iPads or cash for teachers?

Instead of having a chance to compete for classroom iPads, would teachers rather divvy up the money for a one-time cash bonus?  Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Rhonda Lennon juiced up an already lively discussion of the CMS technology plan by posing that question last night.

The district's move toward a "bring your own technology" digital-rich environment in August has turned technology into a topic everyone has opinions about.  CMS kicked off the push in February by giving school administrators iPads, software and training to use them on classroom walk-throughs.  Next step:  Using about $3.4 million in county money to buy "innovation kits" that provide iPads for the classroom teacher and 10 for the class.

There's not enough money to buy them for everyone,  so CMS is seeking proposals for how teachers would use the devices to boost learning.  Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh said about 300 teams,  with a total of 3,000 teachers,  have applied.  Chief Information Officer Scott Muri said the "target" is to provide the kits for about 1,000 teachers,  but if there are more high-quality applications the district will try to find more money.

Lennon,  who's been skeptical of the iPad push,  asked if CMS could redo this year's budget to spend that money instead on a one-time bonus for teachers,  whose pay has been frozen since 2008.  She said her calculations show it would come to about one percent of a teacher's salary.  "If they want to buy themselves an iPad with it, then go for it," Lennon said.

Hattabaugh said it would be a  "betrayal"  of teachers who have already put work into their proposals.  Board member Joyce Waddell,  a retired teacher,   agreed:  "It would be wonderful if we could have $3 million for teachers, but we have a prior commitment.  We have to trust decisions that we have made."

Vice Chair Mary McCray,  also a retired teacher,  asked if it's possible to do an online poll of teachers to see which they'd prefer.

Chairman Ericka Ellis-Stewart asked how CMS is ensuring that all students get the full digital experience,  even if their teachers don't get iPad kits.

CMS just doesn't have the money to buy devices for each student, Muri said.  He said that would cost around $120 million.  But by combining district money with what donors, PTAs and families can contribute,  he said,  schools can move more quickly into an essential new style of learning

"BYOT is for all children,"  Muri said.

Oddly timed technology plan

Tuesday's agenda calls for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board to approve a technology plan for 2012-14.  I was perplexed by the timing: The board is about to hire a new superintendent.  The guy in charge of technology,  Chief Information Officer Scott Muri,  is about to leave for a new job in Fulton County, Ga.  Why lock into a two-year plan now?

The answer,  says Muri,  is a state deadine.  All districts are required to file such plans with the Department of Public Instruction in April,  so the board must vote now.

Updated: The 42-page plan is online now.  It doesn't lay out specific spending,  but gives an overview of the district's plans to create a  "bring your own technology"  environment,  shift from paper to digital texts and provide the training to help educators and students get comfortable in a world where learning is  customized and takes place around the clock.

"Access to personal teaching and learning devices will expand," the report says. "Personal learning devices will enhance student and staff access to digital resources. A comprehensive professional development plan will be enacted to support the infusion of technology within the learning environment.

"The 'classroom' will expand beyond bricks and mortar. Technology will link students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools with professors at universities and colleges from Chapel Hill to China. Online learning will enable students to study advanced Chinese or a second year of physics. Digital tools will link students with teachers who challenge them to soar and provide them with the differentiated support that they need."

CMS teachers can seek iPad grants

Teachers who want help moving into next year's wireless learning environment can apply for grants to get an  "innovation kit"  that includes an iPad for the teacher,  up to 10 for students and various accessories,  including  "an iTunes app voucher,"   according to a memo Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools sent to employees today.

The  "Innovation for Transformation"  grants are part of the push to get all schools using wireless devices for learning in 2012-13.  School administrators have already gotten iPads,  and many teachers have been asking whether they'll get devices supplied by CMS.  I'm trying to track down how much money CMS plans to spend on the classroom grants and where it's coming from.

"In order for the learning environments of today to effectively meet the needs of the 21st century digital learner, a transformation must occur,"  the CMS memo states, promising "a transformational journey filled with innovative professional development, digital resources, and effective student engagement."

I got a glimpse of what CMS'  "bring your own technology" environment might look like when I visited the private Providence Day School for an upcoming story.  Josh Cannon, a 26-year-old chemistry teacher,  welcomes smart phones and other devices in his class.  When he did a demonstration that sent flames shooting out of a five-gallon water keg,  one student shot photos on his iPhone.  When Cannon talked about needing a dry day to do some outdoor explosions, half a dozen students whipped out their phones to check the forecast.  When students broke up to do individual work,  one used his phone as a calculator while working on a laptop.  Several popped in ear buds so they could listen to music while reading.  Students say they use their phones to keep up with when assignments are due,  which they track on Google calendars.

Also on the tech front,  Saturday's National College Fair will use bar codes to save students and families some paperwork.  CMS reports that students can fill in their information once,  then get a code that each college booth can scan,  saving the time of repeatedly writing down personal information. Read more about the fair here.

Wifi in mobile classrooms?

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools'  push toward a wireless "Bring Your Own Technology" environment is generating buzz and questions. Among them:  Will the wifi connections being installed in all school buildings reach the mobile classrooms that house hundreds of students in crowded schools?

I posed that question to Chief Information Officer Scott Muri,  and got this answer via spokeswoman Tahira Stalberte: "We are working through a solution for our mobile environments."

That's going to be an issue to watch.  Schools ringed with mobiles are often in booming, relatively affluent areas where families are in tune with technology and engaged with education.  Sometimes that enthusiasm is tempered with a sense that their neighborhoods have been shortchanged on school construction and/or classroom spending.  If CMS plans to ask families to buy the tablets,  smart phones and/or e-readers that are now being described as essential for 21st century learning,  there's bound to be blowback if some are told the kids in mobiles won't be part of the district's wireless transformation.

Another comment came from an elementary school teacher who's eager to incorporate the latest learning technology.  Her efforts so far have been hampered by a lack of tech support, she said, because her school expects a science teacher to tack that work onto his regular duties.  If CMS wants teachers to delve into the latest apps and software  --  and make them work with an array of devices brought from home  -- she wants to see full-time tech support in each school.

At a recent budget session,  interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh outlined a $1.3 million plan to add tech facilitators at 23 high schools in 2012-13 (read it here, starting on page 53).  He said adding tech staff to elementary and middle schools will have to wait until future budgets.

I asked Muri for clarification of what support would be provided in lower grades next year. The answer, again via Stalberte: "Each elementary and middle school has a tech contact in place today, and these folks will continue to meet the needs of these schools next year.  In addition, technical support will be provided by district-level staff as well as third party vendors.  Professional development for teachers will be provided by the district as well as individual schools."

Finally,  an interesting note from a newsroom mom whose third-grader has been told his school reports  should be typed.  Typing isn't taught that early,  she said,  and she wondered whether a push to get kids producing material on a keyboard (or touch pad) will collide with a lack of basic typing skill.  She's solving the immediate problem by typing her son's reports while making him responsible for the content,  but she knows not all parents can do that.

Somehow I had assumed that learning to type was part of a basic education for today's young digital natives.  But while the state has technology objectives that start in kindergarten and include learning about research and ethics,  those standards don't include the drudgery of memorizing where the letter keys are.  Hmm ... sounds like there might be a business opportunity in offering Typing for Tykes!