In a digital world, the drive to create high-tech classrooms to build tech-savvy skills is a given, but how to go about that can be challenging — and expensive.
At a statewide technology institute for educators this week at Collierville High School near Memphis, Chalkbeat spoke with district tech leaders about the challenges they face to equip their schools to help students thrive in future digital workplaces.
Here are the four biggest challenges they face:
1. Funding
Without question, having enough money to pay for technology and training is the No. 1 concern of tech educators in Tennessee.
For the upcoming school year, Gov. Bill Haslam and the legislature increased the state’s technology allocation for schools by $10 million. It was the first time the area has seen a bump in funding since 1992. However, district and school leaders ultimately decide whether the money earmarked for technology goes toward that need.
It’s not a given, according to Joan Gray, executive director of the Tennessee Educational Technology Association. “Technology is as important in today’s schools as electricity,” she said. “(Districts) have no problem giving money to keep the lights on, but when you talk about paying for technology, they say, ‘We can’t pay for it.’” (continue reading)