February 2008 — News
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Improving Instruction with Interactive Whiteboards (on the Cheap)
Now, said Stewart, "I walk into schools and they're biting at my ankles wanting to know, 'When can I have a board too?'"
Finding the Money
Since that initial deployment, the district has put intelligent whiteboards into all math and science classrooms in the high schools as well as two art rooms and all foreign language rooms. At the middle school, all math classes, two social studies classes, and two English classrooms, as well as a music room, now have them.
"It's the person who bugs me the most who is going to get the board," Stewart admitted. At the time of this interview, Stewart said she had a stack of nine additional boards waiting to be hung.
Stewart has kept deployment costs down to $3,200 per classroom by making some tactical decisions. She buys a tower computer with no monitor, an LCD projector, a whiteboard, and a mounting bracket. She uses wire covers that run across the floor to prevent having to rewire the classrooms. Nor does she spend money on installing projectors or speaker systems in the ceiling--"even though I'd like to." That saves $1,800 by her estimate.
To fund the purchase and installment of equipment, Stewart has sought access to outdated budgetary line items. "You've got to rethink the way you're spending your money," she said. That includes tapping funds put aside for maintenance and repair on equipment that's no longer in use. For example, she recently outfitted the library in her building with a whiteboard by using money allocated for television supplies and overhead projector repair. "You tell me what a TV supply is. I have no idea."
She's advised principals to really examine their priorities. "We shouldn't be investing enormous amounts of money in history textbooks anymore, when we can get all the history we want online."
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About the author: Dian Schaffhauser covers high tech, business and higher education for a number of publications. Contact her at dian@dischaffhauser.com.
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