Michelle New EDET 746 Funding Technology Procurement and Life Cycle Replacement November 21, 2012

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Handheld Technology Procurement and Life Cycle Replacement Introduction When the words technology and education are combined in the same sentence, we are no longer surprised at the idea or hearing it for the first time. Now, it seems that these two words belong together. Depending on their age, some people might not even realize how important it is to use technology in education and that its use in education is a relatively new trend. The world of education has been moving (and has moved, in some cases) from a paper and pencil method to an asynchronous learning environment, which includes both traditional methods of teaching but also new, technological methods as well. Mathematics classrooms, while normally taught using a very traditional teaching method, could be considered to be the classrooms to potentially benefit the most from the use of technology. Many students tend to struggle the most with math and have the least motivation in math classes. The use of technology can help increase motivation and in turn raise achievement levels. The Technology Principle of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards for School Mathematics states: Technology is essential in teaching and learning mathematics; it influences the mathematics that is taught and enhances students learning. (Sharp, Garofalo, Thompson, p. 30) Laptops and iPads in Mathematics Classrooms One of the first technologies to make its way into the classroom was most likely a computer. Most of the time these computers were mainly used by the teachers for classroom maintenance purposes, or used by a student for the occasional research project or book report assigned to the class. With the many new technologies being created specifically for education, the ability to use computers for more than just research and writing papers has become greater. With the use of computers comes the ability to use programs for specific content or, most commonly, instructional materials and resources found on the Internet. Students of this day and age are a part of the digital generation and they expect to use technology in every aspect of their lives, including education. We are proposing that a class set of laptops (laptop carts) be available for teachers to check out when needed. We want to start out with a few laptop carts to determine their usefulness and, if they prove to be beneficial to learning, move to having a class set for each math class in the school. Students will use programs such as Geometers Sketchpad or Geogebra on these laptops, however, their main use will come in using online math resources and sites. Specifically they will be used for the students to have access to Khan Academy videos, which introduce and demonstrate every math topic required for high school students. These can be used as supplementary lessons or can be used as the main mode of instruction. After each video, there are practice questions for that concept. The students will also be able to use the laptops to do Gizmos online. These are interactive math activities which cover a

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wide range of content areas. The list of how these laptops could be used in a mathematics classroom is infinite and will differ per teacher. According to Boakes and Juliani , our current generation of students can be referred to as the iGeneration. (p. 1) This term refers to the continually growing use of i devices such as iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Not only are these handheld devices being used in the students personal lives, they are beginning to quickly make their way into the world of education. These devices allow for instruction to leap off the paper and travel to the virtual world where the students can take their education with them wherever they go. Each of these i devices come with applications, and the collection of applications used for education is constantly growing. Apple has created an Education category in their App Store. This makes it easy for teachers and students to access applications that can be used to supplement their learning. These applications range from those intended to be used by toddlers and elementary aged children to those deigned for use by students in higher education. Many the applications for education are offered for free and those that are not are fairly inexpensive, most not costing over $10. According to Boakes and Juliani, As of May 2011, a search done in the Apple App Store of an iPad using the key word math within the education category results in 2,533 apps for the iPhones and iPod as well as 1,006 for the iPad. (p. 4) Purchasing iPads will allow students to use different applications on the device to practice their math skills. There are also applications that allow students to use a stylus pen and actually write on the device. This capability will be used for those students who may prefer to learn visually. Most note-taking applications have the capability to print so the students can still have their notes to review when needed. The Khan Academy also has an application for the iPad and we plan to allow students to use the iPad to view the videos and complete the practice problems as well. The specific math applications that will be used will vary by teacher, but students will also be able to use these applications for extra practice or remediation. We also plan to use these during group projects. There are certain applications on the iPad that are meant for collaborating and brainstorming. These iPads also have cameras so we also propose that teachers use the cameras on the devices as well. The capabilities of the use of these iPads will continue to change as new applications are created and updates are made to the devices. Once the iPads are implemented into the classroom, each teacher who receives them will keep a record of their use and student involvement with them and also if the use of the devices as increased achievement levels in students. Digital Cameras in the Mathematics Classroom Using digital cameras in the classroom is something that is somewhat unusual, but can be very beneficial to the learning process. Digital cameras can be used both on their own and in conjunction with graphing calculators and computer programs to add to the ways that mathematical ideas and contexts can be represented. (Sharp, Garofalo, Thompson, p. 30) Using real-world examples is an important concept in math education, but can be difficult to teach. Allowing students to go out independently to find real-world

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examples of math concepts will be far more beneficial for them than a teacher presenting a photograph on the board. A concept in math that automatically lends itself to real-world examples is slope. Slope can be seen almost anywhere you look. Several assignments or projects dealing with slope and using the digital camera can be created. The article by Sharp, Garofalo, and Thompson (2004) entitled Digital Images in the Mathematics Classroom offers several different activities that teachers can implement into their math classroom using digital cameras. These include using the camera to take pictures of different rooftops to represent slope, finding and using the vanishing point of a photograph, and using digital images in word problems to help with problem solving skills. Activities with digital cameras can be created for most grade levels ranging from simple tasks to using the digital cameras to represent or solve complex math concepts. Using digital cameras gives students the opportunity to do something unique in their math class. A survey will be given to the students after they have used the digital camera for assignments. This survey will assess their feelings about using the digital cameras in math class, if they feel that they have helped them understand the math concept, and if they want to continue using the digital cameras for assignments. We will also include an optional short answer where the students can give their ideas of how the digital cameras might be used in some of their other courses as well. These surveys will be given throughout the year to gauge the persistence of the students interest in using the cameras and if they are continuing to be used effectively. Internal Funding Choosing the exact technology wanted or needed for a project is only half the battle. Before any decisions are made about which technology can be purchased, a budget needs to be set in place but ultimately some source of funding is needed. Finding the means for funding can be a challenging task. Many schools choose to fund new technology through only external funding. This technology procurement will be funded by external funds as well as internal funds. There will be a goal amount to reach and a chart will be kept to monitor the progress of receiving the funds. This will help motivate students and teachers to continue to work hard to find the funds and will also show the community how much they are helping reach the goal. Internal funding allows for endless opportunities to acquire the funds as well as receiving them quicker, in some cases. For this procurement, internal funding will come from a variety of events. The main event will be a golf tournament for the public organized and run by the students, faculty, and staff of the school. Students will help make advertisements and posters to be placed throughout the schools town and surrounding towns. These advertisements will explain in detail where the proceeds will be used. There will be a fee for each team to play (increasing with the number of players on the team) and there will be a dinner served that night. The dinner will be optional and will have a separate cost. It will be advertised that those that do not wish to play in the tournament are still welcome to come to the dinner. At the site of the tournament, there will be a booth set up with information on what the funds will be going towards and

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specific plans as to how the technologies will be used in the classroom. A list of those in attendance of this event will be kept and thank you letters from teachers and students who use the new technologies will be sent out along with an update on how the technologies have been used and future plans for their use. Community involvement is a huge aspect of receiving internal funding. Other events planned to help receive funds for this procurement include faculty vs. student games such as Powder Puff football, basketball, dodge ball, softball, etc. These games will be played throughout the year and will involve the community as well. There will be a small charge to get into each game. Advertisements and posters will also be placed around the school and surrounding town to showcase these games to help bring in more people. Some type of incentive will be in place for those who attend a certain number of these games. T-shirts will be made as well that the players and/or viewers can purchase for a certain price. All of the proceeds from these events will go towards funding the new technology. The progress chart will be outside of each event as well. The same table used at the golf tournament will be placed at this event as well. Students and faculty will also put on a bake sale on a Saturday afternoon. Each participant will have a table or spot at the fair to showcase the goodies. Once again, advertisements and flyers will be put up around the school in town to help involve the entire community. The information table will also be set up at this event as well. A source of internal funding that is in place, or should be in place, at every school and every school district is a part of the budget allocated for technology. The reality is in most cases, that this budget is never really enough, which is why other forms of internal funding are needed. In the cases where the budget allocation is not enough, faculty and staff can visit with the technology coordinator for the school or district and discuss possibilities of increasing the budget or how to utilize the allocated money in the best way possible. Visiting with technology coordinators and district employees about the current technology needs in the schools is also important. Those that propose the budget and vote on the budget should be kept abreast of the current needs of the schools as well as the newest technologies available and how they can benefit education. External Funding While internal funding gets the community involved and will provide a significant amount of funding, in most cases, it simply wont be enough to cover all costs. This procurement plan involves two costly technologies and will also require a great deal of external funding. This external funding will come grants. Grants are a useful and time efficient way to gain funding for projects. In terms of grants, a little bit of research can go a long way. With computers being such an integral part of education now, finding grants for purchasing new computers should not be difficult. When new technologies are released, there are often times grants for these new technologies. Some grants have a substantial amount of money to distribute while others may not. Grant purposes can range from the money being used for specific purposes or for general educational purposes.

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A source of external funding that some may overlook is contacting the companies that make the technologies. In some cases these companies will donate equipment or offer deals. Some may allow for the exchanging of old, used technologies for new, upgraded devices. Some companies may also have grants of their own for using their technologies in the classroom. For this procurement, we will contact the computer company and propose our plan to them, including plans for specific use of the laptops in the classroom. We will also contact Apple and discuss plans of implementing iPads in mathematics classrooms and see what they have to offer. Life Cycle Replacement When planning to invest in new technologies such as computers and iPads, schools and/or districts often fail to plan out a life cycle replacement program or plan. These technologies, while new right now, will not be new for long and will begin to wear as it is being used. Antolovic and McRobbie (2001) propose a strategy to help plan for life-cycle replacement: ...assign an appropriate replacement cost, divide that cost by the number of years, and put this amount aside every year... (p. 30) This is a great idea that will go along with our funding propositions. This allows for continuous internal funding to occur for future purchases or updates. The article also mentions future changes in technology will necessitate the continuous assessment of any life-cycle funding program. (p. 38) Given this, our plan is to re-visit the life cycle replacement plan each year to assure that it is up to date. Technology, by its very nature, has a limited useful life span and must be updated and replaced on a regular basis. Computers in schools, especially, will wear down quicker than most technology as they are exposed to a great deal of use day after day. Computers typically have a life cycle of 3-4 years so in this life cycle replacement plan the laptops will be replaced after 3 years. This life cycle replacement plan will also include that if the computer is fairly new and there are system updates that are available, those updates will be done. A piece of this plan will also include instances of accidental physical damages or internal damages that may occur. The old computers will not simply be thrown away; they will be inspected by computer technicians, updated/upgraded if they are still in good enough shape for use, or they will be given to a computer recycling program. Blagojevic (2003) mentions in his article that contacting companies or places that use or focus on technology....may have information or suggestions on a variety of issues such as criteria for accepting donated equipment or setting up and maintaining equipment. (p. 31) iPads are a slightly different story than computers and laptops. These devices wont need physical replacement, if treated properly and stored properly, for possibly up to 6 years. Apple produces new versions of the iPad about every two years but that does not necessarily mean that the old ones should be thrown out and new ones bought. Usually with a new iPad version comes updated system software. Usually this software is available to download on the previous version of the device. If the devices are under 5-6 years of age, and a software update is available, they will be updated.

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References Antolovic', L. G., & McRobbie, M. A. (2001). Implementing Life-Cycle Funding. Educause, September/October, 28-38. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0152.pdf Blagojevic, B. (2003). Funding Technology: Does It Make Cents?. Young Children, November, 28-33. http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200311/FundingTechnology.pdf Boakes, N. & Juliani, K. iMath-Reaching the iGeneration in the Mathematics Classroom. http://directorymathsed.net/download/oBakes.pdf Nicol, C. & Crespo, S. (2004). Learning To See In Mathematics Classrooms. Proceedings of the 28th Conference of the International Group for the Physiology of Mathematics Education. (417-424). Volume 3. http://www.emis.ams.org/proceedings/PME28/RR/RR263_Nicol.pdf Sharp, B., Garofalo, J., & Thompson, A. (2004). Digital Images in the Mathematics Classroom. Learning & Leading with Technology, 31(8), 30-32. http://www.morrisville.org/classrooms_curriculum/hive_portal/documents/images _math1.pdf