TECHS Class Leads the Way in Technology
by Nicholas Herrington
November 03, 2009
The Technology Education Challenges in High Schools (TECHS) class at Freeman High School works everyday to improve the available technology within classrooms and develop a thorough understanding of different types of technology advancements.
Within the first quarter of the 2009-2010 school-year, the TECHS class worked to maintain and improve the status of computers within the school. This includes recycling out-of-date or broken electronics, cleaning the workstations in the four labs, replacing monitors and computers, making the necessary repairs to prolong useful life of computers, and many other various tasks.
The average amount of Local Area Network (LAN) support provided by each student per week is approximately 2.5 hours. Joe Brink, Lindsay Buss, Chase Heble, Jake Krieger, Jordan Pella, Eric Rapp, Phil Schoen and Kevin Weyers are currently enrolled in the class. With eight students providing an average of 2.5 hours of LAN support in a week, an approximate total of 180 hours of LAN support has been provided by the TECHS class to the school district. At a minimum wage rate of $7.25/hour, the TECHS class has saved the school district a minimum of $1300.00 and even more time, during the first quarter. (Note: Most entry-level computer technicians would earn between $15-20, based on skill-level and experience). The TECHS team is greatly appreciated for all they have done to assist the school with its technology needs.
In addition to maintaining and repairing computers within the school, the TECHS class assembled the mobile interactive learning carts that are currently utilized by faculty within the school. The school invested in the carts to provide a more participative learning environment within the classrooms K-12 through use of the Mimio Smartboard and Tablets. The TECHS students researched and learned how to operate the Mimio products.
On September 16, the TECHS class trained the secondary faculty on the new resources and provided examples and hands-on training to encourage its use within the various classrooms.
On December 16, 2009, the TECHS class will attend a Robotics Course at SCC Milford. In addition to the TECHS class roster, two students from the Pre-Mechanical Engineering course, Nate Milke and Kyle Schlake will also participate.
Much more is expected from the Computer/Technology courses at Freeman High School. A preview of some projects offered throughout the upcoming academic quarters includes: introduction of iTouch technology in the classroom, Wiimote smartboards, CAD bridge-building competition, audio/visual multimedia projects, webpage design, and many other exciting projects.
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