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Budget cuts and financial challenges in the education system can have a significant impact on the classroom environment and the technology tools available to students and teachers. In our recent webinar, Capistrano Unified School District provided valuable insights on navigating budget challenges in education. The conversation also highlighted personalized learning, interactive video tools, and the increased use of video in education, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Keep reading to explore their perspectives, or watch the complete webinar now!
Acknowledging today’s challenges tech leaders encounter
Stephanie Avera, CTO of Capistrano Unified School District, talks about how the pandemic triggered the change in allocating budgets in the education system then and how it still affects us now on deciding which educational aspects should be maintained and what should be eliminated due to limited funding.
”We just have to focus more on what is absolutely necessary. And those challenges are huge, because anytime you give teachers or administrators tools to use in the classroom, and they get to use them, and they're used at a high usage. And then you say, well, that was super fun. But we're gonna take those back now that we don't have the funding any longer. It it's really
not the way you want to go right. And it doesn't make you very popular either. So we are using lots of different data to decide what what we will continue to use and what we will remove from our systems.”
How strong communication benefits the strategic budget management
Lana Nguyen, Capistrano USD’s Director of Educational Technology, discusses how their district manages budget structure.
“Collaboration and communication is huge and really thinking about big picture planning, because I think we know things are always constantly changing. But really knowing what the goals are is really important.”
Things considered when budgeting for technology within a school district
”I would say, consistency and data usage. I'm a numbers person. I'm always looking at numbers and making sure that our numbers make sense so that I can look at our budget and decide,” Stephanie discussed.
Lana also mentioned that having professional learning for teachers for the tools is also significant because proper knowledge on the tool would increase data usage.
Ways educational platforms impact academic growth
When using educational tools, Lana highlights that it is significant that students feel safe and free to showcase what they learn or already know.
“I think it's really important that students are able to show their learning through the programs and really being able to have students have the opportunity to create. I think that's where students are going to be able to be show their learning and really to transform what they're learning in the classroom.”
Advocating for video tools despite budget challenges
Stephanie explains how video software tools like Screencastify help in the teaching and learning process and how personalization could better the student connection and engagement.
"I really like the the personalization that video affords our teachers, especially, you know, in our classrooms. We have, you know, between 30 and sometimes 40 students in classroom when I taught middle school… And so by the end of the day, it's like, Okay. Did I talk to that kid? I don't even know if I talk to that kid. But with video it can be more personal.”
Bring video to your district
Want to start the journey with video in your district? Contact us to learn more today!
