Time for an

Upgrade

By: Arjun Bellamkonda, Grishm Patel, Sage Sanford, Brian Yazan


Driving Question: How can we improve the quality of education at Round Rock High
School?

Solution and Explanation
The current technology at Round Rock High School is not meeting the needed standards
for students to have a successful education. We believe that if Round Rock had implemented
new types of technology such as iPads, students and teachers will be able to interact with each
other easily. With all assignments on iPads, teachers wont have to worry about students
excuses such as I left it at home or the classic My dog ate my homework. The use of iPads
will enhance the education system and make learning more interesting for students. Students
wont have to worry about carrying bulky textbooks and many pieces of paper. Another tool that
can assist teachers and students is the Smart Board. The Smart Board allows teachers to easily
teach with a touchscreen board - teachers can explain certain points easily and have students
focus on the most important topics. If both of these items of technology are implemented into our
education system, students will excel in their school work because their studying will become
easier and less excruciating.

Needs and Problems
The use of paper for school related activities damages the environment and wastes
resources.
The use of physical assignments forces students to keep up with more work and
makes teachers responsible for carrying hundreds of papers.
The cost of printing in school creates an unneeded economic issue for RRISD and its
schools.
The current method of teaching at RRHS is not interactive enough to motivate students to
learn and participate.

Research Items
How will SmartBoards improve the quality of education at RRHS?
Why will iPads help the education level and the interaction of students with teachers?
Why is the current education system at RRHS not up to standards?
Why are iPads more efficient than laptops?

Goals and Objectives
To improve the education by giving iPads for every student.
Add Smart Boards to the majority of classrooms so that the teaching will be more
interactive and viable.

Procedures
Give every student at Round Rock High School an iPad for which they can use at home
and at school.
Replace the whiteboards, and add Smart Boards to classrooms.
The current laptops will be sold in a fundraiser in order to fund the iPads and Smart
Boards.

Evaluation
We will first survey other students and faculty members to confirm that RRHS should be
renovated. When we determine the average opinion of our schools technology, we will propose
the idea of replacing white boards or chalkboards with Smart Boards, and replacing laptops with
iPads. Our progress will be monitored by daily group check ins and through the timeline on our
google calendar.

Budget

Renovations

Cost

Source of Money

iPads

$249.99 each

Laptop Fundraiser

Smart Boards

$5,099 each

Sponsoring Companies

Endorsements
We are currently looking for any sponsors if you would like to sponsor this please call
(512)-736-6413.
Our main source of money is currently the RRISD.
Good scores on EOC and other standardized tests can bring money to RRISD.

Medium
Our project will be presented as a documentary on iMovie or Wevideo along with a trifold board.
The documentary will include animations, interviews, videos of the problem areas, and expert
acting from our group. The trifold board will provide a visual representation of the economic
issues associated with this change such as estimated costs and funding options.

Timetable

April 18th

Topic: How to improve
education at RRHS.

Summary: Today we finished
planning for our project and
we split up roles for creating
our project proposal.

Next Meeting: Next time we
will focus on writing the
proposal and finishing the
proposal.

April 20th

Summary: Today we worked our
project proposal and planned for
more aspects of our project.

Next Meeting: We will finish our
project proposal and brainstorm
for our medium and final
product.

April 22nd

Summary: Today we finished
our project proposal and
brainstormed for our final
product and research.

Next Meeting: We will create
surveys for our project and
begin researching for our
project.

April 26th

Summary: Today we will
begin research and create
surveys to interview certain
people.

Next Meeting: We will finish
our research and record our
final ideas and notes.

April 28th

Summary: Today we will
continue our research and
hopefully finish our research and
record our final ideas and notes.

Next Meeting: We will begin
recording for our documentary
by interviewing people and
collecting our surveys.

May 4th

Summary: Today we will
begin recording our
documentary by interviewing
our prospects and collecting
surveys.

Next Meeting: We will
continue to collect surveys
and record for our
documentary.

May 6th

Summary: Today we will
continue to collect surveys
and we will continue to record
other aspects of our
documentary.

May 10th

Summary: Today we will finish
recording all aspects of our
documentary.

May 12th

Summary: Today we will
begin working on editing and
finalizing our final product.

Next Meeting: We will finish

recording our final product
and collecting surveys.

Next Meeting: We will begin

Next Meeting: We will
working on our final product and continue editing and
begin editing our final product. finalizing our final product.

May 16th

Summary: Today we will
continue to work on and edit
our final product to make it
better.

Next Meeting: We will
finalize our project and finish
our final product.

May 18th

Summary: Today we will finish
our final product and finalize all
aspects of our project.

Next Meeting: We will present
our project and projects are due.

May 20th

Summary: Today our projects
are due and we will present
our projects.

End of our project!

Key Personnel
Arjun - Researcher - Responsible for doing all the research
Brian - Manager/Writer - Responsible for turning all things in on time
Sage - Editor - Responsible for editing video and creating final project
Grishm -Videographer/Recorder - Responsible for videotaping clips for video

Summary
The increased use of technology in RRHS will save RRISD money over time, protect the
environment by saving paper, make classrooms more interactive and interesting for students,
save teachers and students the stress of keeping up with hundreds of papers, and prepare students
for our technology dependent world. These changes will require cooperation from RRISD, the
State of Texas, and the sponsorship from businesses interested in investing in our nations future.
With the determination of these few organizations and our group, we can help many students
prepare themselves for their future and make school a more interesting and productive place.

Next Steps
These are the actions required of the readers of this document:
1. Recruit as many businesses as you can for sponsorship.
2. Talk to other students and RRISD staff about what they think needs to be improved.
3. Give us feedback on what we need to do better.


References
-Aamodt, Sandra, and Sam Wang. "The Sun Is the Best Optometrist." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
-Brody, Jane E. "FROM FERTILITY TO MOOD, SUNLIGHT FOUND TO AFFECT HUMAN
BIOLOGY." The New York Times. The New York Times, 1981. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
-"What 'Connected Education' Looks Like: 28 Examples From Teachers All Over."The Learning
Network. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
-"Editorial Projects in Education." Coach G's Teaching Tips. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.