Monday, January 28, 2013

iPads.... The Cost of Adding The Next Big Thing

Back in May I published a quick article on my Blog about the newest push in adding technology to the classroom... the iPad.  While discussions were taking place across the country and perhaps throughout the world in advanced countries the predominate argument was on the value or perceived value with respect to delivery of instruction and value add in addressing the curriculum content standards at all levels.  Absent that discussion was the associated costs of personnel to support and maintain such a roll out depending on the scale and overall cost of the plan.

Specifically, the aggregate expenditure associated with a comprehensive plan to modernize the classroom phenom.  As reported, "Schools across the nation are reaching for the iPad as the next big thing in classroom technology by equipping students with an interactive way to learn by instantly accessing information through apps and interactive tools."

With respect to the actual investment, roughly $500 - $550 per unit comes the cost of adding additional staff or redirecting existing staff to set up, program, maintain and repair.  This comes in the form of either a new technician(s) and or computer teacher(s).

Case in point:

The 2013-2014 Technology budget for our district included 700 new iPads to introduce 2 grades per year (grades 3 & 6, the following two years the installation plan would continue at grades 3 & 6 until the 2015-2016 school year that would yield iPads for all students from grades 3 to 8.  This would bring the total count to approximately 2,100 iPads to maintain with the added cost of recycling the first issue the following year.  Another concern becomes what happens as the first group of eighth grades exit the middle school:  Do they continue the knowledge and use of iPads into their secondary experience?
 
Some district's jumped out in front with a large purchases absent a planned infrastructure (network) upgrade to accommodate and operate the units at maximum efficiency.  The end result is teachers left with the inability to perform basic online tasks because their wireless network is overwhelmed with the large number of additional devices.  This diminishes or wipes out the return on investment leaving students with worthless units.    
 
In the words of one Director of Technology, "We're able to do what we do now just barely because of our ability to remote in; however with the iPads, we do not have that ability and therefore require staff at each location or increase wait times as techs would need to be dispatched."  "Just to get them on the wireless network, we have to take each unit one at a time to put on the network through settings."

Without adequate staff the initiative could stall or become less productive or unsuccessful.
 
If you put a new initiative out there that can not be properly supported, not only will it fail; it will have a detrimental and have lasting negative effect on the entire technology plan.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Class Size Falling Victim to Shrinking Budgets

School classes grow as funding shrinks

Clark High School teacher Nat Player has 39 students crowded into one of his Advanced Placement psychology courses. Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News / ©SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
  • Clark High School teacher Nat Player has 39 students crowded into one
  • of his Advanced Placement psychology courses.
    Photo: Helen L. Montoya, San Antonio Express-News /
  • ©SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

  • As budgets continue to be pressured with the desire to hold or even reduce taxes through CAPS on tax levys the unmistakable reality is savings from efficiencies and innovative cost containment strategies are finite.  What most people fail to realize is that the tax levy is impacted not only by changes in expense but also changes in revenues.  With state aid continuing to diminish at a rapid rate the effect on tax levy is clear:  it rises!  As this rise in tax levy is either not permitted or curtailed, the only result is to eliminate program or increase class size.  This is far from the days of Class Size Reduction aid which acknowledged the need for smaller groups to increase student/teacher interaction.  This article which appeared in the San Antonio Express demonstrates the turning tides in the fight to retain quality programs amidst shrinking funding: 
    Clark High School teacher Nat Player is getting used to it.
    The psychology teacher has one of the largest classes in Northside Independent School District, with 39 students taking one of his Advanced Placement courses. He has more work to grade and he can't use all the whiteboard — their desks block access to it.
    But what worries him most is losing the ability to focus on each of them.
    “It's just easier for kids to fall through the cracks, I think,” Player said. “I enjoy being able to get to know the students and better keep an eye on (them) if they need help or some attention, either with homework or just needing someone to talk to.”
    In his 16 years at Clark, he has seen class sizes balloon, and the trend is accelerating. Students regularly haul desks from down the hallway into a French II class so they all can fit in, then take them back out for a smaller subsequent class.
    Northside's predicament mirrors that of several other local districts with expanding enrollments. It's part of the argument hundreds of Texas districts are making in an ongoing school finance lawsuit against the state, blaming lawmakers for a funding scheme that doesn't keep up with growth.