Your Schools: Glimpse of CMS tech future

Want a sneak preview of what the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools construction plan might include? Check out Miami-Dade's iPrep Academy, an urban magnet school that uses technology and internships to prepare students for careers.

CMS officials will present a 10-year capital plan at Tuesday's school board meeting. They've made it clear that equipping old and new buildings for digital technology will be a significant part of that plan,? in part because new online testing requires far more internet access than most schools have now.? And they've said some plans for new magnets and choices will be part of that presentation.

At Monday's budget work session,? technology chief Valerie Truesdale reported on a February visit to iPrep Academy, a 320-student magnet housed on the top floor of the Miami-Dade central office. Students work on Macbook Airs that they can take home,? in classrooms where some of the furniture is on wheels for easy regrouping when they work on projects. Some walls are coated in IdeaPaint,? which allows writing and erasing.

The original academy,? which has the superintendent as principal,? has expanded to magnets located within several high schools. While Truesdale didn't come out and say? "We're doing this,"? she cited the academies as an example of how school buildings and technology can set the stage for a newer and more relevant classroom experience.

Truesdale also offered a tip on the latest CMS lingo. Old-timers will recall that some former superintendents referred to big projects as? "big rocks."? Truesdale said Morrison likes to call his new projects? "big bets,"? emphasizing the notion of investing in a future payoff.? Appropriate,? perhaps,? for a superintendent hired from the casino city of Reno.

Source: http://obsyourschools.blogspot.com/2013/03/glimpse-of-cms-tech-future.html

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