GILROY
– Without the help of parents, it will be slow going for the
school district’s technology team to make sure every teacher has a
working computer.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Without the help of parents, it will be slow going for the school district’s technology team to make sure every teacher has a working computer.
Many teachers in Gilroy Unified School District cannot use their classroom computers to meet the district’s goal of communicating with parents through e-mail andpublishing homework assignments on the Internet.
Rob van Herk, GUSD’s manager of information technology, praised parents who have already begun to help his small team tackle the huge task of bringing an estimated 60 percent of the district’s computers up to code.
“A lot of hands definitely makes the work go faster,” van Herk said. “Fixing computers is only a small part of our day-to-day work.”
Until GUSD can provide the means for teachers to use technology, parents will rely on voice-mail, teacher conferences and may not have a way to check that their children are completing all homework assignments.
“It definitely starts with the fact that a large number of teachers still don’t have perfect computers on their desktop, and we need to work on that,” van Herk said.
There is also still a knowledge gap, he said. The district wants all teachers to know how to use their e-mail and access it from computers outside the classroom. While volunteering for GUSD last year, van Herk published step-by-step e-mail user guides to distribute to new teachers and keep at each school site for reference.
“We really need to make sure that we create the foundation, basically, and then after that’s done, I don’t think there will be a big problem getting (teachers) to use e-mail. There’s a lot of interest,” he said.
Every Gilroy teacher can and should have an e-mail address, van Herk said. Addresses usually include a teacher’s first and last name @gusd.k12.ca.gov, but that can vary with more common names. Parents should contact teachers individually to find out if they have and use an e-mail account.
Few of the schools’ Web sites list e-mail addresses for staff, although the principals’ addresses are all available. El Roble Elementary School and Gilroy High School have the only Web sites with a teacher e-mail directory. The district may eventually post a directory of all e-mail addresses, specially listed in away that would avoid SPAM.
With 2,500 computers in GUSD classrooms and a three-person technology team, assistance from parents and/or a teacher at each school site would speed up the process to provide all teachers with a satisfactory computer to prepare lessons, manage grades and communicate with parents.
Parents at Luigi Aprea Elementary School are already working to ensure all teachers have computers that can print and access the Internet. About a dozen parents spent four hours last Friday morning taking an inventory of each classroom’s computer system to see what software, equipment or repairs are needed.
Fourth-grade teacher Judy McLeod, who leads the school’s Technology Committee, recruited the parents with a flyer three weeks ago after hearing complaints from teachers that their computers did not function.
“I feel that every classroom should have an operating computer,” McLeod said.
The parents’ inventory is still being compiled, but McLeod said that some computers were donated to the school and are simply too old or lacking essential software. Other computers were not connected to the Internet or a working printer.
“This gives us a place to start,” McLeod said. “Without that, probably very little would be done to improve computers in the classroom.”
McLeod was impressed by the depth of computer knowledge and experience in the group of parent volunteers, some of whom are employees of Apple Computer and Adobe Systems.
The inventory will help the district IT team solve problems or make repairs faster, McLeod said, because they will not have to investigate issues one by one.
“It will help them have a better idea at what we have available,” McLeod said. It also makes improving technology a group effort, so teachers will not have to identify technology shortfalls on their own, she said.
Some parents even made minor fixes in several classrooms. Luigi Aprea’s Technology Committee has met once this school year and includes parents, teachers, Librarian Monica Thomas, Principal Sergio Montenegro and van Herk.
“We’re looking at Luigi to see if we can use that model more at other schools,” van Herk said.
One option would be to designate one staff member at each school site to coordinate technology concerns, with guidance from the district IT team.
“That would definitely benefit the school,” van Herk said.
Many of other teachers’ computer problems are similar to those at Luigi Aprea: missing software, Internet or printer connections.
“I think what we’re finding is that in probably 30 percent of the cases, is that with very minor changes, the computer can work,” van Herk said.
Those computers would be a two- to-three-hour, inexpensive repair job. Another 30 percent of computers, van Herk estimated, should be replaced with newer models.
While getting parents involved is not the easiest or fastest way to update GUSD’s computers, it is the most realistic solution while the district tries to pinch its pennies.
The ideal, van Herk said, would be to pay an outside company to come in, assess and fix the computers in a few weeks.
“That’s not realistic with the budget at the moment,” van Herk said. “What can we do with a little bit of money?”
Parents at Ascencion Solorsano Middle School are also helping, by setting up student workstations that were not set up before the start of school. Volunteers met last Saturday and will work for another four hours this Saturday.
Van Herk estimated that proper wiring and Internet connections exist in about 90 percent of the district.
