Information Technology

Overview

The Information Technology Department consists of Instructional, Library Media, and Administrative Technology. These three branches work together to provide the instruction, materials, and services to fully educate all students in the Newton Public Schools. Students are expected to graduate with very different skills than ten years ago.  Our challenge as educators is to develop in our students the skills of inquiry, to guide their growth as citizens in a global society, and to help them become lifelong learners.

Instructional Technology

Instructional technology specialists function as staff developers. They partner with teachers in the various disciplines to create and implement technology lessons that deepen student understanding.  At the elementary level the technology specialists travel among buildings, but at the secondary level the specialists are building-based.  These specialists also help to address the variety of technical issues that arise at this level.

Instructional Technology Specialists:

• co-teach, model, and support integrated lessons in the classroom by providing direct instruction to students and teachers in the use of computer applications (such as Powerpoint, Inspiration, iPhoto, and iMovie) and new and emerging technologies. 
• provide leadership, support, and training to classroom teachers and specialists for technology integration.
• facilitate the development of curriculum units that fully integrate the information technology benchmarks into the content areas.
• provide technology assistance for students with diverse learning styles or those on Individual Education Plans (IEP).
• develop and conduct building-based and system-wide professional development workshops for instructional technology initiatives.
• collaborate with the library teacher to promote information technology and identify areas of the curriculum best served by technology use.
• consult and collaborate with curriculum coordinators and high school department heads to identify appropriate software and programs to support curriculum.
• advise school-based technology teams.
• evaluate new software and hardware to support teaching and learning.
• consult with school principal, library teacher and faculty in developing individual School Technology Plans support and facilitate the implementation of the District Technology Plan.

Instructional Technology Staff Listing 

Library Media

The role of the library teacher is to provide quality resources by building library collections in support of curriculum and by meeting students’ reading needs. As a teaching partner, elementary library teachers engage in curriculum mapping with the classroom teachers. Library instruction is linked to what is being taught in the classroom. The elementary school libraries maintain a semi-fixed schedule. K-3 students have a designated 30-minute period in their weekly schedule to visit the library. Fourth- and fifth-grade students have a designated 45-minute period every other week. All students are welcome to visit the school library with a teacher’s permission anytime during the school week for the purpose of exchanging library books or to seek assistance locating information. In the elementary school library, unscheduled blocks of time in the library schedule are used by library teachers, classroom teachers, and instructional technology specialists to collaboratively design learning experiences that engage students in inquiry- based learning, provide support for technology integration, and foster literacy appreciation. 

The middle and high school libraries maintain a flexible schedule. Teachers are encouraged to consult and partner with the library teacher at their school as they plan research or project-based assignments.

A set of comprehensive literacy skills and information problem solving skills are taught to students from K-12.  (The library department has adopted the Big 6 information problem solving process and the simplified version known as the Super 3 for younger students.) The school library teacher implements the library media curriculum to provide instruction in information seeking and problem solving strategies by using standard print resources, electronic databases, and the Internet. Accessing, evaluating, using, synthesizing, and communicating information are essential skills for 21st century students. Students are also educated as to ethical and safety issues involving technology use and the Internet. The K-12 library media curriculum also provides for the development of personal reading interests of students. Library teachers actively promote the love of reading. 

Each school library maintains an active membership in the Metrowest Regional Library System. Our membership provides K-12 access in the school library and classroom to online reference resources such as World Book Online, InfoBits for Kids, and Newsbank.  In addition to these databases, the elementary school libraries also have access to BrainPOP, which features animated curriculum related video clips, and teachingbooks.net, an author/literature website available in the library by subscription.

The middle and high school libraries and classrooms have access to an expanded range of databases provided through the Metrowest Regional Library System and individual school subscriptions. A number of our online databases provide for home access and teachers and parents are encouraged to consult with their school library teacher for access information.  All libraries are using Destiny, an updated, web-based automation system by Follett.

Administrative Technology

The Administrative Technology Group (ATG) is responsible for the network architecture and server framework that delivers information technology services to faculty and administrators throughout the district.  Newton’s student management system, Chancery SMS, is one of the most important and heavily used services in the district. It tracks most of the student and family data related to the 11, 700 students in the district. 

Significant progress has been made in transitioning the Newton schools from the older MacSchool program which only runs on a Macintosh computer to the newer browser-based SMS (Student Management System) application. The browser interface allows the faculty to securely access SMS student information from school or even from home using either a Mac or PC computer.  Use of SMS improves the faculty’s effectiveness in the classroom in areas such as elementary progress reports, grading, attendance, and student schedules.

ATG oversees all aspects of the wired and wireless network; from design to implementation, from capacity planning to technology upgrades, from classroom and computer lab renovations to day-to-day network troubleshooting. ATG works closely with instructional technology specialists from all the schools to insure that the network fabric of the district can adequately support the technologies being used or introduced into the classroom. Network data security and reliability are critical service components in delivering instructional technology to the classroom.

The wireless network at the four middle schools was completely replaced with Cisco managed wireless technology during the 2007- 2008 school year. This improved both the building coverage area and wireless bandwidth speed available to address both the increased number of teacher laptops and growing use of laptop carts in the classrooms. Similar plans are underway to upgrade the fifteen elementary schools with comparable Cisco wireless technology equipment during the 2008-2009 school year.

Closely aligned with network oversight, the district’s access to World Wide Web is also managed by the Administrative Technology Group. Internet use in the classroom continues to grow dramatically and provides the instructional staff with an almost limitless range of learning resources that can be integrated into the curriculum and readily used by the students. All Internet web traffic is routed through the district’s internal network to the Ed Center where it connects with our central Internet Service Provider (ISP) connection. All web content traffic is screened and access to unsavory web sites is blocked. Staff as well as parents can take comfort in knowing that the students entrusted to the district are restricted from inappropriate subject matter. Given the growing use and dependence on web access, our ISP connection is being expanded three-fold effective July 1, 2008 from 10 to 30 Megabits/sec.

The ATG provides technical support for 800 administrative computers and 4,308 instructional computers.  The ATG is also responsible for delivering secure and reliable email services to faculty and administrators that fosters open communication and collaboration between district staff and students and their families. Every Newton staff member is given an email account as part of the FirstClass communication system. All staff is requested to use the email problem reporting system available at each school to submit technical problems or concerns needing attention. Staff can also contact the library teacher and/or instructional technology specialist at the various schools for technical assistance and guidance in using any of the district-supported IT services.

Newton’s Three-Year Technology Plan (2011-2013) has more detailed information about technology planning and implementation.  Our 2011-2013 plan will be coming soon!

If you have questions about the Department of Information Technology, please contact the staff members listed above via email or by phone, ext. 6190.