Looking ahead in ’14 – ’15

What lies ahead for technology in West Des Moines Schools during the ’13 – ’14 school year?

Here’s a quick glimpse at some of the big picture things we’re looking at for this school year.

 

Current projects/goals for 2014-2015 :

Instructional Technology

• Deploy classrooms Chromebooks carts to all 7th, 8th, and 9th Language Arts and Social Studies classrooms to complement their recent curriculum adoptions and to increase student access at these grade levels.
• Move to the state-wide Moodle system to provide the latest version of Moodle for those who are using the product.
• Complete the refresh of the staff laptop, including bringing in all older laptops that are still deployed.
• Following the Chromebook launch, discuss potential strategies and steps for the most efficient method of increasing student access at Valley High School.
• Following up on last year’s special ed technology access audit and make adjustments to locations as needed.
• Provide district-wide training on Google Apps and other formative assessment tools on Sept 15th professional development day.

Administrative Technology

• Research additional or replacement on-line registration tools
• Conduct district-wide print study to ensure we have full understanding of usage, needs, and potential savings areas.
• Release RFP for refreshing both print shop and district-wide copiers
• Continue expansion of Time Clock Plus usage for other audiences and purposes.
• Implementation of new district-wide online payment system (replacing revTrak)

Infrastructure Technology

• Replacement of all district-wide wireless access points.
• Replacement of the districts firewall and perimeter network security.

Communications Technology

• Complete the re-design and launch of all school web sites into WordPress.
• Research and possibly re-design the districts online calendar options
• Evaluate and discuss the possibility of moving from Microsoft Exchange to Google for district-wide email services for all staff.