Current Practices

 All around the country schools are dealing with these issues of funding for their schools and also how to budget this money to be able to upgrade their technology in the future. Even if they receive a large amount of money they won’t want to use it all at once due to the fact that technology becomes outdated quickly and they will need to upgrade in the near future. There are some examples of schools and districts that are receiving grants in our own state of Oregon that are great ways of showing schools receiving this funding and putting it to good use.



There was a total of 19 districts in the state that received the federal 21st Century Technology-Rich Learning and Technology grant. This grant has had a great effect on schools and classroom engagement and teaching styles. “Thanks to technology, we're able to do a better job of engaging students, differentiating instruction, and personalizing learning.” The superintendent also talked about how the students have also taken in these new tools and used them for the best in their learning experience. All together, $6,724,211 in grant money was given to these 19 districts to help get them started on a technology rich learning experience in their classrooms. The goal of this program is to show that the use of technology in classrooms can produce a better learning environment and help students succeed more in their learning. Although this grant is fantastic in what it is doing, it is sad to see that only 19 of the districts in Oregon were able to receive it when there are so many more that also need this help in getting a jump start. Slowly, more schools will be able to gain access to these tools and hopefully in time every school will be able to have the same amount of resources as the next. (Information from Oregon Department of Education).

In addition to this grant given to 19 districts in the state, 2 schools in the Eugene school district were also given another grant. These two schools include Cesar Chavez Elementary and Adams Elementary. Both schools were given a total of more than half a million dollars to help them with the funding of technology in their schools. Both schools have previously received another grant recently with Adams Elementary receiving $270,000 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Cesar Chavez receiving $260,000 through a grant within Oregon awarded to 8 districts in the state. These grants will allow the schools to add laptops, iPod touches, projectors, smartboards, document cameras and specialists who will allow teachers to use these devices to their full potential. This is very exciting for these two schools as they will be able to add much more substance into their classrooms in the next few years and see growth in their schools. (Information from The Registar Guard)



Overview
A Closer Look
Current Practices
Educational Impact
Solutions
Bibliography