Minutes+November+4

Hi everybody!

Meeting on Thursday 11/4 minutes.

In attendance:

Julissa Gomez Dave Daniels Al Mezarina Bev Chalmers Frank Gonzales Michael Yackel

Basically we discussed what hardware we are looking to go for in pursuing this grant. The grant comes from the 2008 District Bond. There are one million dollars available, to be divided among 10 grants. The monies will not be divided up in equal amounts, but based upon need, and proficiency of the grant.

As it stands right now we "decided" that for the purpose of this grant we will pursue 270 iPads. This is not set in stone, but if you think that we should absolutely pursue something else get your voice heard now, **please!**


 * Some of the upsides of iPads:**
 * Cost (approximately $700 with keyboard docking station) vs. Laptop ($1000).
 * Battery Life (approximately 10 hours on a single charge).
 * With this number of iPads plus the labs we could do acuity testing in 2 to 3 days. Opening up the labs and iPad for more instruction time.
 * Portability/Speed.
 * Touch Screen.
 * Kewl-ness.


 * Draw Backs of iPads:**
 * Another system to learn (Teachers and students).
 * Not a "hardcore" computer.
 * Vulnerability to damage/theft.
 * Application downloaded per machine.
 * Unknown pitfalls.

If we secure funding for our grant, or partial funding we are looking at rolling this out in stages, perhaps 3 carts of 30 to start with. Those most interested in pursuing utilizing these resources would be asked to pilot deployment, and development of sample lessons, applied to the schools ELGs, in concert with specific content ideas. Again all this is up in the air, comments and suggestions are welcome but needed quickly.

I have purchased an iPad and anyone who is interested in working with it to see what it can and can not do is welcome to borrow it. Email me (michael_yackel@dpsk12.org) or call (720-424-0312), or drop by room 322 to pursue this.


 * WE ARE GOING TO MEET TOMORROW (11/5) IN THE IMC IMMEDIATELY AFTER SCHOOL.**

We are up against an unreasonable deadline of November 15! Please enjoy reading through the scoring rubric of the grant, and the application process, as these are our next steps!

RESOURCES:

Classroom Technology Innovation Grant Website





More to come............. -my