The faculty and staff of Clinton City Schools continues to work and provide students with a rigorous and relevant curriculum that is designed to prepare them for a globally-competitive environment.
According to John Lowe, director of technology for CCS, by 2019, the average age of digital devices within the district will be six years old or less.
“In the past three years, Clinton City Schools has made great strides improving technology infrastructure and access for students and staff,” Lowe said.
As of January 2018, the average age of any Windows device is 6.92 years. The average age of any Chrome device is 1.66 years.
Clinton City Schools received a Digital Learning Initiative Planning Grant that is allowing the district to increase classroom teacher attendance at technology conferences and purchase developmentally appropriate devices for students in the kindergarten through first grade levels.
Since becoming a Google LEA in 2015, the district has procured and deployed more than 1,800 Chromebooks throughout the system. The technology department has also discarded more than 30 Dell Dimension series computers.
According to Lowe, survey data indicates that a majority of the district’s teachers and students believe that “a Chromebook or laptop for every student to use at school is a tool that would hold great potential for increasing student achievement and success.”
By 2019, the district plans to establish a systematic process to increase use of digital content and strategies for instruction.
“This doesn’t mean that a computer is being used by the teacher in the classroom, but that students are also using technology and it is utilized through the instruction of lessons,” Lowe said.
The district is providing ongoing professional development through the system’s technology facilitator and teachers are participating by walking through other classroom and using the District WalkThrough Tool to designate the appropriate use of digital tools and resources in relation to differentiation, formative assessments, intervention and enrichment, vocabulary instruction and collaboration.
According to Lowe, studies and surveys continue to show that Clinton City Schools has a low percentage of teachers who are reporting they are facilitating greater collaboration between students and spending more time with individual students to help them understand the content as a result of integrating technology within their practice.
“Our walkthrough data currently shows a high percentage of walkthroughs where the indicator ‘Teachers know and use appropriate digital tools and resources for instruction’ is marked as not observed,” Lowe said.
Teachers are also assessing themselves on the low end of the experienced range of the Digital Learning Competency continuum, while some have placed themselves in the novice range.
The Digital Learning grant for $44,115 that was received in December has allowed the purchase of 32 touch-screen tablets for L.C. Kerr Elementary School, and more than 30 teachers and staff members to attend the NCTIES conference later this month.
“Educators in Clinton City Schools will progress in the North Carolina Digital Learning Competencies continuum by attending, delivering, completing, and authoring professional development while implementing appropriately selected digital teaching and learning tools and strategies in their work with students to improve student engagement and learning outcomes,” Lowe indicated.