With Manhattan Beach Unifed School District’s recent increase in technology usage and coexistence with the goal of “21st-Century Learning” in mind, the need for a larger Information Technology Department is apparent.
Throughout MBUSD, there are four systems technicians on duty, with one stationed at Mira Costa, one at Manhattan Beach Middle School and the remaining two working part time between the five elementary schools. These technicians respond to every teacher and administrator within their respective schools who submits a service request to restore faulty technology. Due to extensive lag time between the request and technician’s response, it is necessary that MBUSD hires more technicians to address all requests in a timely manner.
According to MBUSD Director of Information Technology Eric Sangalang, technicians aim to complete a teacher’s request for service within two days. However, a survey of 50 Mira Costa teachers revealed that over 50% of teachers have had to wait over two weeks for their technology to be repaired. According to MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews, this inconvenience is not the fault of the technicians, but rather due to a lack of staffing, comprising the IT Department within MBUSD.
Sangalang also stated that technicians prioritize technology issues that are disrupting the instruction of a class. However, also according to the survey, 55% said that their classes have been negatively affected by faulty technology that was not addressed in a timely manner. If technology continues to fail due to the district’s aggressive push towards technological integration, there is a clear need for more technicians.
In the past year, with the addition of the math and science building, the amount of technology present in the classroom has increased significantly through the implementation of eno boards, iMacs, and the Mobile Device Initiative. According to math teacher Linda Gesualdi, the addition of these devices has led to a rise in technology problems. These problems can be easily addressed with the addition of IT staff.
Sangalang believes that having a permanent technician at every site would put the IT Department in a proactive mode, as opposed to a reactive mode. Matthews also expressed his desire to add technicians to the district, but budget concerns limit the district’s ability to respond to the issue.
A solution to circumnavigate the budget issue, and still fulfill the needs of teachers, would be to implement a technology-help program using student volunteers. MBUSD technicians could assign minor technology problems to Costa students who have experience working with technology in return for community service hours. In addition, the Geek Squad, a club that offers help to students with their personal technology issues, could also be asked to help meet the service requests from teachers.
It is evident that MBUSD is in need of additional paid IT specialists, but because of budget constraints, student volunteers are a viable alternative. With 6,900 students throughout all seven MBUSD schools, more IT help is necessary to further MBUSD’s goal of “21st-Century Learning” through technology.
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