Auburn City Schools Expands Futurekids’ iAssessment in Third Year of Ground-Breaking Technology Integration Program

Futurekids announced today that Auburn City Schools has extended the iAssessment program for a third year and extended its use to all teachers within the school system.

“The iAssessment platform gives us a way to benchmark the technology skills of our teachers, and offers them a roadmap for improvement with Individualized Lesson Plans,” explained Ms. Debbie Rice, Director of Technology for Auburn City Schools. “This was always the missing link, because every teacher has a different level of proficiency with technology, and developing a one-size-fits-all solution clearly wasn’t the answer. We consider the iAssessment program to be an integral part of our overall technology plan.”

Dzana Homan, CEO of Futurekids, welcomed the expanded program with Auburn City Schools. “We’re firm believers that a school system needs to measure the technology skill set of their teachers before a new program can really take off,” Ms. Homan said. “It’s especially gratifying to see the improvement the entire staff has made as they’ve become more proficient with technology and began to integrate it into the classroom. It’s the cornerstone of the 21st century classroom.”

Auburn City Schools has been a trendsetter in integrating technology in the classroom in recent years, starting with an innovative laptop initiative several years ago. In fact, Intel Corporation recently spent time in Auburn in preparation of a national case history in technology integration.

“In general, teachers can struggle with the integration part of technology,” Ms. Rice expanded. “We try to give our teachers the right tools to succeed, and this includes professional development, individual mentors, and of course, the right hardware and software. But without assessment and benchmarking, it would be a lot harder to implement. We can now actually track results.”

The iAssessment program from Futurekids allows teachers to take an online technology survey that assesses their skills in a variety of areas including the use of technology in their lesson plans and core curriculum. It provides a very accurate assessment of where a teacher is in their level of computer competency, along with a roadmap of individualized learning plans (ILP) to master the necessary skill sets. Teachers can retake the iAssessment as many times as they want throughout the course of a year to determine their progress.

About Auburn City Schools
Auburn City Schools is a recognized leader in K-12 education. With a large number of students coming from families associated with Auburn University and about one-third of the students coming from economically disadvantaged households, the school system is constantly challenged to meet the needs of the academically advanced as well as the at-risk youth. The use of computer technology has become a vital component of its curriculum. For more information, go to www.AuburnSchools.org.

About Futurekids
Futurekids is the premier provider of technology teacher training solutions for schools and universities around the world. Futurekids has a 22-year record of success in technology education. Their core competency is providing technology training as it relates to teaching and learning. They have relationships and achievements with many key educational partners such as Intel, IBM and Dell.  For more information on Futurekids, please visit http://www.futurekids.com.