Rockford School District upgrades IT system to make teachers more efficient

Over the summer teachers at high schools in the Rockford School District are going to receive and then be trained on new laptops.

This IT upgrade comes after district funding was allocated to Rockford schools to invest in new notebook computers.

In total, $1.7 million has been used to invest in 1,900 Dell Latitude 13 Notebook computers, which will be used by teachers in the classroom.

The decision to upgrade the system was approved by the School Board as many of the schools had an out-dated AS400 computer system that was installed in 1992.

The new laptops will be used by teachers in the classroom to record attendance and to calculate grade averages over the term. They will also be used to plan lessons and automate many of the tasks that would have previously been done manually.

Connie Grod, a RESA Middle School history teacher, said, “It’ll give us more class time. The kids will benefit from us having more free time for them....

... The teachers are excited about what (the laptops and software) can do for us.”

Some staff are completely new to laptops so training sessions will be held over the summer to make staff familiar with the new technology. This training will be completed just in time for the new school year.

Based on the size of the overhaul the upgrade will happen over a three-year period, however the technology is expected to have an impact on students' reading and maths proficiency before the end of the year.