Enhancing Education Through Technology Grant At Brownstown Schools

Brownstown Schools Awarded the 2009 EETT Grant

Brownstown School District is one of 18 districts in Illinois participating in the Enhancing Education Through Technology Grant.  This is an impressive opportunity for the students and staff at Brownstown to use up-to-date technology to enhance teaching and learning.  The grant is a 3-year grant with $296,000 in Year 1, nearly $220,000 the next year, and $145,000 the 3rd year.  This is federal money that flows through the states.  The grants are issued in a competitive process by each state. The EETT Grant will mean that students and teachers can use up-to-date technology daily in many learning activities.

How will this program change Brownstown Schools?

The goal of this program is to enhance the existing curriculum with digital resources and use of technology to make teaching and learning clearer, more meaningful, easier, and/or more exciting.  Teachers and students will learn how to use new hardware and software, but the emphasis is on using these tools to increase knowledge and skills in all curricular areas.  The goal is not only to learn to use technology but to use technology to learn.  To be able to use technology as an effective learning tool at all levels, we will acquire a great deal of new equipment, new software, additional bandwidth, and extensive training for teachers.  Parents will have the opportunity to attend several parent technology training sessions or to use computers after hours during open access sessions.

· Classrooms will receive new computers to have 3 or 4 good desktops in the classroom with an opportunity for additional computers in the second and third year.

· Teachers will receive a laptop computer to be used in trainings, to create digital lessons, to show simulations, demonstrations, and interactive resources in instruction.

· Each classroom will have an interactive whiteboard (Smartboard or Mimio) and a video projector.  Some classrooms already have this equipment.

· Each building will have a mobile lab of 24 laptops available for activities for the entire class with a computer for each student.

· Each building will have a set of interactive remotes to allow each student to respond to questions or review activities for quick assessments of student understanding.

· Each building will have access to a document camera to project images of 3-dimensional objects.

· A variety of instructional digital resources will be available for use in teaching and learning.

· Teachers will participate in a wide variety of professional development sessions to develop and use technology resources in instruction.

· Students will use technology to locate, organize, and evaluate information.  Students will have ready access to quality equipment and instructional resources.

· Parents will have access to technology and training.

· Access to technology support will be strengthened by hiring a technology support person for onsite assistance.

It will be a wonderful opportunity for the students and staff of Brownstown to participate in this awesome experience. 

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