Elect John Cruz

Technology means a lot more than just using computers, after all, 1995 has long come and gone.

As an IT professional, I know what it means to be on the edge of new technology. I know those who embrace it can market that and use it to become better organizations and attract new people. Those who are reluctant are viewed as out of touch, slow to adapt, and unable to commit. For Mount Clemens to be viewed as a competitive district on the cutting edge of technology, we need to make sure we are doing just that

It’s great that the school district is talking about doing an emailing list for parents, but realistically, this kind of thing should have been taken care of 6 or 7 years ago. We didn’t need to wait around to see if this email thing was going to take off before we decided to embrace it.

Here’s my plan for bringing technology up to par for the 21st century at Mount Clemens:

• Comprehensive emailing system. With options for alerts for school events, parent events, sporting events, etc. Let’s make the most use of this to commuicate with the parents and students. Afterall, the more communication we can have the more feedback we can have. And with that, district improvements.
• Embrace online learning with proper application. Moodle is a powerful, robust, open-source (aka, free) software product that makes online learning easy and interactive for students and teachers. This software is used by over 50,000 sites as well as many colleges and Universities (Oakland University, for example). We can make use of this at Mount Clemens with a very minimal cost (infrastructure and training, the former we should already have in place). Learn more about moodle here.
• Make use of Twitter. Twitter started off as a small web service allowing people to tell their friends what they were up to, but has spread to reach the potential of a mass communications medium. While some colleges and universities (such as Baker College) will make use of SMS text messaging to relay important messages regarding school closings, the ones more serious about it are using Twitter. Wayne State uses twitter to alert people of open houses, athletic events, academic events, class closing, etc. Best of all, we can get honest, real-time feedback right from the users. To see an example of how Wayne State uses Twitter effectively, click here.
• Make use of open systems where appropriate. Open source operating systems, programs and systems have wide appeal for a low up front cost and being community driven - so there are no sales or support contracts to get suckered into from a financial standpoint. Many companies are now using open systems, so in preparation, Mount Clemens students should have experience with this.
• Make more moves to web-based applications where we can. Too many times, systems can’t be upgraded because old software won’t run on new ones, or will require an expensive new upgrade. Web based applications are much more scalable and have a longer life span, as they can be used through any browser, regardless of how old or new the computer using it is. This will allow us to have the best possible programs available for teachers and students while keeping costs down at the same time.
• Have classes that encourage students to research, discover, and put to use new technology methods. Encourage the teachers to do the same thing. To think forward, we need to stay on top of new technologies so we can brainstorm ways to put them to use in Mount Clemens Schools
• Find cutting edge, cost effective ways of bringing interactive education to the classroom.

Let’s work together to give Mount Clemens the make-over it deserves: A district of cutting edge technology that is not afraid to embrace new ways of using our resources to make education better.