mguhlin

New IMA Resource Available

http://www.learn421.net/ima


Trying to figure out what to do with Instructional Materials Allocation (IMA)? Well, you probably know what YOU want to do with it–either buy traditional textbooks, divert it all to technology, or best yet, fund instructional technology positions cut by the loss of the State Technology Allotment–but not sure how to go about it?


The Education Service Center, Region 20 has put together a new resource site, IMA Basics. They’ve put together a nice collection, including images like the following:

Source: ESC-20’s IMA Basics

The toughest questions for District folks is how to allocate funding over the biennium…save it for later? Some districts are also pondering whether they should spend precious funding to cover the cost of Technology Applications:TEKS curriculum for K-8. Some districts are pondering NOT buying curriculum and instead, crafting their own or adapting some from free resources.

For example, one school district shared the following:

We did make the purchase out of IMA funds. We felt we needed to so as to ensure coverage for the current school year. For 2012-2013, we are moving ahead with developing our in-house, blended curriculum and using Moodle as the course management system.

another shared:

This is how I feel but unfortunately because of scheduling in grades 2-8, Technology Application TEKS are not being taught in a consistent manner, if at all, and IMA committee does not want to spend the money on the subscription for this school year, 11-12.  Our subscription is up and the lab aids do not use it much and it is not used at all in middle school.  When the state took the technology requirement away in grades 9-12 they sent a terrible message, they devalued the importance of technology.

and….

Our district purchased it for K-3 only.

and…

We purchased for 5th-8th.  I don’t think I will continue with the subscription next year.I am curious to know if anyone has found a less expensive (or possibly free) alternative to Easy Tech? 

another:

We liked their system, but we are not renewing with IMA due to cost. Any good open source solutions?

While many IMA web sites do not answer these questions as well as others–since it’s up to the District, a process fraught with trouble in places where leadership doesn’t understand or appreciate the value of technology–they can provide a lot of information to get the conversation started. It’s such an important topic that TCEA Advocate, Jennifer Bergland, brought it up at the TECSIG meeting using GoogleModerator. And, of course, she shared a presentation on the subject that is valuable to consider.

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

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