On Monday, May 12, the new Time and Technology Committee of the County Schools of Williamson came together for the first time to determine a research and action plan over the next year or more. Composed of parents, teachers, administrators, educational coaches and members of the school board, the objective of the committee is to better understand and make recommendations around four areas of technology in and around WCS.
“It could probably come back decades, but really in the past school year, we have had a fairly deep discussion on students and screen time,” said Superintendent Jason Golden at the start of the meeting. “Our request with regard to this process is that you offer recommendations for us who are really the best for WCS students.”
The Committee will meet monthly for the next year to seek, discuss, ask questions and make decisions about how technology is best for students’ educational experiences and teacher tool boxes.
More specifically, the Group will explore the technology integration strategies into teaching, student evaluation time, use or allow personal devices in schools and resources that can be shared with district parents to enlighten their own decisions.
“We will make recommendations beyond educational technology; We will make recommendations on how students use their personal devices at school, and we will provide resources to parents, so that parents are informed of what research says about screen time, “said Jenny Lopez, executive director of teaching, learning and evaluation at WCS.
The members will dive into each of these categories for a few months both throughout the Committee process, but the meeting on Monday was an introduction to the work and a feedback platform on the structure and the chronology.
In an exercise aimed at understanding the knowledge and the reference interests of the room, many members have already shared some of the same questions as, which is considered a personal device, what evidence support the use of technology in class and how do current WCS policies take place in reality?
The WCS staff said they expected that committee members come with their own preconceived ideas or opinions on technology in schools, but they encouraged everyone to have open minds when they come into discussion.
“We are planning animated conversations, and we encourage this. We want to have these conversations because we want to do things, “said David Allen, deputy director of teaching, learning and evaluation. “The difficult part of what will be the real work of this committee is to build and work on consensus.”
The committee will take a break during the summer while the staff organize the comments of the meeting on Monday and the plans for the next meetings. Currently, the Committee is expected to publicly meet the second Tuesday from each month from August to May at WCS Professional Development Center.
Find more information on the meetings of the Board of Directors and WCS committees in https://www.wcs.edu/about-us/meetings