C-FB ISD uses technology tools to communicate

The superintendent has a blog about things going on in the district. Teachers blog about lesson plans and homework assignments. Teachers also use podcasts in the classroom to reinforce reading, spelling and math lessons. These are just a few of the ways that Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School district is making the most of the latest technology.

With the knowledge that students spend an average of 30 hours per week on the Internet, the district has put a lot of focus on technology. Public Information Assistant Director Angela Shelley, CFB-TV Producer/Podcast Producer Emily Olson and Instructional Technology Specialist LaDonna Conner gave a presentation to the school board Thursday on the many ways the district communicates with the community and how technology is used in the classroom.

Some of the examples given during the presentation were of students at Davis Elementary School who listen to podcasts on iPod shuffles and a blog run by the principal at R.L. Turner High School. The district also has six podcast stations and users can subscribe to as few or as many as they would like.

Social networking is something the district is just now getting into, according to Conner, mentioning sites like Ning, TeacherTube and Del.icio.us.

The technology department spends hours of time training teachers on these technology tools. Each campus also has an instructional technology specialist.

“At beginning of the school year they host training for teachers. They get training on lots of technology initiatives,” Shelley said. “They provide training and assistance for teachers throughout the year.”

Monitoring is done by the technology specialists with help from school principals.

While some principals strongly encourage the use of these tools, it’s all voluntary right now.

“Our superintendent, she would like all teachers to have web pages,” Shelley said. “That’s the one area she’ll say ‘I want every teacher to have a web page,’ but right now it’s up to the teachers discretion.”

In other news from the meeting, the school board also voted unanimously to approve the purchase of approximately 20.3 acres of land on the northwest corner of La Villita Boulevard and Camino Largo in Irving. The board has authorized the administration to close and complete the purchase of the property, including all mineral rights. Any temporary shortage of funds in the Irving TIF no. 1 account needed to complete the purchase may be advanced from other available funds of the district. The advance would have to be repaid as soon as adequate Irving TIF no. 1 funds are collected.

This purchase gives the district available land to build a middle school at some point in the future, although no date has yet been determined.

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