The School District of Palm Beach County has been recognized by netTrekker for our commitment to keeping our students safe online and providing educationally sound Internet resources for our students and teachers.  Each year netTrekker recognizes the top 100 Districts based on the usage of their educational search tool, and this year WE RANKED # 7  OVERALL!!

To see where we ranked compared to some of the other districts in Florida and the nation click on the award.

As a reminder,

netTrekker is available to all students, teachers, and family members of the School District of Palm Beach County, and is available via a link on the Learning Tools website.  This is a direct link from school, and inquire at your school to learn more about access from home!

To learn more about netTrekker… check out the netTrekker Support Page, and KEEP SAFELY SEARCHING!!!

Well, here it is, pre-school week for teachers, and I’m sure that things are as exciting, frustrating, challenging, and fun on your first few days back as they are every year. It’s always a thrill to see your old chums and colleagues after a summer of taking things easier.

Of course this means it’s time to trade in that beach bag full of books and suntan lotion for one that has teacher’s guides and projects to develop.

And the question this time around is simple: What do you have planned for the coming year that will be new for you and your students? Did you attend a great workshop over the summer, do online research, or just get your head clear so you can come up with new things on your own? Whatever the case may be, we’re hoping that you’re looking forward to some great challenges and some new teaching methods that you’ll try out this year.

So how about it Palm Beach teachers? What are you looking forward to this year? What new and exciting things do you see in your crystal ball as you prepare for the coming school year? Do you have something brand new in store for your classroom for the coming year?

As always, this blog is intended for two-way conversations, so if you’d like to share something interesting that you’ve added to your bag of tricks for the coming year we’d love to hear about it!

 Our team just saw a preview of a new technology tool that is hosted online and has saw awesome capabilities that could easily be used in a classroom environment. (More on this later.)

During these discussions we always bump up against practical concerns that our district has to face. But as we discussed these today some questions arose that seem appropriate for us to ask to a larger audience. (That would be you. See that comment link?)

Here’s the big question though: Is there a fundamental difference between a technology-based tool, particularly those that we label as “Web 2.0″, and more traditional instructional resources like those you’d find in one like the book pictured here? And a few more questions

1. If a teacher or a school wants to spend money on an online service is that different than buying a resource or activity books?
2. Do light-weight technology tools serve the same function as reproducibles and other traditional activities a teacher might want to use?
3. Beyond the barrier of access to a computer are there other questions that arise in the classroom when teachers are thinking about using technology tools to enrich their curriculum?

Those are just a few thoughts that came up in our team discussion. Do you have more of your own? We’d love to hear from you!

(The pictured activity book is from Teacher Created Materials. A great web site for finding these kinds of traditional activities and much more.)

Personally, the chart below is my favorite of all of them as it demonstrates just how critical our teachers find technology to be.

 We asked other questions too of course, including this one that asked teachers how technology impacts student interest and attention.

You can see the full results of the survey at the two links below. While these results are specific to Palm Beach County Schools they are well inline with the results that other surveys produce.

The Impact of Technology in the Classroom

The Impact of Specific Programs and Services in the Classroom

Have a comment about these results? We’d love to hear from you!