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Instructional Technology

Director of Technology: Allen Clasen

District 308 recognizes that technology plays an increasingly important role in our society and continues to redefine what it means to be educated. The use of ever more sophisticated hardware and software has become an essential part of employment in many fields. In addition, with increasing frequency, we use a variety of technologies for personal communication, personal finance and leisure pursuits. It is, therefore, imperative that students enrolled in District 308 have a high level of familiarity and competence with a wide range of technologies. Every graduate should be able to access, analyze and create a variety of knowledge through the effective and efficient use of technology. The district recognizes that technology is a tool for achieving educational goals, not a tool for reshaping educational goals.

However, we recognize that technology impacts our district in a variety of ways:

• It makes available an infinite array of learning resources through many media, appropriate for a wide variety of learning styles.

• It enables a more individualized approach to education as students can proceed at their own pace and learn in ways most effective for them.

• It enables students to learn beyond the normal school day and school boundaries.

• Technology stimulates and rewards creativity, collaboration and problem solving.

• It supports, and to a large extent compels, a more collegial relationship between teachers and students, as teachers must increasingly play the role of a navigator.

• It continues to facilitate the integration of business and instructional operations in public education. By streamlining business operations, technology makes more time available for teaching and learning.

• It opens new avenues of communication within the district and between parents and the community.

Vision Statement for Educational Technology

Students will leave District 308 with the technological skills to successfully function in the 21st century.

How technology supports our vision:

• Technology will be the center for instantaneous, engaged and collaborative instruction.

• Technology will be used to enhance and facilitate current as well as life long learning.

• Technology will be aligned and integrated as part of the curriculum.

• Technology will enable us to monitor student learning and progress.

• Technology will be effectively distributed with access assured for all students and staff.

• Technology will allow students to access, manipulate and manage information, assist in problem solving and create finished products.

• Technology will provide a means of communication between the school, home and community.

• Staff development opportunities in mastering technological tools will be provided in a timely fashion.

• Data, managed with technology, will guide the decision making process.

Three Year Technology Integration Plan
Designed to meet specific objectives, which further our vision and help to achieve the mission of District 308, we strive to:

• Expand our learning resources beyond those available within the school.

• Provide training opportunities for students, staff and community members as appropriate.

• Assist students to develop the necessary technology skills to enter the modern workplace.

• Provide the necessary technology to disseminate and share information between the school and school community.

• Provide a cohesive information network and effective training for the collection, desegregation, and analysis of data for administrators, teachers and parents.

• Provide students and staff learning opportunities that are independent of time and location.

• Provide the appropriate hardware, software and training to fulfill the districts vision and beliefs.

The NETS Project and District 308

The challenge facing America's schools is the empowerment of all children to function effectively in their future, a future marked increasingly with change, information growth, and evolving technologies. Technology is a powerful tool with enormous potential for paving high-speed highways from outdated educational systems to systems capable of providing learning opportunities for all, to better serve the needs of 21st century work, communications, learning, and life. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the public at-large recognize the potential of technology to change education and improve student learning. Technology has become a powerful catalyst in promoting learning,  communications, and life skills for economic survival in today's world. Through its National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Project, ISTE is encouraging educational leaders to provide learning opportunities that produce technology-capable students. The primary goal of the ISTE NETS Project is to enable stakeholders in Pre K-12 education to develop national standards for educational uses of technology that facilitate school improvement in the United States.

District 308 uses the National Educational Technology Standards as a guide for making educational technology decisions based on “best practices”. The Illinois State Board of Education has also adopted the following NETS for students, teachers and administrators.

NETS for Students | NETS for Teachers | NETS for Administrators