Technology Committee

The Purpose of the Technology Committee:

Review existing and emerging technologies
Offer guidance on the selection of new technology
Create a forum for discussion of technology issues
Provide instruction in the use of technology
Suggest ways to use technology in the classroom

This virtual committee interacts primarily through email. When members send
suggestions or make reviews of the technology they are using, they can email it
to me and I will post it. I will also post pictures and information about the
technology we have available in the LMC. Members of this committee will have
the opportunity to be the first to test and review new technology as it arrives in
the LMC.

This is our technology wish list. If you would like to be added to our
wish list then you can email me at dbreece@mail.colleton.k12.sc.us .

Debbie White - Document Camera

Jason Loudenslager - Laptop

Nicholae Bordieanu - Smartboard

Magellan Mambou - Wireless Slate

Julia Waddell - "Editing program on the Art Lab PCs...Sony Vegas, maybe? Adobe
Photoshop CS4 for me to learn and use so that I may more proficiently teach
Photoshop to my students."

Shawn Beckner - 5 - 10 computers, or a "Laptop Tree" for my writing students.

Donna Breece - Office 2007 for the computers in the LMC and newer computers with
at least 2 GB of ram to run the programs and use the Internet more efficiently.

Daniel Istoc - I would like the LCD mounted on the ceiling, and a bigger screen.

Sandy Dukes - Needs a new LCD because the one he has is very old and only a
portion of the viewing area works.

Answers to informal survey questions:

What piece of technology has been the most helpful to you this school year?

External back up hard drive

LCD Projector

Believe it or not, my regular old overhead projector works best for me, while my students enjoy
using the LCD projector for their speeches. I like the document-feel of the old-school projector,
the fact that I can teach all three of my courses with VERY limited technology, and I really like
the glow that it puts off in the room...I really don't know why.

The LCD projector provided by the school and my personal Tablet PC were by far the most useful
(I use them every day). On my Tablet PC, I am running Smart Notebook 10 – so I made my own
smart board.

What has been your biggest technology challenge this school year so far?

Editing videos on the Mac

Personally, I hate the OnCourse web-programming software. It's extremely limiting to me. It
can't offer anything in the way of interactivity (like message boards, etc.) It's very boring, and
not intuitive. Also, as a creative writing teacher who has 62 STUDENTS RIGHT NOW, it's rather
depressing trying to find computers for my students. I teach my classes like college courses...we
work on long projects, which accumulate into a class portfolio. Some students do not have
computers at home, or access to computers in any way, which REALLY makes my job harder than
it has to be....... This means that I have to tie up my classes in the library all the time, which
puts pressure on the other member of my English Department during their 2nd and 4th Quarters
(when they are usually doing their research papers.) If I just had 5 - 10 computers in my room,
then the students could work in shifts, and all of my professional problems would be solved.

The LCD not being mounted on the ceiling and the screen, poorly positioned and small were
challenges that I had to face. I have cables everywhere, a set of desks where I’ve set up the
projector/computer that are in my way when I want to move in the classroom, etc.