Individual questions from the video interview with Dr. Joseph Davis
Dr. Larry Price, Superintendent, Wilson County Schools
Q. What efforts are going toward professional development training for teachers to overcome technological hurdles?
A. As a part of this project, we have a technology facilitator who has worked with teachers, both in groups and individually. She has assisted teachers in developing lesson plans utilizing the laptops. Teachers have been offered numerous professional development opportunities in technology and utilizing technology in instruction throughout the life of this project. Teachers are now starting to ask for professional development specific to their subject area. The most essential aspect of this project is professional development for staff.
Q. How has the program changed the way teachers develop their lessons and class plans? What resources are you encouraging teachers to use?
A. Teachers are increasingly becoming facilitators of learning rather than the provider of information. Teachers are utilizing a much more analytical process in determining what students are to learn and how the students will learn it. The instruction in classes is less direct instruction from the teacher and more problem-based inquiry. Teachers are also using the technology to send students to places to see examples that increase the relevance of the material. With the students, teachers are using the Internet. Powerpoint, United Streaming and SAS Curriculum Pathways. They are also using eBistro, LearnNC and GCF LearnFree.org.
Q. Who is responsible for providing technical support in your district? How has that aspect been working out? What are the challenges you encounter in that regard?
A. Although we have a small number of technology staff, we are managing this project fairly well. We have a technology facilitator at Hunt whose primary responsibility is instruction utilizing technology. This staff member also assists students with technical and programming issues. We have a network engineer who remotely manages the network at Hunt. A full-time technician is located at Hunt to fix the laptops. School districts never have enough staff for technology. We need more staff to decrease the down time when a laptop breaks, but overall, we have experienced very few major challenges.
Q. How does this program influence the community, and vice versa?
A. Parents, board of education members, andcounty commissioners want laptops for the other two high schools. They think that the Hunt students are getting a better education than those at the other high schools because of the laptops. We have already had high level discussions about how to secure funding to expand this program. This program is viewed as a really big deal for Wilson County.
Watch the NC Now Feature
An interview with Glenn Kleiman
An interview with Dr. Joseph Davis