Annual report shows improvements in Las Virgenes school technology

Mary Schillinger, assistant superintendent of the Las Virgenes Unified School District, began the district's annual technology support report to the Calabasas City Council by painting a picture of how much the city's schools have progressed.

Since the passage of a $128million bond measure in 2006, the school district has purchased new computers, high-tech projectors and other electronics for teachers and classrooms. The four cities served by the district- Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village- paid for teacher training on the equipment.

The investment has paid off.

Jennifer Treadaway's thirdgrade class at Lupin Hill Elementary School watched live as the JPL Mars Rover landed on Mars.

"They were listening to the wind blow on Mars. . . Thank you for your support in helping us achieve that goal and helping make that happen," Schillinger told the Calabasas City Council. "Your generosity has helped us move toward a vision of a 21st century learning environment."

It was the school district's first report to the city on how the technological advances are coming.

Schillinger said the schools are integrating more technology, creating multimedia projects, allowing parents online access to grades and assignments and increasing the efficiency of district operations.

Trish Paulson joined the district as director of education technology in September. She said about 98 percent of teachers in the district have laptops and have been trained on them. About 575 projectors have been placed in the classroom and teachers on special assignment have made more than 225 school site visits to help teachers in the classroom.

Nearly all of the 600 teachers in the district have e-mail accounts and have received training on how to upload photos, create movies and perform pod-casting.

"All schools have new web sites," Paulson said. "Threehundred and three of the 600 teachers have published their own web pages just after 10 weeks."

A significant advance has been the launch of Moodle, a contentmanagement site that allows teachers to build interactive web sites for students. More than 90 teacher sites have been created.

"Teachers can share their lessons on Moodle," Paulson said. "Teachers want more training and Moodle is their No. 1 choice on our training interest survey. It's a program that can expand as our teachers gain more skills."

Jeanne Sbardellati is an elementary teacher on special assignment.

"The teachers have received the (advances) very enthusiastically," Sbardellati said. "It's now possible to walk through our schools, both the labs and in our classrooms, and actually see kids thinking, solving problems out loud. You can actually watch them thinking. It's really fun."

Students appeared on a video talking about the programs available to them as a result of the new technologies.

"Integrating technology into the curriculum will help students to act as contributing members in a global community, both by giving them not just the skill set, but the mind set," Sbardellati said. "Creativity and innovation is definitely on our agenda as well."

Mike Carmody, the district's director of management information systems, discussed behindthescenes advances including additional Internet speed for students, more computer storage and better e-mail communications.

"A year ago, we had at the secondary level, one technician supporting six school sites," Carmody said. "That technician was able to visit a school once a week. With your support over the past year, we've increased that to six technicians, two additional tech at middle schools and high schools."

Because of the availability of new programs, all middle school and high school teachers are reporting grades online.

Paulson said she's been working with a districtwide committee to talk about what's next. Goals include the posting of class assignments and student attendance online. More online quizzes could be available for student review and practice.

"I'm so impressed by everything you've accomplished with this fourcity technology agreement," said Calabasas mayor Mary Sue Maurer. "I don't think you'd be as far as you are without it."

"I think it's amazing what you have all done in such a short amount of time," Councilmember Jonathan Wolfson told the school representatives. "It's wonderful to see how you've embraced this technology."