How Technology Can Change Waterford Schools

What will the future of Waterford schools look like?

According to Superintendent Jerome Belair and the district’s technology plan, it could mean students bringing in their own laptops or tablets from home, and having all textbooks electronic. Belair helped install a similar program at Weston, where he was superintendent before coming

“We want to prepare our students for the 21st-century workforce,” Belair said in an interview with Patch. “We want our students to be college-and-career ready when they graduate, and that means a comfort with technology.”

Belair said at Weston, students would bring their own computers and tablets from home, and the district would pay for students whose families could not afford it. Waterford has for years had students do more and more work online, with the idea to install “cloud” technology, so online school work can be accessed anywhere, he said.

“We want it so learning can occur anywhere,” said Quaker Hill Elementary School Principal Glenda Dexter, who is the chair of the district’s technology committee, in a presentation to the Board of Education Thursday night.

The Move To Technology

In an interview with Patch and in a presentation to the Board of Finance, Belair discussed the purchase of iPads at . The reason was it was cheaper than traditional laptops, they were harder to break and they were particularly effective with special education students, he said.

Belair said before thousands of dollars were spent buying programs and technology for special education students, and now all of that can be replaced with one $500 iPad and its many applications.

For traditional students, iPads could be effective, Belair said. They are being tested out, and may be bought as part of the , he said.

Belair, in an interview with Patch, further explained a possibility of having students bring their own device to school. All textbooks would be eBooks the student would download, and then they can be accessed at any time, he said.

“It actually winds up being a savings for the district,” Belair said.

More About The High School Renovation

The high school renovation includes a budget for new technology in the high school. This is the time to outfit the high school, as with the rest of the renovation the state is paying 35 percent of the bill, instead of just dumping all the cost on the local taxpayer, Belair said.

The goal is to have a clear view of what works and what doesn’t when that budget is filled out, he said. For example, if the iPads prove effective in the middle school, they will be bought in the high school as well, Belair said.

Also, as with all the other schools, Promethean Boards will be installed in all the classrooms, according to the district’s technology plan. High school teachers will get some basic training when they are first installed, and then other teachers in the other schools will provide additional training, Assistant Superintendent Craig Powers told the Board of Education Thursday night.

“It is one thing to have it, it is another to actually know how to use it,” Powers said.