BVSD is Becoming Future Ready

BVSD is committed to being Future Ready. We’ve always been in the business of preparing students for the future, but how we prepare them is changing because our world is becoming more connected through technology.

Our superintendent, Bruce Messinger, recently signed the Future Ready Pledge, part of the federal government’s ConnectED Initiative, which recognizes the importance of:

“building human capacity within schools and districts for effectively using increased connectivity and new devices to transform teaching and learning.”

In other words, we are committed to supporting our educators who transform the way students learn using technology with professional development.

This short video illustrates what being Future Ready means for our students. I hope you take a few moments to watch it and be inspired.

I recently attended the Future Ready Schools summit in Denver wtih Dr. Messinger, Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services & Equity Ron Cabrera, and Ed Tech Director Kelly Sain. The summit, one of many across the nation, is sponsored by the US Department of Education and the Alliance for Excellent Education to help ensure that we, as leaders in public education, are proactively planning for the future of education.  I was pleasantly surprised that the summit was not exclusively about technology; it was about the support that our teachers need in order to be successful.We used our time together to plan how technology can improve student learning, and to identify the issues that need to be addressed so that we can transition smoothly into a digital learning environment. Specifically, we discussed:

    curriculum, instruction, and assessment

    professional learning

    technology, networks, and hardware

    budget and resources

    data and privacy

    use of time

    community partnerships

I’m happy to say that BVSD has already been working to address these topics.

• We are working to update our current 7-year curriculum adoption model, which was optimized for print materials, to a model that can handle subscription-based digital curriculum materials.

• We are supporting teachers at our 1:Web pilot schools, Centaurus High and Broomfield High, with extensive professional development that we will eventually scale up when 1:Web becomes district-wide.
• We are upgrading our internet pipe this summer to 4 times its current capacity.
• We are updating our student data privacy practices and policies.
• We will begin using the innovation funds from the recent bond to create areas for collaboration and learning within the schools.

Our biggest challenge to meeting the Future Ready Pledge is budget and resources. We need roughly $2.2 million per year to provide a digital device for every student and professional development for every teacher. Even with a budget of $300 million, this is still a big number.

In the meantime, our 1:Web pilots will continue so that we learn and prepare for the change in our educational practices over the next decade. 

I appreciate your thoughts, so please chime in below with how you are becoming “Future Ready.”

Andrew

Extending the Learning Day

Kids have been doing homework around the kitchen table for generations without the internet, but times are changing. Now they can work on a Google doc from their laptop in the basement or watch a video lecture from their tablet in the car. Internet access makes it possible for students to extend their learning day—they can access online educational tools anytime, anywhere.

But students without internet access at home can’t take advantage of these opportunities; this situation creates what is known as the digital divide and contributes to a general opportunity gap. As more teaching and learning is done online, this gap grows.

To mitigate the digital divide within its student population, BVSD has formed a partnership with Boulder Housing Partners (BHP), Impact on Education, and the City of Boulder to pilot a program that provides free wireless internet service to students in one of BHP’s housing developments.

"Extending learning time and opportunity through home BVSD internet access is a key way to increase student success. BVSD appreciates community partnerships like this, which are needed to expand capacity and enhance educational opportunities for all students.”  Dr. Bruce Messinger, Superintendent, BVSD.

Here’s how the program will work: BVSD will provide access to the fiber network and internet that it already pays for; BHP will install wireless infrastructure in the buildings. Since students will be accessing BVSD’s network, the connection will be filtered and authenticated (meaning that students must use a password to get online).

The pilot will run from Feb - May. Based on our learnings from this pilot, we hope to extend the program to other housing developments both in Boulder and east county.

I’d like to hear your comments about this partnership with BHP to bring wireless internet to BVSD students extending their school day. Please chime in below. (remember to login first)

Andrew