Oklahoma Elementary Schools Share Their Experience with Technology Implementation

Grant funding allowed schools to buy more technology for students and offer professional development for teachers.

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(TNS) — Representatives from the Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust and K20 Center at the University of Oklahoma visited Edmond Doyle and Will Rogers elementary schools on Monday to see how grants were used for technology implementation in school curriculum.

The two $65,000 grants provide technology and professional development to students and teachers at Edmond Doyle and Will Rogers elementary schools. The OETT grant provided 230 Apple iPad minis to the schools as well as charging docks and kid-proof cases.

"Technology is a tool to get you where you are going," Edmond Doyle Principal Kathy Hunt said.

Hunt said her school was able to purchase 130 iPad minis for the students with the grant from the OETT trust. The school had six prior to the grant.

Professional development is paid for as part of the grant in addition to the technology. The K20 Center helps provide the professional development in order to teach teachers how to best implement new tools in classrooms.

"The kids love them (iPads)," Hunt said. "My teachers weren't sure how they would find (iPad) apps that would fit what they are doing in classrooms."

With development and training, the teachers successfully implemented the tablets into their curriculum, Hunt added.

"One reason we are so successful is our teachers," Hunt said. "They work very well together."

These elementary schools join 227 other schools in Oklahoma and their combined 92,000 students that have received the OETT grants since 2003. In addition, more than 7,000 teachers, superintendents and principals have received professional development training to assist their teachers with the new technology.

Edmond Doyle and Will Rogers are the third and fourth schools to receive grants from OETT in the district. Last year, William Gay and Jefferson early childhood centers received grants for technology and professional development.

OETT was established 14 years ago as a result of an agreement between then-Attorney General Drew Edmondson and AT&T Oklahoma during the company's transition to a modern form of regulation. As part of the agreement, AT&T contributed $30 million to establish the trust. OETT is administered by the Communities Foundation of Oklahoma and Foundation Management Inc. 

©2016 the McAlester News-Capital (McAlester, Okla.), distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. 

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