Technology Plan

Overall District Mission

The Board of Education is dedicated to educating students to develop desired moral, ethical, and cultural values, to stimulate and expand a continual learning process and to cultivate an understanding and appreciation of the rights and responsibilities of American citizens, which will enable them to function effectively as independent individuals in a democratic society. The Board strives to maintain a comprehensive approach to satisfy the educational needs of the students of the district by meeting or exceeding the state's requirements.

The Board seeks to implement a variety of instructional methods and to increase the opportunities for the development of each individual's capabilities and personality. It is the district's goal to foster in students good work habits, integrity, self-discipline, individual creativity, originality, aesthetic appreciation, good sportsmanship, self-confidence and a sense of purpose. Extracurricular activities will be offered when possible to enhance the academic program.

The Board encourages parents and teachers to offer their expertise in helping to develop a school environment that is academically challenging, psychologically satisfying and socially fulfilling for students at all levels. The objectives of an educational program are best realized when mutual understanding, cooperation, and effective communication exist among the home, community, and school.

Vision Statement that Guides Technology Planning:

The Babylon School District’s mission is to incorporate technology into the educational program to create an environment that provides our students, staff, and community with the following:

• Training of appropriate technological skills to both staff and students needed in today’s information age to be productive and successful in the 21^st
• Opportunities to access a wide variety of services and resources on the local, state, national, and global levels utilizing different tools and forms of media and communication services.
• Infrastructure and support necessary to carry out these goals.

With sufficient technology, materials, and staff development time, students will utilize technology in the classroom regularly; gathering, assimilating, organizing, and presenting information related to the curriculum. We acknowledge the fact that the world is more complex and demanding than ever before. The total scope of knowledge and skill of our students must be much greater than in the past. This places new demands and expectations on our educational system. Reflection on national and state educational restructuring brings to light the competition between an educational system designed for the industrial age and the reality of the current information age.

The Babylon School District technology curriculum is structured to offer to students a fully integrated use of new technologies to prepare them for the 21^st Century. This requires that on-going adjustments be made to our learning activities and teaching strategies per the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) recommendations. It is also a top priority of the district to ensure that equitable access to the use of technology for all our students and staff be provided at all times.

The New Learning Environment:

There is a critical need for our students to be able to access information, manipulate data, synthesize concepts, and creatively express ideas to others using text, video, and audio media. This wide variety of media allows us to serve the diverse learning styles of our students and educate them in a wide range of multiple intelligences that include verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and naturalistic. On-going societal transformations and workplace demands will require our students to learn to take responsibility for much of their own learning. We must provide students with broader opportunities to construct their own knowledge. Evolving educational reform is dependent on the adequate and appropriate infusion of technology in school that can support an ever-changing educational system and develop life-long learners who will become productive and successful citizens. Babylon will provide the necessary staff development programs so that the district’s teachers can prepare students for the 21^st Century workplace.