All trained certified professionals in Garland ISD will receive an iPad to assist them with various duties within the classroom. The change came after a substantial amount of teachers requested more technology in the classrooms when Superintendent Bob Morrison visited schools last school year.
“He brought it to the school board, [and] the school board approved the purchase of a little over 4,000 iPads for every professional in the district,” Math teacher and iPad instructor Craig Wilson said.
Principal Dan Cummings and assistant principal Jason Jetton wanted a math teacher to conduct teacher training and Wilson stepped up to the plate.
“I was asked and I said yes,” Wilson said. “And I said yes before I knew what I said yes to. Mr. Cummings and Mr. Jetton said that we need a math teacher to help train with technology. I said sure, and then it turned into quite a bit more than I was participating. However, it has also been enjoyable and I am quite glad that I did it.”
Wilson along with two other instructors will have to teach 8 modules over the course of a year. They will teach teachers how to use apps that will help them become more efficient in the classroom.
“One of the first apps we will be teaching to teachers is called Doceri and it’s a powerful app because it takes your desktop and allows it to be run by your iPad,” Wilson said. “So basically the iPad controls your desktop computer so you can float around the room, use PowerPoint, take pictures of students work right there and show it on the screen. I’m not tied to one location in the room, I can move all throughout the classroom mobile because everything I can do on my desktop I can now do on the iPad through the app Doceri.”
Training the teachers can get tedious Wilson said. However, he has enjoyed the experience and is glad to have helped.
“It’s been challenging because [the whole] school has to be trained,” Wilson said. “There’s only three of us little less than 200 of us need to be trained. There’s a lot of tedious things that have to be done. The hard part is over, we’ve gotten the iPads in teachers hands from here on out it will be fun.”
Wilson says it has been interesting seeing teachers who are not used to technology trying to figure out how to operate the iPad.
“It’s only after a few experiences that these people are much more comfortable with it,” Wilson said. “I personally am not a big fan of technology. However, I’ve seen that if it’s used properly, then it can be a great way to have more information at your fingertips.”
Social Studies teacher Gary Church embraces the new iPads, because he believes the way we access knowledge and information is changing and teachers need a way to keep up.
“I agree with it because I think technology is the way of the future, because we need to be out there on the edge of technology and keeping with it,” Church said.