Decatur students get jump on future through technologies

Photo by Mike Eckels Two students work on a project in the Library Lab at Decatur High School Dec. 18. The Decatur district closed in on its goal of having a computer for every student.
Photo by Mike Eckels Two students work on a project in the Library Lab at Decatur High School Dec. 18. The Decatur district closed in on its goal of having a computer for every student.

DECATUR -- Since the Internet went public in 1991, school systems across the country have struggled to keep pace with the demands of this continuously evolving industry. For the Decatur School District, it has been especially hard to keep up with the increasing demands for technology-based education.

The primary goal of Decatur schools is to have one mobile device for every student, to have faster, more reliable and secure operating systems, and to teach students in device operations.

Currently, the Decatur school district has 193 desktops, 83 laptops, 120 Chrome Books and 43 iPads, for a total of 439 computer and mobile devices.

Decatur High School has the bulk of these devices, with 102 desktops, 23 laptops, 30 Chrome Books and 18iPads. On the other side of town, Northside Elementary has in its inventory: 59 desktops, 30 laptops, 60 Chrome Books and 25 iPads.

When the decision was made to reopen Decatur Middle School in August, machines originally purchased for the high school and Northside Elementary were rerouted and pressed into service in the new middle school computer lab. It now has 32 desktops, 30 laptops and 30 Chrome Books available to sixth- through eighth-grade students.

Charles Weber, technology coordinator for the Decatur School District, in his report to the Decatur School Board on Nov.17, stated that, with the student population at 538 K-12 students, the ratio of device per student has fallen to 1.23, closer to the 1:1 target goal.

"Even without trying, we are almost a one-point district," Weber said. "That's better than Gravette and Gentry. I don't know of any district in our co-op that is as close to 1 to 1 as we are."

While this is good news for the district, it comes at a cost. Most of the desktops in the library, FACT's, journalism, and special education labs at the high school and 25 in the computer lab at Northside Elementary are six years old or older. The cost to replace these machine would run the district close to $1,000 per unit. One of the ways Weber works around this cost is to purchase refurbished machines.

Most big corporations like Walmart buy new desktop systems and use them for a three-year period before replacing them with newer technologies. While these machines may no longer be suited for the rigors of the corporate world, they are perfectly suited for the academic world. Over the past few years, Decatur has utilized this resource and has acquired several refurbished machines for about half the cost of the new systems, around $400 to $500.

Over the past few years, new devices like iPads and Chrome Books have flooded the technology market, bringing with them a low cost solution for equipping small districts with the most advanced devices possible. At around $300 per unit, they are an application-based device designed to allow the user to optimize his or her website experiences. While they do allow students and teachers to research information on any topic from the Little Ice Age to the newest Reebok tennis shoe, they lack the functions of a desktop or laptop.

By having a wide variety of systems available, the students have the ability to learn a multitude of devices and use each to their advantage.

"I am trying to automate as much as possible," Weber said. "When a new student comes in and registers, by the next day his email account is already created and added to the library system."

One of the biggest challenges facing the Decatur district in the coming years is the loss of funding through e-rate modernization. At present, because of the size of the district, Decatur pays only 10 percent of voice services which include VoIP, POTS, cellular, long distance, and circuits providing voice connectivity. The other 90 percent is paid through grants from the local phone providers, which in Decatur's case is TDS. This funding will be cut by 20 percent each year until it is zeroed out.

"Even if we put in new phone systems, we will still lose this funding," Weber said. "In the end we will have to pay from $13,000 to $15,000 a year for these services."

Mitch Wilber, federal programs/instruction coordinator, has already started the search for grants and other means of funding to cover this lost revenue before the Decatur district is forced to foot the entire bill for these services.

In January, funding for the school's website will also cease, leaving the district to pay $3,000 a year to maintain this site. Once again Weber turned to Wilber and they have a solution in place to keep the website running.

"We have one of the better looking websites for a district our size anywhere in our state," Weber said.

With technologies in a constant state of change, Weber has set three goals for the Decatur School District for the future; to make technology work for the user, empower teachers to utilize technology that works for them, and for each student to be technologically flexible. These three ideals will continue to guide students of Decatur school district towards a brighter future through the use of ever-expanding technology.

"With Mr. Wilber helping with our federal programs, Jackie Smith, our technologies facilitator, and Jeff Gravette, who has a great mind for technologies, I see in another three years from now that we might be the district in the area that parents send their kids to," Weber said. "Not because we are a small district but a district that their kids will have access to technologies and can learn to use them."

General News on 12/24/2014