District plans to use mobile devices in teaching curriculum

Many Ohio school districts have wireless capabilities. But when West Carrollton’s installation is complete, only a handful will have it on the same scale, Clifford said.

School districts across the state are looking to bolster their use of technology in the classroom, said Sam Orth, chief technology officer of the management council of the Ohio Education Computer Network. However, Orth said he had no data on how many districts will be on par with West Carrollton’s wireless system, one Clifford called “industrial strength.”

“It’s not like going to Panera or McDonald’s,” Clifford said. “We’re talking about hundreds of kids at our high school and middle school using at the same time.”

It will mark a significant shift in classroom instruction and mobile device use, he said, noting that now, “when it comes down to teaching and learning, we tell them to put it away.”

Instruction will be an important factor in how West Carrollton’s initiative takes shape, Clifford said.

“The key is not the technology, it’s not the wifi, it’s how we use it,” he said.

“We’ve always wanted to get here,” Clifford said. “Now we are ready and we feel very comfortable that our staff is ready and the students are ready. The students have been ready for a long time.”

The West Carrollton board of education this month approved the hiring of a Cincinnati information technology firm to install wireless access at the high school and the middle school. The district will pay Forward Edge $129,651 to complete installing the wireless system at those two buildings starting at the end of this school year, Clifford said. Outdoor work involving installation of tower signals is done, he said.

The goal is to have installation complete at all buildings by January.

Meanwhile, school officials will have to update wireless access policy, said Leslie Miller, president of the board of education. Miller said the administration may submit recommendations this spring, and they will be updated as needed.

“If we find there are things that pop up that we haven’t covered,” she said, “by all means, we will put that in the policy.”