Wallingford Teachers and administrators going to technology camp

As published in the Record Journal Sunday May 5, 2013

By Eric Vo
Record-Journal staff
evo@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@ericvoRJ

WALLINGFORD — Teachers and administrators in the town’s school system will have the opportunity to participate in an education camp at the University of New Haven at the end of August.

The camp is being organized by Robert Kovi, the school system’s information technology resource teacher, and will give teachers and administrators the chance to learn more about Google Chromebooks, the laptop computers that use the Google Chrome OS operating system, according to School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo.

“(The idea) is to have an education camp based on how to utilize a Chromebook for instructional purposes,” Menzo said.

Though the camp is open to any teacher, Menzo said the goal is to focus on “teachers in the middle school and high school levels.” The school system is preparing to launch a pilot program in both middle schools and both high schools during the coming school year, said Randy Backus, the director of information technology services.

The school system recently received 120 Google Chromebooks that will be dispersed among the middle schools and high schools. Each school will receive 30 computers for teachers and students to use, Backus said. If teachers are interested in using the computers for their classes, they’ll have to rent them out for one period and return them afterward, he said. With this model, students won’t be able to take the computers home for personal use.

Administrators spent a significant amount of time comparing computers and prices and decided on the Chromebooks for a number of reasons — including price. Backus said each computer cost about $249. A three-year warranty, which also covers accidental damage, was also purchased for $55. And computer software allowing administrators to manage the computers was purchased for $30.

“It was about $330 per machine,” Backus said, “which is about a third of the cost of other laptops. The Chromebook is very light and it boots up literally in 10 seconds.”

If the pilot program goes well, Backus said more computers would be purchased and placed in locations where more students could use them. He also said some computers might be placed on a mobile cart.

As the pilot program begins to roll out, the education camp at the University of New Haven will provide teachers and administrators with some background on the computers — giving them the opportunity to think about how they could make them a part of the classroom.

“(The camp) is open to teachers and administrators in Wallingford and gives them an opportunity to learn some of the tools available and how to potentially implement them more effectively in the classroom,”Menzo said.