tkt8763-01: Dr. Kimball

["pamela atkins" <pamelatkins@hotmail.com>]

Dr. Chip Kimball addressed our class via teleconference.  He is the 
Assistant Superintendent for Lake Washington school district. We were able 
to ask him questions about his school district.

He expressed the interest his school district has in integrating technology 
into the curriculum.  He said that the Lake Washington district uses 
incentive programs to attract teachers into the program.  The district wants 
all teachers to incorporate technology into their classrooms.  He also said 
that only the teachers who show an interest in technology and will actually 
use it the classroom are the ones who get the equipment.

He said that the district needed to look at different issues on a per need 
basis. He said that while planning for technology his district critiqued 500 
technology plans and decided on five areas to explore: creativity, 
productivity, curriculum, innovation, and support.

The TechBuilder is a step-by-step on line version of Technology Maturity 
Model of writing a tech plan so it can be published to a web site. It 
provides practical tools for education. I found one particular statement he 
made very interesting (although I found basically everything he said 
interesting.)."Schools that don't engage in tech planning don't handle 
technology very well."  I think schools that have a personal investment in a 
plan will certainly take is more seriously and try harder to protect its 
integrity.

The district that are planning for technology face four issues:  access, 
infrastructure, culture, and information resources.  Infrastructure is a 
making sure that rooms are wired and ready to go. The culture has a four 
tiered system of professional development.
Information navigator - that is one who knows the basics of a computer. Dr. 
Kimball's schools district wants every teacher to be at this level.
Information inspirator - here the teacher is a facilitator in a 
technologically rich learning environment.
Information synthesizer - the teacher can evaluate information found.
Information mentor - the teacher can coach and assist peers in their 
classrooms.
His district rewards its teachers well for taking advanced training in order 
for them to better incorporate technology into their classes.

Listening to Dr. Kimball was very inspiring and I am even more interested in 
incorporating more technology into my own classroom.






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