Is Breakthrough to Literacy going away?

Although we haven’t received the official word from McGraw-Hill, there are indications that Breakthrough to Literacy (BTL) may be going away.  This based on the following information…

1.Breakthrough to Literacy promised a Windows 7 compatible version by August 2011.  It did not happen and they have told us that Windows 7 version will NOT be produced.

2.BTL technical support has told our district techs that no programmers are currently assigned to BTL  – therefore, no new versions, no enhancements, and no fixes.

3.BTL technical support states that support will continue for the product – however, our original support contact (who was with the company at the outset of the program) has left the company.  Our current tech support contacts will answer our calls, but we’re basically told to attempt the same standard fixes that we’ve always been told.  If those steps have not worked, then we’ve been told downgrade your machines to Windows XP and hope that it resolves the issue.

I’ve heard that it’s working just fine for some classrooms with Windows 7 and it’s not for others, is this correct?
Yes, this is correct.

If I’m having problems with Breakthrough to Literacy, can I still call for tech support help from the district?
YES !   Please continue to submit the issues that you have and we’ll do everything we can to support the product.

If McGraw-Hill confirms that BTL is going away….  will we stop using BTL or will we continue to use it?
We will continue to use BTL both this year AND next school year.  Beyond that has not been determined.

What students think of technology in our school district.

For the past few years, we’ve invited students to provide feedback on our district’s technology services.  We send an invitation to all students in 6th grade thru 12th grade –  however, this years response was extremely low.  Only 106 responses.

Although the number of responses are extremely low and we need to rethink how we collect feedback from students – it’s still important that we recognize the feedback that we do have.

Download the complete 2012 student technology survey (in pdf format).

.

Here’s a quick sample of the various responses……………….

.

What’s going well

There are sufficient computers and laptops for use during class, study halls, and off-periods. These computers generally work in a timely and efficient manner. The infinite campus iPhone and Android apps are very helpful.

There are almost always computers and electronics in general open to a student whenever they need it making the wifi easy to access.

Infinite Campus is the best thing since sliced bread, I love how accessible it is!

Staying connected through Edmodo and my classes that have Twitter accounts have really helped me stay organized this year.

Access h drive and s drive from home is awesome.

Edmodo is by far the best communication and education tool.

Suggestions

Currently the focus is more oriented towards “full-class” technology like the projector versus “individual” technology like laptops.

I hate the messages sent to parents with missing assignments.

Sometimes I am very frustrated when I can’t get on facebook because I use it as a communication tool for groups that I lead. But at the same time I understand that teachers want the computers to be used for homework and many students would abuse the access to facebook.

Most of the computers we use take a lot of time to boot up.

Also printing is a big problem. The maximum amout of pages to print at one time doesn’t help kids and also being able to print in more than 5 pages on one document doesn’t help.

Blocking social networking sites like Twitter and Pinterest would make school alot easier to focus

Upgrade to Google Chrome would be better.

Use Edmodo more

Our computer lab computers are too slow things just run soooo slow

Student emails are always spammed so teachers never get them

Students using their personal computers can currently access the S and H drives, but they cannot access the printers.

Having it so that if you log on, it won’t take such a long time. It sometimes takes 5 minutes for a computer to log on.