Technology transforms snow days
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Tuesday was a day of opportunity for Trinity Area School District. The frigid temperatures forced school closures throughout the region, but Superintendent Paul Kasunich said the Trinity staff opted out of a typical snow day.
Instead, the district’s 260 teachers spent the day engaged in an online, interactive professional development course from the comfort of their homes.
“It’s a novel idea we’ve been kicking around,” Kasunich said. “We gave the teachers a module that they could work on at home. We are very happy with the way it went.”
The staff was given a time constraint to complete the module, which included videos, reflective responses, discussions and assessments from the program Educational Impact. Kasunich said the staff was given credit for an in-service day.
“We’ve been looking at how we can leverage the technology we have to create learning experiences for our staff and students,” he said. “This allows for more professional development, promotes reflection and deeper thinking as opposed to sitting in an auditorium and listening to a speaker.”
Kasunich said the response from the staff was overwhelming.
“It was very good,” he said. “Better than we thought it would be.”
Kasunich said the district is looking to expand on the opportunity. He said the next logical step is to provide a similar experience for students. This is the second year the district provided Google Chromebooks to the incoming ninth-grade class. Kasunich said over the next two years, all high school students will have Chromebooks which will make it easier for the district to orchestra online activities.
“We need to move that process down,” he said. “Many of our students have Internet access. We just need to make sure everyone has the same capabilities.”
Kasunich said the district is already looking ahead. While he is hopeful there won’t be additional snow days this year, Kasunich said the district wants to expand on Tuesday’s coursework.
“I don’t think (any of the other school districts) are doing something like this,” he said. “The program wasn’t thought up the day before. The opportunity presented itself, and we wanted to see how it would work. We are looking to expand … because right away, we are going to maximize time and improve productivity.”