Board brushes up on technology

School officials get lessons in the Internet and e-mail to keep up with technologies "taking education by storm."

By BARBARA BEHRENDT

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 1, 2000

INVERNESS -- As a key ingredient in the school district's $8-million technology upgrade, Citrus teachers have spent time in computer labs learning how to make all the new hardware and software work to teach students and manage classrooms.

Last week, it was the School Board's turn.

Wiring up the School Board meeting room with a bank of laptop computers and a large computer screen, trainers affiliated with the U.S. space program explained the new technologies to the board members and Superintendent Pete Kelly.

"Technology is taking education by storm," said Kaylee Dominy, program manager. "Technology has changed every facet of it."

The training was provided courtesy of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, a non-profit group formed after the shuttle Challenger disaster. The organization, which honors those lost in that accident and other space exploration disasters, teaches educators about technology. The group also maintains the Space Mirror Memorial and the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

The training for board members focused on helping them decide how much technology they want to use, how to organize it and how to make a technology plan for the district.

Citrus embarked on an upgrade two years ago, committing $8-million over a three-year period to outfit classrooms with more multimedia, Internet-connected computers. The upgrade also included training for all teachers, which is more than half done now, additional hookups for classrooms and money to add personnel to set up and maintain the computer networks.

Dominy said other school districts have spent millions on computers and programs, but teachers haven't been taught how to use the technology.

Board members decided on several topics to discuss in detail, such as using e-mail as individual board members. Electronic mail has been an issue in public agencies, since all correspondence is subject to the public records law.

"I do not use my computer at home at all," said board member Patience Nave. Board members Mark Stone and Sandra "Sam" Himmel said they didn't, either. They all cited the complications of mixing their personal computer use with their official business in case anyone someday asks to see the public part of the record.

Board member Carl Hansen also recently said he didn't use his home computer for the same reason. The district provided him with a $2,700 laptop for various School Board-related uses.

"There is a quick fix," Dominy told them. The board can either refrain from using e-mail for official correspondence, or members can set up a system that automatically copies public e-mails to the district office, where they would be available for review. In some places, such e-mails are even forwarded to local media.

Since e-mail can be read by anyone all along the transmission process, Dominy warned board members to never write anything they couldn't stand having read by outside eyes.

Stone said the better solution could be to not use e-mail for School Board business. By the time someone oversees it all to be sure it is done appropriately and makes hard copies of the information to allow for public viewing, it might not be worth the effort, he said.

Stone said he wasn't opposed to using e-mail and uses it in his real estate business every day. But with Florida's Government in the Sunshine law, it becomes cumbersome. "You've got newspapers and other people wanting to know what you're doing every moment of the day," he said.

The board also talked about placing board agendas and backup materials on the district's Web site or electronically mailing those thick documents each month to save on printing costs.

Board members also asked several questions about security devices that might protect against vandalism or misuse of the technology, as in the recent case in which a Crystal River High School student was accused of tapping into his school's computer in an attempt to change grades.

Dominy said there are plenty of safeguards, but no guarantees.

"If people can hack into the Department of Defense, people can get into any school district's server," she said.

But Dominy did have an easy solution for that as well. She showed board members how teachers can access the Internet and capture all or parts of entire Web sites to put in electronic folders. Then students could enter those folders and do research on the topic at hand without having to get on the Internet themselves.

"This keeps kids from surfing the Internet, which wastes a lot of time, and they may go to inappropriate sites," she said. "It also keeps them focused."

Dominy said teachers face a much different audience today than in the past, and teaching methods must change, too.

The old ways of teaching, "They're not cutting it," she said. "The kids are getting bored to death. ... If the teacher is not making the instruction flashy and multimedia, they're bored."

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