If+you+had+a+network+that+connected+every+school+building+in+your+Intermediate+Unit,+what+advantages+and+opportunities+does+that+provide+you+as+a+teacher

=If you had a network that connected every school building in your Intermediate Unit, what advantages and opportunities does that provide you as a teacher?=



(Brian = blue, Sue = aqua , Brooke = purple .)  A connected network would create endless advantages and possibilities for both students and teachers. However, a connected network would result in a large and valuable data. For starters, both would have an opportunity to collaborate with peers from other districts. For example, a student from Shaler could formulate ideas with a student from North Allegheny or a teacher from North Hills could exchange lesson plans with an educator from Seneca Valley. A connected network would result in a large and valuable database of information: one that could be accessed and utilized by anyone willing to contribute. 

= Collaboration Among Staff and Students =

The advantages and opportunities for creativity and concept development through the connection of various school districts and buildings in an Intermediate Unit appears to be growing and may be endless. Just connecting a single school allows teachers to develop subject materials across individual subject lines and increase the overall depth of understanding significantly for the student. The student can then begin to develop a more thorough picture of a topic. The result is a more rewarding educational experience that pushes the student through interacting with his peers, learning from what they find through their blogs and stimulating the student to work as part of a collaborative effort.

The opportunity for working and sharing online can allow students from different districts to work together on projects of a larger scope. Their work could cumulate in a real world experience and gathering to socially connect and share their experiences.

As a teacher, the link between professionals can provide invaluable ideas and knowledge on topics that are relatively new to the teacher. Another teacher in the district may be an unknown expert in a given topic and maybe be available to lead this teacher in being able to provide unique websites and help the teacher interact with specific professionals in the district/area who may be experienced in a given topic.

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Shared Funding
A network that connects school districts to a central intermediate unit also opens possibilities for shared funding and reduced costs. For example, a collective network could tap the resources of the intermediate unit to fulfill a number of tasks.

The intermediate could facilitate the districts' efforts for obtaining and acquiring grants. Pennsylvania's [|state education website] frequently posts grant information; however, the process in misunderstood and underutilized. Many educators fail to take advantage of the available grants, and a collective IU could walk its districts through the grant process. Through instruction and training, the collective IU would help secure additional grants for each of the districts, which would benefit from the shared funding and resources.

The intermediate unit could also tap the resources of its districts' employees for in-service and training days. In other words, the IU could utilize the talents from employees in its group of school districts, which would easily reduce the costs of training sessions. A large population of employees would produce a larger talent pool, one that could be featured during district wide in-service sessions both at the IU and the participating school districts.

Is it possible to manage the resources from a number of school districts in one central location?

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Yes! Organizations from the business world have already condensed their resources through use of a network. An intermediate unit could do the same. This network would present educators and their students with a central information hub, one that could store the countless numbers of quality ideas its users create. The network would not end with lesson plans. It would include examples of student work, projects, essays as well as PowerPoint lectures, writing prompts and assessments for educators. The end result: a never ending filing cabinet that holds a collection of resources from the area's school districts.

Shared Resources
As teachers, we've often heard the phrase, "Don't reinvent the wheel." With a network that connected every building in an Intermediate Unit, the ability to utilize the same resources would to a long way to reduce redundancy and improve consistency. Intermediate Units already share human resources such as computer technicians and support staff for hearing and vision impaired students. When envisioning the future, it's possible that an IU would also offer additional human resources such as trainers for collective professional development and technology integration. media type="custom" key="4881531" Beyond the human resources a networked IU could share, though, are various virtual tools such as library and software resources, and shared bookmakr and slide show sites such as [|Delicious] and [|Slideshare]. The opportunity for podcasts of lessons and discussion to be available for parents is very interesting and taps a resource in the community that may otherwise be missed. The occupations and creative interests of parents may lead them to in turn provide ideas and opportunities for field trips and excursions, which are linked to a studied topic.

Furthermore, schools that belonged to a networked Intermediate Unit could expand their collective course offerings. For example, if only a handful of students at School A are interested in taking Basket Weaving, the school may decide that it's simply not cost-effective to offer that course for such a small group of students. But within a networked IU that had the ability to share teachers, the handful of students at School A who are interested in taking Basket Weaving could be placed in a virtual class with the handful of students at School B and School C who are also interested in that course, and only one teacher would be needed to satisfy all of their needs. The same principle could apply to increasing World Language options, as well as adding more advanced/college prep courses.