Gene Stone is the superintendent of the Mat-Su Borough School District.