MIDDLETOWN—With a tenure of 12 years, Dr. Kenneth Eastwood is a relative old timer in comparison to most school superintendents in New York. Being an “old timer” has not prevented him from being up to date—Eastwood has helped make the Middletown City School District a national leader in bringing technology to bear on education.
In August 2013, Eastwood’s work was recognized when Middletown was invited to join the League of Innovative Schools, a program approved by Congress that brings together an elite group of 52 school districts that are leaders in technology. With other League members, Eastwood has attended policy meetings at the White House to help form policy around educational technology.
Eastwood said the district brings in resources electronically to a central location, then delivers them across the district. The district has its own 10G internet connection and will soon bump it up to 20G, which is higher than many companies. “There’s no resource out there that we can’t deliver, whether it be by video or digitally,” he said.
Eastwood has been trained in educational measure and organizational improvement, and has used these skills in making Middletown a national leader. “We have been on a long cycle on improving technology in this district,” Eastwood said.
To bring his schools up to speed, Eastwood started at the elementary level in Presidential Park Elementary School. The school was planned with the latest technology. “We wanted to get one building up and running with the new flavor of technology.” This has now been replicated in grades K through 8 across the district.
‘Flipped Environment’
Eastwood is well aware that hardware and software are not enough to improve learning—excellent teaching using technology is key. This is not how the parents of today’s students learned. He calls it a “flipped environment.” Traditionally, an instructor would provide background on a topic in class and the student would take that forward doing homework.
Now, using the Internet, “they do all of their prep work ahead before they come into class.” They can access videos and lessons prepared ahead by teachers. Students can also do individual research to supplement all that learning.
