The concept of equity should be at
the forefront of everyone’s mind.
What about the students and families
who cannot afford to purchase their
own computing devices? How do we
prevent our own local versions of the
digital divide? Maintaining the status
quo would be a great disservice to
the families who may have the greatest need for an affordable, school-sanctioned program. Once again, we
need to employ both perseverance and
creativity!
Reach out to the local school community to establish donor programs to
which families can anonymously apply for assistance in purchasing equipment. Many parent–teacher groups
and school foundations perform
exactly this mission. In our area, the
Palisades Community Foundation has
always been a committed supporter of
school programs, and I would encourage all districts to closely partner with
similar groups.
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Another funding idea is to reach
out to local businesses to support the
donor fund. You can ask for a direct
donation of cash or equipment, or you
can request that they donate a new
student netbook for every 10 computers purchased with the purchase-plan
discounts. You can also establish a
partnership with the local chamber of
commerce to build and promote local
business buy-in. Again, a little persuasiveness and hard work can generate a
The long-term savings associated with a slimmer, more efficient
physical infrastructure will provide extra funds.
lot of interest and return dividends for
students in need.
Technology and student support
teams can also supplement the donor funding. The Media Technology
Academy (MTA) is a technology
pathway program at Palisades. The
MTA students have long been involved in helping faculty, staff, and
students with troubleshooting, and
this program has given them additional opportunities to get hands-on
experience and hone their technical
skills as a “student help desk.” As chair
of the MTA at Palisades, I encouraged
and supported student involvement in
community affairs as often as possible,
including helping small businesses.
Designing websites, building databases for local churches, and helping
the senior center write its bylaws are a
few of the many local projects that our
students lead.
One venture that MTA students
worked on was creating a marketing
website and print advertising materials for a local group of many small
businesses in the area. The students
did such a good job that the businesses returned for their help with
brochures, websites, social media, and
much more. Without exception, these
organizations wanted to pay the students. Although the students couldn’t
accept payment, we did suggest that
the businesses give to our donor fund
instead. Think of how students could
be empowered in this scenario!
The Place for Investment
Many districts still lack the infrastruc-
ture to support one-to-one comput-
ing. If this sounds like your district,
you will have to make a small initial
investment for wireless network
upgrades, access points, or firewall
upgrades. But these are minor startup
costs that you can easily recoup in the
long term. Besides, is that outdated
PC lab from 2005 in the science wing
with broken printers and duct-taped
monitors helping anyone?
Positive Learning Opportunities
Rebuilding your technology program
brings with it all sorts of possibilities.
Students can gain experience and confidence by leading first-tier technical
support teams. You can also solicit
community involvement, such as
