ETEC 579 Kerry Whitehead

Technology Grant Proposal Brief

The Gifted and Talented Academy (GTA) in Terrell ISD wishes to
increase student performance in all areas of the 3-6 STAAR test through
collaboration and project-based learning. This goal can be achieved by
updating the current aged 1:1 technology with 160 new Chromebooks to
take advantage of district-provided accounts such as, but not limited to:
Google Apps for Education, Office 365, learning management systems such
as eBackpack, etc. The current technology does not allow for students
and/or teachers to collaborate effectively to produce meaningful learning
experiences.

By providing improved technology, the students and teachers will have

access to uninterrupted instruction and lesson time. Students will benefit by
being able to collaborate on projects and complete assignments in class and
outside of class. The teachers will be able to implement project-based
learning. The teachers will have access to a wider variety of collaboration
tools with the Chromebooks.

This proposal includes the purchase of 160 Chromebooks. This would

provide a device for each student and teacher at the GTA. The device is a
flip device, similar to a laptop, with 4 GB RAM that will allow for the apps the
teachers use on a regular basis to run without issues. The Chromebook has
a 32 GB hard drive which will allow for students to have storage space for
projects. The project will begin Spring of 2017 and the initial investment will
meet the GTAs needs for the next three years.

The GTA has a 99% passing rate on the STAAR tests. However, they
have less than 50% Commended rate on any given STAAR test for grades 3-6
and would like to increase the Commended rate to 75%. The current devices
are approximately six years old and are having wear and tear issues. Since
the devices are no longer under warranty it costs $190 to repair each one.
Each device must be sent off to be repaired, the usual turnaround time is two
weeks. This means the student is without a device for a minimum of two
weeks. The student must rely on outside resources for technology. The GTA
has a 48% low-socioeconomic rate. This means that nearly half of the
students at the GTA would not have access to outside technology to be able
to complete assignments/projects.

Instructional Technologist, Kerry Whitehead, will be the project director,

with assistance from the Technology Services department of Terrell ISD. The
Technology Services department will take care of the initial set up of the
Chromebooks and provide ongoing hardware support. Kerry Whitehead will
ETEC 579 Kerry Whitehead

perform administrative duties in regards to the Chromebooks and provide

teachers with training in designing projects and general use of Chromebooks.