Technology Upgrade

Proposal 2015Brian McClain

AP and Academic Biology Teacher – Thomas Jefferson

The Proposal:

The Request:

To purchase a classroom set of 2- in-1Windows 8.1 based devices for the use in my AP Biology and Academic Biology classroom as well as the AP Physics classrooms.

To purchase a charging cart for storage of the devices.

Why we need this upgrade:1. The computers that are currently available

are not fast enough or reliable enough to meet the technological needs of today.

2. The current computers do not support an App marketplace

3. iOS devices such as iPads do not support Flash based content.

4. Need a device that can have installed software (Vernier Probeware)

5. The need for compatibility with the network printing capabilities

What will we be able to do with the new technology?

Currently my AP Biology students have paid subscriptions to MasteringBiology.com

This is the premier software for reinforcing biological concepts and is used widely at the collegiate level

This software required Flash and Shockwave support

With more reliable devices the software can support a “flipped classroom model”

Masteringbiology.com

The MasteringBiology classroom

Socrative - Increases student engagement Can be used for review games, case

studies, class pooling and general classroom discussions

Nearpod

Probes for the science classrooms Utilizing the existing probes and

expanding for Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Environmental Science

Current Inventory of Vernier Interfaces that can be put to use for science labs:

9 Labpro Interfaces with several probes that can be used in a biology, chemistry, physics or environmental science laboratory

12 AP Physics Mechanics labs can be supported with the current inventory of hardware if we have a set of computers that can handle the demands of the software.

Current Uses: MasteringBiology.com Socrative and Nearpod based case studies Utilization of NCBI Bioinfomatics databases to

complete BLAST analysis Modeling of Biological Theorems and utilizing

the model to analyze changing conditions Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (Changes in Allele

Frequency and population genetics) Biotechnology Simulations

Polymerase Chain Reactions Gel electrophoresis and RFLP analysis

Genetics Simulations – Virtual Fly Lab, Transformation Lab

Ecological Modeling Labs – Population dynamics Evolutionary Modeling Labs

Proposed Device: Dell Inspiron 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 Lapto

p

The 2-in-1 Device

The Quote:

Thank you for your time.