ICATS

What's an ICATS?

 

ICATS stands for Integrating Curriculum and Technology Specialists. The EVSC ICATS are teachers who serve as trusted, non-threatening assistants and facilitators for their peers in curriculum and technology integration. 6 ICATS positions were created by EVSC Director of Technology, Mike Russ, through the three-year Technology Plan Grant (2000). The ICATS program continues to be funded by various grants for professional development.

 

What do we do?

 

The ICATS accomplish professional development for EVSC teachers by conducting workshops in schools and the lab at EVSC's Christa McAuliffe Professional Development Center. Workshops can be conducted during school hours or in after-school sessions. We have also conducted school blitzes where teachers have signed up to learn about a particular technology item during their planning periods.

 

Where are we located?

 

We are located at the Christa McAuliffe Professional Development Center at 401 E. Columbia St., Evansville, IN 47711. We are currently sharing the building with the Evansville Police Department's West Sector Office.

 

What are we currently working on?

 

At present, the ICATS are working in conjunction with Southwestern Communications on the Promethean ActivClassroom rollout where every classroom in the EVSC will be getting a new Promethean ActivBoard, ActivSound system with speakers and microphones, and Samsung document camera. The ICATS are conducting professional development workshops with teachers at the Professional Development Center and are following up the training with visits in the schools.

 

The ICATS are also training EVSC staff on the new online media management system called MediaCAST. MediaCAST is an open and interoperable product suite that allows you to build custom, scalable on-demand multimedia learning solutions for your school or organization. With this system, the EVSC staff will be able to view live streamed teleconferencing, manage copyrighted content through downloaded DVD/VCR media and content purchased from Learn360™, and watch live local and national television cable channels. It will also be a warehouse for file sharing such as Promethean Flipcharts and Microsoft Office files. MediaCAST will revolutionize the way our school corporation shares its resources and will make learning more exciting and engaging for our students.

 

Past Projects

 

The ICATS are experienced in writing and managing multi-year/activity grants. They conducted "The Cornerstones In Learning" project. This Indiana High-Tech grant, enabled the ICATS to partner with teachers district wide in grades 6-12 to develop standards based technology rich units. The ICATS also managed the EdTech Grant (started Fall 2005). This three year grant, developed by the ICATS and funded by the IDOE, worked to improve student achievement in math as well as teacher technology use in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades.

 

Contact Us

 

For more information about what we can do for you, contact ICATS by email or by calling: 812.435.5290.

 

Page updated on March 9, 2010 by jjgleim.