Tech Standards and Sioux Falls School District

Eldrid Vossler Kindergarten Teacher in the Sioux Falls School Distict
In regards to the state standards for technology the Sioux Falls district had already addressed some of the areas. There is a commitment to provide accessibility to different types of technology and to integrate technology as much as possible in all of the areas of curriculum.
The Sioux Falls School has curriculum guides for technology beginning at the 6th grade. In the 6th and 7th grade the curriculum consists of keyboarding classes. In the eighth grade students are required to take personal computing. This class consists of learning how to use spreadsheets, word processing programs and presentation programs. In high school there is a required computer class of .5 credits to graduate.
In the elementary school there is an emphasis to teach keyboarding and use of the computer. There is no formal curriculum for teaching technology except what is connected to other curriculums. The elementary schools either have a computer room or computers in the classroom for the teachers and students to use. These computers are loaded with various software depending on the software the district or the individual school has purchased.
Currently the Sioux Falls school district The Sioux Falls School District is making significant hardware purchases to give both the teachers and students more access to computers and software. Especially important in the purchases are the Smartboards that are being installed in the elementary classrooms. The district provides training for teachers who have smartboards in their classrooms. There also is a requirement that new staff pass a basis technology test using Microsoft Office programs. The district provides training for any staff that feel that they need to learn or brush up their skills on these programs. As the district upgrades or changes the software offered to the staff there is training made available to the staff using the new software.
In my classroom I introduce the students to a basic keyboarding program to familiarize the students to where the letters are located. The students learn how to use the shift key and the space bar as well as the location of the letters and numbers. I also use the computer lab to practice basic reading and math skills. Finally, I have the students use the pbskids site to learn to navigate the internet. My goals for computer lab include: learning the keyboard, learning to navigate a desktop to find programs and learning to navigate the internet. The technology standards that are addressed in the computer lab are K.CT.1.2 Use input/output devices to operate various technologies, K.CT.1.1 Describe technology using accurate terminology. K.SI.1.2 Identify five ways to respect equipment, K.NC.1.1 Identify three human-made objects and K.NC.2.1 Identify that parts make a whole.