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Volunteering for technology at our school
A parent shares her experiences in helping integrate technology
into her school district.
By Cindy O'Hora
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 fter sixteen years in Emergency Nursing, I finally ran into something
that really scared me. It was the computer in registration. The RNs did
registration when no clerk was on duty. As I stressed out at the keyboard
of this demon, it became very clear to me that my education had been
grossly lacking in the technology sector.
My certification as an Emergency Nurse and countless hours in Continuing
Ed classes had not prepared me for this. Each day it became more clear to
me that nurses needed to add computer competence to their skills. When I
became the Head Nurse, I found my growing computer skills were
invaluable to achieving my goals.
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 hen we moved to a rural Pennsylvania community later on, I decided to
become involved in my children's school. So I went to a meeting of the
parents and principal. The principal asked for questions. You can probably
guess mine. "How are you using computers to aid instruction?"
She answered that this was a good question and an issue that was still a
grey area. I knew right then I would get involved. She suggested we pull
together a group of parents who would help get the technology going at our
school. She appointed me Chairperson.
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 ooking back at the process we used to get started, I see that the
principles of nursing practice and management took over. We made an
assessment, arrived at short and long-term goals, planned and
implemented interventions, and evaluated our efforts. I found that the
district had no technology plan, a part-time tech support person for the
entire district, and no concrete plan to use the technology they had.
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We made an assessment, arrived at short and long-term goals, planned and
implemented interventions, and evaluated our efforts.
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 he first part of the process was assessing our current situation. Several
parents, the principal, a couple teachers, and I met. We identified
roadblocks. First, there was not enough equipment; one Mac, one IBM, and
13 Apples for 365 students. There were only five ImageWriter printers for
15 classrooms. We also found that there was minimal Mac software in the
building and that the boxes of Apple software were unlabeled and in
disarray. Lastly, even if we had enough equipment, teachers were not
trained in using the computers, so a staff development program was
needed.
After assessing the situation, we established goals. The obvious first goal
was to get more hardware and software. Our goal was a printer and two
Macs in every classroom. Next we needed to organize the software we have
and create a database. Our third goal was to provide timely tech support,
it was unreasonable to expect one classroom teacher to provide adequate
tech support while working full time. Our fourth goal was to provide class
support through staff development. We also planned to build community
support through sharing of information. And our last goal was to increase
the student's computer use.
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he first thing we had to do was start with our first goal: getting more
hardware. We could see from the start that we needed money. What we
didn't know at the time was that there are other ways to get hardware and
software. We sold mums, pizzas, candy, and Christmas reds. As soon as
we had enough money, we bought another Macintosh and rushed it to the
classroom the principal chose.
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nother fundraiser for hardware that I initiated was the "Cans for
Computers" campaign. Each week, students, parents, and community
members bring aluminum cans to school. I collect them on Wednesdays and
take them to the local recycling plant. From a humble beginning of twenty
pounds a week, we grew to collecting over 100 pounds each week making
about $35.00 per load. Over the past three years we have recycled over
17,276 pounds and made over $6500. We have no local recycling program,
so actually this was an extra positive plan.
The totals for fund raisers were reported on the PTO bulletin board. My
son's teacher, Miss Cerrito, gave me a large felt thermometer. I made a
poster with a picture of a Mac at the top. We moved the level up each
week. Then we decided to write a letter to the editor of the local paper
suggesting people donate their older computers to the schools. It was a
great success! We got five free computers and seven free printers. A local
university donated 16 used Apple computers. And several teachers
upgraded to newer Macs and donated their older Macs to the school.
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 ach computer was put on a cart in a classroom. We knew that no class
used the computer all the time. So we encouraged the teachers to plan
sharing the computers. One teacher would use the computer for Writing
Workshop in the morning and then pass it to another for the afternoon.
Their spirit of cooperation has been very impressive. Having three or four
computers for a class makes new activities possible.
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Many problems of new users are repeated by each user. By giving them all
a quick computer tip, I shared the answer around the building.
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 nce we got the hardware, we started focussing on our second goal:
getting software. We were pleased to discover the Scholastic Software
Club. This is a unique way for parents to order all kinds of educational
software for their kids through a catalog. We volunteered to run this on
behalf of the school. We sent out the fliers, collected the checks, sent the
order, and delivered the software when it came. We have been delighted
with the program. It has brought in over sixty free software titles over
three years. We asked the teachers to give us a wish list and we fill the
list using the free points. We try to distribute the software evenly.
Another way I've found good software is by surfing on the Net. I have found
some wonderful shareware programs. They often offer very economical
site licenses. For example: Geo Hunt Grades 3-6 allows student
"geologists" to explore six sites to find and identify hidden rocks. The cost
for a single user is $5. The school site license is just $25. Geo Hunt is
available as a HyperCard stack or as a stand-alone application. Teaching
hints are included. If you have access to AOL, search the software
libraries: TreehouseE@aol.com
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ur third goal was to improve teacher and student technical skills. The
parents were committed to engaging the students and staff in growing
their skills. To help the teachers, I started writing weekly computer tips.
Many problems of new users are repeated by each user. By giving them all
a quick computer tip, I shared the answer around the building. The tips
have grown into a weekly lesson in creating something on the computer or
how this computer feature could help you teach.
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echnical training can be rather dry and difficult to follow. I tried to
overcome this by writing the tips with a "been there, done that" flavor. I
also used interesting fonts like snowcapped Alaskan Nights for my tip on
what to do when the computer freezes. We also stop by every morning to
see if there were any problems or concerns. The teachers know they can
depend on us. I believe this helps the teachers be more open to trying new
computer projects and uses.
For students, we offered an after school computer camp. In two days, we
had 75 students register. We collected the computers in a central room.
Two parent volunteers supervised each session. Students were permitted
to make their own choices about what software to use. Some kids traveled
the Oregon Trial. Others created in the drawing mode of ClarisWorks.
Group size was limited by the number of computers the school had. It took
us most of the school year to give all the students their opportunity to
participate.
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o add to our student and staff development efforts, when I come across
an interesting idea that would fit a curriculum, I pop a copy of the info in
the teacher's mailbox. If they show an interest, I provide whatever support
they want. As the teachers become confident and show off their success,
other teachers ask "Hey, how did you do that?" When teachers and
students try new computer activities, we let everyone know in the
monthly school newsletter.
The Primary teachers, for instance, were interested in using books on CD.
The computers were placed in the hall so that other activities could go on
in the classroom, but the teachers were concerned about allowing the
young students unsupervised access. To address this concern, parents
volunteered to sit with the students. Eventually, one parent took over
coordinating these volunteers.
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As the teachers become confident and show off their success,
other teachers ask "Hey, how did you do that?"
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 ecause of the ages of my children, I am aware of most of the elementary
curriculum at our school. When I get a new software catalog or surf the
Internet, I look for products that might be of use at our school. I show
potential products to the appropriate teachers. We handle the postal work
of getting a preview when available. Then, if the teacher thinks it is
appropriate, we buy it.
In the second year of our efforts, our principal bought several new
computers for the building. There were enough computers to try some
group activities. The fifth grade teachers expressed an interest in doing a
HyperStudio project with the students about the States, since they
already had each student researching information and writing a report
about a State, as a part of the curriculum.
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bout a month before the project began, I offered a five-session computer
class to the students involved in the HyperStudio project. I taught a core group of seven students
some basic skills for working with clip art. The students were very
enthusiastic. They showed other students in their classes how to do the
activities during their recess. These students offered technical support to
their fellow students as the HyperStudio project was done.
I also made a floppy disk for each student that contained clip art relevant
to their State. This made it much easier to share the limited resources
and moved the students along in the project. The students made choices
about which pictures to incorporate into their reports.
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ur fourth goal was to organize the software that we already had. We got
a handle on organizing the software by creating a database in ClarisWorks.
Several parents worked on getting all of the software titles into the
database. When you actually use a database to find software, you can see
other ways it might help you organize your class management and your
supplies. The challenge is, of course, entering all that software into the
database in the first place. Our parents got the job done.
We also organized our CDs. We catalog our CDs just like the books in the
library. We have over 120 CDs in the building with over 90 titles. We also
get duplicate titles. For example, every fourth, fifth, and sixth grade room
has an encyclopedia and a World & USA atlas. Our school librarian, Mrs.
Sue Hostetter, has been invaluable in helping us keep the computer
resources organized.
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hat started as a school parents committee has grown into a community
effort, all of our efforts in achieving our goals caught the attention of the
media and surrounding communities. The local paper ran an article about
our group. I then heard from several parent groups at other schools both in
our district and outside of it. They wanted to learn more about our efforts.
We networked and now share tips on sales on software, free products on
the Internet, or great looking fund raisers.
The activities we conduct have grown into a regular part of school
activities. I communicate regularly with the principal. She decides where
new computers go. She approves our activities in advance. She attends
committee meetings and participates in purchase decisions. She also
keeps us up to date on district plans. We try to have our efforts
support the long-term plans of the district.
What keeps us going? For me, it is seeing the students using the
computers to enrich what they are learning. For the fourth grade, for
instance, we bought several copies of dinosaur programs. They study
dinosaurs and write a report. The multimedia presentations fired the
students imaginations. They learned about so much more than just their
dinosaur.
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What keeps us going? For me, it is seeing the students using the
computers to enrich what they are learning.
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he students still use traditional books and magazines for information as
well. In fact, the parents bought and donated dinosaur books when we saw
that the large classes were short on books. Some of the students chose
unusual dinosaurs like pachycephalosaurs. While there was not much
information available in the traditional media, the computer programs had
pictures and facts in abundance about these creatures.
It is a joy to have a teacher stop me in the hall and say "Look what I made
on the computer Mrs. O." I rejoice with them in their success. Helping at
school has also built my troubleshooting repertoire. If I don't know how to
fix something, I find out.
Our district is constantly growing in its technology initiative. This year
they have begun a five year Strategic Plan. Computers are being purchased.
The buildings are being networked and the Internet will be available in
each classroom. District inservices are centered around technology
training and the teachers at our school are ready to take full advantage of
these advances.
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 plan to act as a tech support volunteer again this next school year. In
fact, I am installing the software to support the network in our building's
computers. I have 25 tips, written over the summer, ready to distribute. I
heard from the principal that the teachers can hardly wait to show me all
the new stuff they have learned over the summer. I am looking
forward to, once again, working with such an exceptional group of
educators.
Feel free to visit
my Web site and send me any questions or comments
that you have. I have links to several fund raisers like the AT&T Learning
Points program and Scholastic Software Club. I have also posted some of
my Macintosh tips.
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posted this
Margaret Meade quotation in our computer room at school. I believe it now more
than ever. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
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Cindy O'Hora is a teacher
in Conestoga, Pennsylvania. Read more about this
author.
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