Technology+Committee+Minutes+8-19-10

Technology Committee Meeting Minutes 8-19-10 by Ginger Estes

__Faculty present:__ Jane Fuller Josh Bishop Sara Appleby Miriam Constant Lindsey Kunze Ginger Estes Katie Albers Kent Gwaltney Mr. Settle Misty Westerfield Brooke King Valerie Jones

Email: Email is available for students to use this year because the Microsoft program does not offer a way to be able to turn it off during the day and on in the evenings, as in the past. Policy for school use was discussed and determined that we each need to talk with our teams to see if there is a specific use for email in the classrooms. “How would email be utilized”, and “How would use of email be monitored” were questions that were asked during the meeting.

Skydrive: Students have access to documents saved from any computer through skydrive. The program is linked to email, but can save documents that are retrievable, and not saved on a specific server that may or may not be available during peak times. Example: in the past, the H drive was not always available because it was on a server. This year, SkyDrive is part of the package from Microsoft that allows saved documents to be on the internet and easily retrieved.

Budget: Let teams know that if they want to pilot different programs, to let someone on the technology committee know. The budget is used to help with funding, but piloted programs are often free for classrooms that are willing to try them out. Also, pilot programs can be used through departments, grade levels, or whatever ideas are being thought of.

Shared technology: Several teachers are using Moodle this year and have found the resource useful. Also, teachers are journaling online using Blogger and other web pages to have more communication with students outside of class.

STLP: Mrs. Constant has started STLP again this year. The first meeting is Thursday, Aug.26 from 3:30 – 4:30. All students are welcome and will be working on developing technology for our school, community, and lives. Ask teams if there are willing volunteers to help with STLP, and try to find students who are above average in the technology realm to encourage them to participate.