Technology

Presented at the LPS Foundation Spirit of Littleton Dinner, this video introduces our vision for educational technology through voices of our students.

Information and Technology Services

August, 2011

Thank you for visiting the Information and Technology Services department of Littleton Public Schools! We are honored to be recognized by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) as one of the top IT teams in public education. We are very pleased to have scaled our netbook project across the district and the test results have been very encouraging. We will continue to apply technology across the curriculum to prepare students for the 21st Century using our vision and mission statements as our compass.

We can summarize those skills in four categories: Information, Communication, Productivity and Citizenship.

Information: Simply put, nobody goes to the book for information any more. The book is about literature; information is a self-service activity, key-word searchable and instantly available to the connected citizen. Our students must learn not just how to find information, but discern the useful from the rest. Teachers should ask not just where a student found a piece of information, but why the student trusts it.

Communication: Students need to have complete communications skills. It is no longer enough to be able to compose a meaningful letter to your Senator, but to also be able to reach beyond your community as well. Students should be able to use a small amount of information to be able to strike up a meaningful communication with anyone of interest to explore ideas and expand their knowledge. Authors, poets, artists, leaders, peers in distant places are available to anyone with the skills to reach out.

Productivity: Students must be able to use the Internet to publish their work for an audience bigger than just their immediate classrooms. The ultimate expression of Freedom of Speech is publicly sharing your ideas… publishing. The invention of the printing press in the 1400’s sparked the Renaissance, the Reformation, and fueled revolutions around the world by shifting the power of publishing from the Monarchy and the Church to private hands. Now, publishing is no longer limited to the elite who can afford massive production and distribution systems, but is freely available and indeed free to every American… just head down to the library and start publishing online! There is no telling what social changes will be caused by this quantum leap in the power of publishing, but our students need to be ready for it because they are the future. And publishing is only part of the productivity picture. Engineering, robotics and instant manufacturing are more important than ever. Our students need to learn applied technology skills to compliment the new demands of information technology as these forces converge.

Citizenship: All these aspects represent unprecedented power over information and knowledge… the ability to freely find it, share with others and publish as easily as clicking a mouse button. This power brings responsibility and students must gain richer understandings of intellectual property and copyrights than any previous generation. They must know how to protect their identities and know when to reveal them to create a digital footprint that will help them in college and at work. They need to be prepared to deal with cyber-bullying and develop a new understanding of global perspective unlike anything before. When boundaries are still relevant but not nearly as restrictive as they were even just 20 years ago, our students face issues and opportunities that we never could have dreamed when we were in school.

With Inspired Writing, we hope to advance our student preparation programs at all levels by starting with writing and keeping these tenets in mind. Our efforts therefore tie to the district achievement goal. By 2011–2012, 90% of students will be on or above grade level in reading, writing, math and science. Since each school has identified writing as either the literacy focus for the school or a critical element, we believe Inspired Writing is right on target to align our IT and Curriculum efforts in the district.

Our Vision: Inspired Learning

Our Mission: Through an elegant synthesis of humanity and technology, we will inspire a command of information, masterful communication, creative productivity and ethical citizenship in every learner.

Our ET-IL Plan outlines how we will take these words into practice and, for your convenience, the plan is linked here on this page. You can also find an article in EdTech magazine, which cast a national spotlight on the project here. We are very excited to continue this next phase of using technology to enhance the learning process.

How can you get involved? How can you stay informed? Visit our LPS blogging site where you can find updates and participation opportunities. Keep an eye on the ETAC site for information and even answer the call for new members in the spring. Check out the YourIT magazine we publish every year. Visit the LPS Foundation to help support efforts across the district. You make a difference in Littleton and we're glad you're here!