On Monday, the Board reviewed a newly developed technology vision for the district.  Based on input from students, teachers and administrators, the new vision is rooted in engagement, citizenship, and the four C's: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, and Communication.

The previous technology vision was developed during the 2008-2009 school year, and centered around the concept of "innovation without restriction."  Now, in 2015, all Glenbrook students utilize district-issued devices to enhance learning, access resources from the cloud, and benefit from teachers who have experienced deeper professional development centered around technology's implementation in the classroom.

On a Friday in February, 50 Glenbrook   educators reviewed input and brainstormed potential recommendations for the three-year technology vision.

"Designing a unified vision on how to support our students as they become productive, digital citizens, is a crucial part of what we do as educators," said Superintendent Dr. Mike Riggle. "We challenge ourselves as teachers, support staff and leaders, to consider the student outcome we expect and work backward from there to identify the strategies we need to help them get there."

Students and staff participated in a national survey, which resulted in several key findings:

• 85-percent of students are using devices daily for classroom purposes

• 94-percent of teachers and 84-percent of students believe devices are enhancing the learning experience

• Overall, when compared with other districts where every student utilizes a device, Glenbrook students experience a greater weekly frequency of classroom technology related to the 4Cs (creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking)

• There is need to increase awareness of responsible technology behavior among students, and an understanding of it among teachers.  

The technology vision is based on seven main focus areas:

• Focus One: Develop a full ecosystem of software and hardware supporting anywhere, anytime learning.

• Focus Two: Redesign classrooms and informal areas as active learning spaces.

• Focus Three: Create conditions to design and expand digital textbook/resources.

• Focus Four: Develop active digital spaces in all courses for blended learning.

• Focus Five: Grow the use of the Google Ecosystem as the foundational platform for the learner experience.

• Focus Six: Redesign professional learning with an emphasis on increased individualization and unity between pedagogy, technology, and space.

• Focus Seven: Develop citizenship and the four C's (Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, and Communication) across the curriculum.

The technology vision is a fluid concept that will continue to be monitored, evaluated and enhanced over the next three years.