Technology Transformation Proposal

On February 11, 2013, the Northfield Board of Education adopted a Technology Transformation Proposal which had been under consideration for roughly a year. The specifics of the proposal are outlined as follows:

The Technology Transformation hopes to provide students with the resources and opportunities to prepare themselves for an ever-evolving 21st century workplace. In order to accomplish this goal, the district shall provide tablet iPad 2 computers to middle school and high school students with a 1:1 device-to-student ratio. In addition, the district shall provide elementary students with tablet iPad Mini computers with a 1:3.5 device-to-student ratio. The devices will be leased for a three year period, which will run from July 1 to June 30 beginning this year. The cost has been estimated at $336,954 for hardware per year, with an addition $172,107 allotted for applications and any additional device requirements. The total cost shall not exceed $550,000.  

The Board voted 6 to 1 in favor of the proposal and there has been widespread support of the idea among Northfield’s teachers, who have been using iPads since the beginning of the current school year. Mark Thornton, President of the Teacher’s Association, helped to conceive the proposal and believes that “Anytime you bring more of the world to the classroom, you have the opportunity for improvement.” Long-time board member Noel Stratmoen reminded his fellow officials that not so long ago a debate raged as to whether the internet could serve a purpose in schools. Several other board members stated their support for exposing the district’s students to technology which has become essential to the workplace.

The only dissenting member of the Board, Rob Hardy, brought up a number of points in the discussion preceding the vote. Hardy described “Bring Your Own Device” plans, which have been implemented elsewhere in the state, which would dramatically decrease the cost to the District as well as grant students the freedom to choose their own device format and operating system. Furthermore, Hardy described a statement made by an Edina official that a 1:1 device to student ratio was “unsustainable.” Finally, Hardy described his belief that the quality of education depends not on technology so much as on quality instruction from passionate educators and encouraged the Board to consider a more flexible approach that might provide teachers the choice to adopt tablets in their individual classrooms.