Granby Teacher: School District Must Upgrade Technology Infrastructure

In addition to discussing , the Granby Board of Education on Wednesday heard a presentation from a teacher on the necessity to upgrade the technology infrastructure at the high school.

Joe Jarvis, a social studies teacher at , said in a presentation that students, for the most part, possessed the technological devices necessary to advance learning in the 21st Century.

Where the school district lags behind, according to Jarvis, is in the infrastructure to support the devices.

To highlight the point, Jarvis played a video for the members of the school board showing students in an advanced placement class using tablets for a lesson, only the devices could not access the school’s computer network or, when they did, would immediately drop off.

Jarvis called on the board to invest in upgrading the school’s wireless network.

“We need a system that is more flexible,” Jarvis said. “We’re trying to teach students to be producers of media, not just consumers.”

Superintendent of Schools Alan Addley has included in the Plus One Budget the addition of $100,000 into the district’s small capital improvements budget specifically to upgrade the wireless network.

Some school board members, however, were concerned about how students’ bringing their devices into school would impact the learning environment.

Chairman Cal Heminway, for example, asked if there was a way to reduce the temptation to use devices improperly during school hours.

Jarvis responded that there was no software to prevent mobile devices and tablets from being a distraction per se.

“It does open the door for distractions, but they are there anyway,” said Jarvis.

School board Ben Perron said that changes in existing policies would have to be made to reduce liability in the event of abuses.

Still, Jarvis remained resolute.

“Our classrooms are rich in technology,” he said. “We just need to support that. We’re just keeping up right now. We need to be forward thinking.”

Later in the evening, school board members, in discussing the Plus One Budget, said that they would like to see how that $100,000 would be spent, versus, perhaps allocating the money elsewhere.

In other business, the school board also heard presentations from high school athletic director Ed Bobinski on student participation in sports and Aimee Martin, director of pupil personnel services, on the implementation of changes to the special education program.