Linda Crowder, principal at Rosewood Avenue Elementary, said the “sad” state of the school’s computer lab has been a concern among parents and staff for at least the seven years she has been there.

To improve the students’ 21st century technical skills, Rosewood staff wants to revamp the computer lab that’s currently stocked with 1998 blue iMAC 3g computers. (Photo by Gregory Cornfield)

To make up for it, and to improve the students’ 21st century technical skills, Crowder and the staff at Rosewood know they have to revamp the computer lab that’s currently stocked with 1998 blue iMAC 3g computers. Crowder started a fundraising campaign on the website www.indiegogo.com to pay for a technology media lab.

Crowder said the current lab allows students the opportunity to use word processing, conduct research, use some educational software, and to take their Accelerated Reader (AR) online tests.

But until they expand those capabilities, Crowder said the students at Rosewood are at a disadvantage because the state tests administered to students in grades three – 12 are no longer pencil and paper tests, but are administered on a computer device. She said students who do not have access to the necessary technology may not do as well and that the students do not have the same academic opportunities as other schools’ students.

“When they talk about ‘level playing fields,’ my students are not on a level playing field,” she said. “It’s my job to fix it.”

Crowder said the technology-based assignments should be done at school instead of at home or the library because Rosewood lacks the technology.

“What we want to do with the media lab is to be able to make it more than just students coming in with their teacher and typing up reports or researching something,” Crowder said. “We want it to be more than that.”

To do so, it won’t be cheap. The fundraising campaign’s goal is $278,634, which would fund a technology media lab with a fully credentialed technology teacher, along with both Apple and Microsoft computers.

In the proposed lab, students will learn typing, and basic and advanced computer skills. Students will learn to make and edit movies, to create websites and podcasts, to write code, and they will study about art design. Crowder said the lab will ensure the students get “21st century skills” – communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation – once they have access to much-needed media and technology.

“This isn’t about pulling up apps so students can play games,” Crowder said. “This is a matter of being able to take this technology and make it be meaningful for the students. But then also be able to integrate the curriculum. We need to give that level playing field to all students.”

Crowder said she plans to provide professional development for teachers and teaching assistants to ensure they know how to use the technology and how to integrate it into the classroom.

Crowder added that she believes simply placing an iPad in a child’s hand, without either the child or teacher knowing what to do with it, is not a good use of resources.

“We’re a ways away from knowing how to integrate them into the curriculum,” she said.

The project calls for 20 iMac 27-inch screen computers, 20 HP computers, and 20 Samsung 27-inch monitors. The project also specifies software, a printer, projector, Blu-ray player, video cameras, headphones, speakers and other equipment, and training for a full-time computer media lab teacher.

Crowder started an open fundraising campaign because Rosewood is a Title I school – meaning many students come from low-income families. Approximately 54 percent of Rosewood students are eligible for free or reduced cost lunch.

“I have students in homeless situations, parents that are or were incarcerated, and families struggling to put food on the table,” Crowder said. “I have students who worry about their next meal, having a place to sleep, and abuse or neglect in the home.”

She said with the demand on parents to work and provide, it puts the burden of teaching students technology-based lessons on the school.

“I can’t ask [parents] after they worked all day long to get their child over to the library to figure out how the computer works. We have to do that here,” Crowder said. “They aren’t really in a place to be able to help their students. That’s what would happen in our media lab. It would really make our students well rounded with technology. With this campaign, that’s our goal.”