Schools

Will High Tech Mean High Marks for New Canaan Students?

The Board of Education plans to vote on the state-approved District Technology Plan at their meeting tonight.

 

The New Canaan Board of Education (BOE) will vote to approve a new District Technology Plan (DTP) at their meeting Monday evening, a move to ensure students are engaging in the 21st century learning experience.

The DTP has been provided by the state of Connecticut in accordance with the National Technology Plan, so named: Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology.

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According to the U.S. Department of Education Executive Summary of the National Technology Plan, it “recognizes that technology is at the core of virtually every aspect of our daily lives and work, and we must leverage it to provide engaging and powerful learning experiences and content, as well as resources and assessments that measure student achievement in more complete, authentic, and meaningful ways.”

The concrete application of which will entail New Canaan students learning in classrooms that combine classic methods of teaching with the use of technological devices that are either provided for the students or brought from home, according to Director of Technology for New Canaan Schools Robert Miller.

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“Students need to be prepared to be assessed on the same tools that they’re learning on,” said Miller at the board’s May meeting.

The concept of students potentially taking their Connecticut Mastery Tests online comes at the heels of the Cheshire DMV’s foray into technology as it launched its online appointment system as of May 30.

Not everyone feels technology is the path to success for children, however. Chief officers of giants such as eBay, Google, Yahoo, Apple and Hewlett-Packard send their young ones to  Waldorf School of the Peninsula, a school that rejects the idea that children and technology should be incorporated at a young age.

The students read paper books and write with wooden pencils and learn fractions by cutting up food without a screen in sight.

The age at which technology should be introduced to children is much debated and the issue will be discussed by the board, who will decide the specifics of the new DTP efore the proposal’s June 15 deadline.

The board will discuss and vote on the issue at 7:30 p.m. at New Canaan High School in the Wagener Room on Monday, June 4.


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