Educational Technology
Educational Technology
The Kent Intermediate School District provides professional development and educational technology support for our constituent districts throughout the county. We are dedicated to developing your staff in educational technology and classroom integration - either at the Kent ISD Educational Service Center (ESC) or, if more convenient, at any site in your district.
In addition to regularly scheduled technology professional development sessions, we provide instruction based on your needs and schedule, working before or after school hours, so there is little disruption to the school day.
Request a Learning-to-Go Session here.
Support is available for all Microsoft Office Suite products, Google Apps for Education ,eInstruction Classroom Performance Systems, ExamView , Blackboard LMS , Moodle , and interactive whiteboard (IWB) applications. Also, we can help you engage students through WIKIs, Blogs, and digital storytelling. We can also assist your staff in selecting hardware to enhance student learning. These devices include interactive classroom equipment, digital cameras, camcorders, scanners, document cameras, and data projectors.
Finally, our consultants provides professional development in subject and age specific software and help integrate technology into the classroom while complying with the latest federal and state programs, standards and benchmarks.
Technology Consultants
Ron Houtman
For the past 12 years, Ron has worked at the Kent Intermediate School District and Kent Career Technical Center both teaching in the classroom and supporting educator professional development. In his role as an Educational Technology Consultant and Director of the Regional Educational Media Center 8, he works closely with his classroom teacher peers to develop and co-produce engaging projects leveraging Web 2.0 technologies across the curriculum — rather than just “teaching computers”.
In addition to his instructional duties, Ron designs and leads technology professional development workshops in the KISD service area and also does personal mentoring, lesson technology “makeovers”, and manages the district Moodle and Blackboard servers. Ron also teaches online, part-time at Cornerstone University and Aquinas College in the teacher education programs specializing in integrating technology into the curriculum. Ron is very active in online Professional Learning Networks, has presented both locally and nationally and thinks he has the best job ever.
Goals for the KISD Technology Consultant Program:
- To provide local districts with convenient technology professional development opportunities that will enhance classroom instruction.
- To provide teachers and staff with the knowledge and skills needed to use the latest technology available to them.
- To work with teachers and students, enhancing student performance and promoting the integration of technology into the classroom.
- To assist local districts with curriculum issues relating to technology standards.
- To be recognized as a resource for technology integration and technology training throughout the state.
