SMART SCHOOLS BOND ACT
Investment Plan for Ardsley UFSD
2015-16
PLANOVERVIEW
TheArdsleyUFSDwasallocatedanestimated$577,595aspartoftheSmartSchoolsBondAct.Basedonthe TechnologyPlanadoptedbytheDistricttheintentionsaretoutilizethefundsavailabletofurtherenhance teachingandlearningintheclassroomusingtechnology.
PRECONDITIONS
AsapreconditiontoutilizingthefundstheDistricthasensuredthatthereisadequateInternetbandwidthin excessof100Mbpsper1,000studentstosustaintheincreaseofmoreclassroomdevices.
Additionally,theproposedplanalignscloselywiththecurrentthreeyearTechnologyPlan,approvedandon filewiththeNYStateDepartmentofEducation.
PURCHASEPLAN
TheDistrictplanstopurchaseChromebooks,interactivewhiteboards,laptops,iPads,cartsand3Dprinters. The specs of the Chromebooks are as follows: Chromebooks Acer C740 (or equivalent model), these units willhave4GBofRAMand16GBsolidstateharddrives.TheywillsupporttheACwirelessstandardandhave 11”screens.TheywillbepurchasedwiththeChromeOSManagementlicensesothattheycanbeaddedto the District’s existing Google Apps for Education (GAfE) domain. Chromebooks that are allocated for classroomusewillbekeptinnewBretfordCabinetswhichprovidecentralizedchargingandsecurestorage. TheDistrict’spreferredchoiceofinteractivewhiteboardsisSMARTBoards,weplantopurchasethe6065& 800seriesinteractivewhiteboardsystem.Approximately,fortyoneiPadAir2,64GBwithApplecareandan Otterboxcasewillbepurchasedfortheelementaryschool.WewillalsopurchaseeightOsmosforthefirst gradeteam.Inaddition,aBretfordcartwillbepurchasedtochargeandsecuretheiPads.Two3Dprinters willbepurchasedfortheTechnologyEducationprogram.
ALLOCATION OFFUNDS
Sub-Allocation
InteractiveWhiteboardsComputerServersDesktop Computers(iMac)Chromebooks LaptopComputers
iPads Osmos
Other Costs (Chromebook/iPadCarts)
Printers Other Costs (3Dprinters)
Totals: / $117,000
$2,700
$246,750
$17,000
$41,000
$640
$67,500
$3,400
$5,000
$500,990
PLAN GOALS
ENHANCE DIFFERENTIATEDINSTRUCTION
Thepurchaseof690Chromebookswillsignificantlyincreasestudentaccesstotechnologydevices,toonline environments,andallowforgreatercollaborativestudentcenteredlearningopportunities.Itwillalsoallow the district to adequately prepare for the transition to on-line state assessments. Students in a particular class can access independent content and contribute at their own pace to classroom discussions and activities. Teachers and students will be able to leverage online content that appeals to the individual abilities,needs,andinterestsofeachstudentaseachstudentwillhaveaccesstotheirowndeviceduringa class session. Additionally students will be able to share findings and thoughts in a collaborative environmentinreal-time.
TheChromebookswouldnotsimplybeanexpedientdigitalaccessorybutratherserveasthecentralconduit to student learning and engagement. Possibly the most powerful and exciting aspect of all is the idea of fluency, on several levels. Student to student and teacher to student engagement on the Chromebook clearly promotes fluency of thought within the academic conversation, fluency in writing and revising, fluencyinreadingandannotating,fluencyincommunicatingandpresenting.
TheiPadsandinteractivewhiteboardswillaugmentlearningandcurriculum.Teacherswillbegintofusethe traditionalthreeR’swiththefourC’s:criticalthinking,creativity,communication,andcollaboration.
Students will have the opportunity to create activities that demand problem-solving, decision-making, teamwork,andinnovation.TheiPadswillenhancealessonandprovidestudentsanopportunitytocreateor innovate.TeacherswillusetheSAMRscaletodesignlessonsandoutcomesforstudents.
The District is currently preparing to launch new programs in computer science and engineering. The additionof3Dprinterswilligniteimagination,inventiveness,andcreativity.Thistechnologywillenable studentstopursueSTEAMrelatedprojectsandwillallowthemtoexploredesignthinking.Studentswill continuetoutilize2and3Dcomputeraideddesignsoftwareinthetechnologyclasses.
EXPAND STUDENT LEARNING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
Increased access to devices capable of efficiently accessing the Google Apps for Education (GAfE) domain maintained by the district will allow students to more easily manage their online portfolio of work and contentwhileinschool.ContenttheydevelopinGAfEisthenaccessibletothemanywheretheyhaveaccess to the Internet including but not limited to their homes, smart phones, public libraries… etc. This school/homeconnectionisakeycomponentofourgoalsfortwentyfirstcenturylearning.
TheChromebooksdonotmerelyserveasanadditiontoenhanceinstruction;theyfundamentallychangethe nature of the learning community. This community concept involves ongoing sharing of student work, ongoing discussion of mentor texts, ongoing individual contribution to class analysis of a variety of texts, ongoing peer-to-peer and teacher-to-student feedback, and ongoing generation of research projects and presentations.
Theuseofthesetechnologydevicesinschoolsrepresentefficient,exciting,andrelevantwaystolearn, reflectinghowamodernworkforceacquires,synthesizes,analyzesandevaluatesinformation.
ENHANCING COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS
Theproposedincreaseinclassroomtechnologywillfurtherfosteramoreengaging,dynamicand
well-definedlearningcommunityparticularlyinwritingandgeneratingresearch-basedpresentations,and
facilitatingacademicconversation.TheonlineGAfEenvironmentwillcontinuetobecomethehubof studentlearningactivitiesandthecorecontentrepositoryfortheschooldistrict.
Actingasacentralhub,theChromebookswillstrengtheninincalculableways,thestructureofthelearning community. Teachers will concentrate on facilitating aspects of communicating within the classroom community, interacting with the world, utilizing resources, conducting independent projects and presentations,andmakingthemostofmoreaccessiblereal-timefeedback.
The use of these devices will allow the District to share more information with the community and key stakeholdersincludingparentsandtechnologypartnersaswellasprovideanefficientandeffectivesetof toolsforstudentengagementandcollaboration.
PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT
The District recognizes the importance of ongoing and sustained professional development for staff and students.Professionaldevelopmentopportunitiestofurtherthisnewclassroomlearningcommunitywillbe providedbytheDistrict,EdithWinthropTeacherCenter,LowerHudsonRegionalInformationCenter
(LHRIC)-ModelSchoolsandPersonalLearningNetworks.Manyteachersrelyonlearningcommunitiesfor professionaldevelopmentsuchasGooglePlus,Facebook,TwitterandYouTube.
The District is committed to working new devices purchased through the Smart Schools bond into the equipmentreplacementcyclealreadyinplace.Eachyearoverthenextfouryearsanallotmentoffundswill bebudgetedforthenormalrepaircostsofapercentageofthetotaldevices.Afterfouryearsdeviceswillbe replaced and/or reallocated in order to ensure the equipment stays current and new technology is supported.
PROVISIONING AND DISTRIBUTIONTIMELINE
OncetheInvestmentPlanisapprovedbythestate,equipmentwillbepurchasedinaccordancewiththe District’spurchasingpolicy.OnceequipmentarrivestheITstaffwillprioritizetheunboxing,inventorying, assettaggingandprovisioningoftheequipment.Basedontheproposedquantities,equipmentwillbein placeandoperationalwithinthirtydaysofitsarrival.
Thedistrictwillincludethisnewequipmentinitsexistinginventorydatabaseandmonitorittoensureitis securelymaintainedinitsdesignatedlocations.TheDistrict’scomprehensiveassetinsurancepolicywillbe updatedtoreflecttheadditionalequipmentaswell.