[simage=6095,200,y,left] Principals of the Knoxville schools gave technology reports during last night’s school board meeting. High School Principal Kevin Crawford and Middle School Principal Brian McNeil talked about the first year of the one-to-one laptop program, saying that teachers were becoming more comfortable in how to use the computers as educational tools. They also noted that the use of laptops was a tremendous time-saver, as it cut down on time that they otherwise may have used in the computer lab.

McNeil said that 3M has been very active in getting grants to help supplement this technology for their classrooms. He added that they were not planning on getting planners next year; students would be required to use Google calendar instead. Crawford said that they hope to go to all digital textbooks in the future. He and McNeil also talked with high regard about the Edmodo program, which has been described as a safe social network for schools.

In the elementary schools, principals John Keitges and Mike Montgomery say that their SMART boards have also seen increase use, and that teachers are developing more ways of using them. They say that teachers meet regularly to discuss and swap ideas. Montgomery also talked about a time three weeks ago when a special education preschool student broke his communication device. Teachers were able to pull out an iPad and within a couple days, he was using that to communicate his wants and needs.