PACs and IT Survey

At the January NorthVanPAC general meeting we had a short discussion on PACs and Information Technology and a lot of questions were raised about what equipment schools had, how PACs were and were not contributing to that, what issues PACs had regarding IT in schools and how PACs make use of IT tools for their own purposes.

PACs and IT is the topic of our upcoming February general meeting (Feb 16, 7pm, LMCC)

It's a broad topic and we don't have all the answers or even all the questions. 

In preparation for our meeting we'd like to get a better collective understanding of IT systems in North Van Schools from a parent perspective to help us start the conversation. Of interest are both what we know and what some of the key questions are that PACs should be asking of the schools, the school district and even the ministry about IT systems in schools. We know its not just the equipment that is a concern, it is how the systems are being used so your help identifying those issues would be welcome.


PACs and IT Survey

1. IT Equipment in Schools (What do and don't schools typically have?)

What equipment does your school currently have available or have plans to make available in the near future?


Listed below are some of the common items under discussion but please describe the current state of IT systems available to students and teachers in your school. In particular note if any of the equipment was PAC provided. If you have knowledge of how or the extent to which the items are used that would also be helpful. We don't need an exhaustive list of IT components, the intent is to understand the general state of IT availability in North Van and where people are doing more or less than usual. You may also wish to indicate or describe how well used the items in questions are or how long it has been since systems were upgraded?

1a. WiFi - Teacher Accessible?
1b. WiFi - Student Accessible?
1c. Internet Access - all classrooms / most classrooms?
1d. Students can bring their own devices? (mobile phones / computers / tablets)?
1e. Tablet Computers?
1f. Laptop Cart?
1g. Smart Boards?
1h. Other?

2. PAC Issues and plans concerning information technology
People's experiences vary from school to school, from classroom to classroom. Some school PACs invest in IT systems (laptops etc) for their schools to use, while others do not. In some cases schools encourage PAC investment and in others PAC investment in IT is discourged. In some schools / classrooms IT adoption is encouraged and well incorporated while in others it may not be well used in classrooms. Teachers vary with regard to support and skill in using IT systems. We would like to know how these experiences vary and what peoples main questions or learning has been related to the use of IT in schools (rather than the availability of tech)


2a. What are your school and PACs plans regarding the acquisition of new IT systems for the school? 

2b. What are your PAC or Schools top 3~5 successes, concerns, issues or recommendations related to the use of IT systems in classrooms? (please list)


3. PAC use of IT Systems
PACs make heavy use of IT (especially email) to connect with parents and this has its positives and negatives. We would like to understand how PACs are using IT to help with communicating with parents and coordinating activities with the schools.


3a. What systems does your PAC use to communicate with parents, students and schools?

3b. How effective are your current IT systems in managing PAC communication and engaging the parent community? 

3c . What recommendations can you offer other PACs in terms of managing their communication effectively?

4. Email answers to chair@northvanpac.org
Please try to answer these questions as well as you can, these answers will help us formulate the discussion for our next general meeting. Email your answers to me at chair@northvanpac.org and I look forward to discussing these issues with you at our Feb 16th NorthVanPAC meeting.