• The Magnet School Assistance Program has helped usher in a new era of technology use by Thomas Edison Elementary faculty, staff, and students. Students at Edison use classroom technology and a computer lab for productivity, acceleration of skills, reinforcement of technology lessons, and advanced enrichment. Grade level technology skills for all students focused on age appropriate and developmental activities are taught in the computer lab where students work weekly on skills aligned with their grade level curriculum from word processing to multi-media presentations.  All primary classrooms are equipped with SMART boards while our upper grade classrooms are equipped with monitors; all have ELMO document cameras as well as classroom computers with internet access. Technology instruction is integrated with the math, history/social science, science, and language arts curricula.  Teachers are provided with tablets for classroom technology instruction as well planning and training.  Professional development provided to teachers promotes technology beyond the computer lab and includes training on the most current educational technology and online resources such as SMART Notebook software and Discovery Education Streaming. All students at Thomas Edison - both traditional and Dual Immersion - are included in the Technology Program.  

     

    The goals of the technology program are the following:
    • To develop technologically advanced students who can competently utilize multimedia and productivity tools to complete everyday tasks. 
    • To increase the effectiveness of the teaching process with the use of state-of-the-art educational technology.  
    • To produce 21st-century critical thinkers, problem solvers, and information seekers who can compete on a global level. 


    Students grades 2nd -6th grades attend formal advanced technology computer lab rotations (2-week rotations, 4 times a year), led by PlanetBravo instructor Mr. Sornoso. In addition to the computer classes with an advanced technology curriculum, students are also engaged and surrounded by technology in their classrooms through the use of interactive whiteboards, student response systems, and mobile laptop carts, to name a few. 
    Some examples of the areas students study in the advanced formal curriculum:


    Podcasting
    Video Editing
    Animation
    Programming
    Desktop Publishing
    Blogs and Wikis
    Web Design
    Email
    Word Processing
    Slideshow Creation
    Responsible Use and Safety
    Internet Research

     

    All students must have a current Electronic Information Services User Responsibility Contract on file.