Madison City Schools Education Technology Site Visit

I’ve met Kathy Rains, Director of Technology of Madison City Schools several times. First, interviewing her for a Learning in the 21st Century report for Project Tomorrow, then as a panelist at a CoSN CTO Forum at the NSBA Technology + Learning Conference. Madison City Schools is one of the fastest growing, highest performing school districts in Alabama. They listen to their students. When students took the Speak Up Survey, the school realized that students did not want a 1 to 1 laptop program. Most of them had their own computers and just wanted to be able to use them on the school network. The district allows students to bring their own devices and connect while on campus. Ubiquitous access seems like a given, but not on typical school campuses. The idea, according to Kathy, is to let the students choose which technology tools work best. If I take notes best with a laptop, I bring that. If a notebook works for me with a calendar on my phone, that’s what I use.

Visit this innovative district on March 25-26, 2009, as part of the NSBA 2009 Education Technology Site Visits.