Wayzata schools' technology plan will focus on people

In the new year, leaders of Wayzata Public Schools are resolving to develop a new and improved plan for using technology in the schools.

Work on the plan already is underway, and a newly formed district advisory group is scheduled to meet for the first time on Monday.

All school districts in Minnesota must file a current technology plan with the state to receive federal funds reserved for supporting technology in schools.

In several western suburbs, local funds also have been leveraged to enhance the use of technology in education.

Voters in Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Orono, St. Louis Park and Wayzata have passed levies for technology funding in recent years.

In November, Wayzata residents voted to renew a levy first passed in 2001 and tied to technology in the schools.

The new levy is good for 10 more years, and the maximum amount that the district can levy for technology expenses is $5.7 million, said Bob Noyed, communications director for Wayzata Public Schools.

Smart boards and laptops have become as common a sight in suburban classrooms as chalkboards once were, but adapting to the latest technology requires a flexible plan, district officials say.

"Technology changes much faster ... we need to be nimble enough to make changes," said Wade Phillips, the district's technology director.

The Wayzata district's last technology plan, created in 2006, is set to expire in January.

While that plan focused on building the infrastructure to bring more technology into the schools, the new one will stress what goes on in the classroom.

"We're intentionally changing our conversation this time around to focus on the human aspect -- the learner, the teacher," Phillips said.

After Monday's meeting, the group will meet twice more in the coming months. District leaders say they hope to have a new technology in place by the end of March.

Phillips said that while it's too early to know what shape the new plan will take, it will focus on using technology to improve six key areas: productivity, engagement, teaching, learning, assessment and the capacity to handle technology.

"It's a plan that's not going to be 100 pages long," he said. "Ideally, it will be five pages or less and be something that makes sense to people and is a working document."