District 57 staff want to see tablet computers take a larger role in the classroom by encouraginig the use of personal devices among students for learning.
Those were some of the results of a district-wide survey in September 2014 and work by an ad-hoc committee tasked with the question of mobile technology and tablets in the classroom.
It reported its findings to the school board Tuesday after more than a year of meetings.
"Staff are currently divided on whether the current technology school district uses is sufficient for teaching," the report said.
The committee's main recommendations to the district included supporting the option of kids using their own devices for learning, developing a mobile strategy to incorporate the devices in the classroom, initiating a pilot to determine the effectiveness of tablets as a tool and providing professional development opportunities for teachers around mobile technology.
In January 2014, the board passed a motion supporting the purchase of media tablets and mobile technology based by individual schools. The board heard the district has about 100 tablets and about 5,000 desktop computers and laptops.
The staff survey, completed over two weeks in September 2014, had 370 respondents out of a potential 2,089 people who were emailed the questions.
That translated to 17.7 per cent participation, but trustee Tim Bennett noted that 220 respondents were teachers.
"It was a much higher response for educators," said Bennett, who sat on the committee, adding some staff may not have felt the survey was relevant to their role.
Most expressed interest in using tablets in school, and 93 per cent said they the ability to access and download educational applications. Speech and language pathologists in particular requested iPads and a further 72 per cent said they felt prepared to use tablets.
Respondents, on the whole, would like to encourage the "bring your own device" option for students.
"There was an overwhelming yes from all areas that the option of bring your own device can benefit learning," said elementary teacher Cliff Waldie, referring to an 88 per cent response in favour of that sentiment.
Bennett responded to a question about students who couldn't afford their own devices but faced a learning environment where their peers were encouraged to bring them in.
"We would have to ensure that we consulted our hardship policy to ensure equal access," said Bennett, adding the survey didn't address the question of access. "I know strategies would need to be in place."
The survey also found that the district's public wi-fi "is not sufficiently accessible, fast and reliable for either students or staff."
"This could be in some cases infrastructure concern, other cases an information concern of whether people are aware of the manner in which the public wifi works for them," said Waldie, in that some were not aware how to access the network and not that wasn't working.
The survey also found a strong desire for more choice in the type of available platforms, like Windows or Android and that among all questions, there was little difference in opinion among urban and rural staff.
Trustee Bob Harris questioned whether the survey results are reliable.
"I would suspect that we may be looking at people who are genuinely interested in the issue of technology in the classroom, particularly mobile technology," he said.
"My concern is that it may very much be a self-selective sample and as such the results may in fact be rather skewed. I'm just concerned that any conclusions drawn or things that are implemented on the basis of that work might be suspect."
Bennett pointed to the number of educators who participated and said that though the majority - 68 per cent - owned a tablet, it still showed strong participation among people who weren't necessarily "early adopters" of technology.
The committee recommended a pilot in four classrooms, with 10 tablets each to assess personalized learning opportunities at a cost of $75,000. The board heard tablet costs will have to account for ongoing support and software updates. It also presents information storage issues since many of the tablets use cloud applications, where data is typically housed in the United States, but B.C. privacy laws requires district data remain in Canada.
The board wasn't ready to make any decisions, and referred the recommendations to the education services committee.
