LCSD offices in Logan.
LOGAN — On KVNU’s For the People program on Monday, Logan City School District (LCSD) superintendent Frank Schofield commented on a bill before the Utah legislature that would make it illegal to require an employee to have a certain app on a device unless you’re providing the device for them. He said that sounds like a good idea at face value.
“The challenges come into play when you look at something like Duress, which is an app that we use to communicate with first responders if there’s an emergency in the building. And that allows first responders to see a map of the building, which rooms are clear, and which rooms are still in danger. We get notifications of all of our drills,etc. So, the current language of the legislation would prohibit us from using that app with all employees unless they’re using it on a district-provided device,” he explained.
Schofield said that’s not an insurmountable obstacle but it is an additional thing that has to be figured out with some of the issues.
When it comes to apps and using technology in the classroom, two teachers from the LCSD were also on the program.
Peyton Falslev is a 5th grade teacher at Bridger Elementary and was asked if parents seem afraid of the technology their kids might know more about.
“I think maybe from my perspective with younger students right now, I think there are some parents who are maybe afraid, their kids don’t have the technological devices yet, but then there are students who do, and I think those parents maybe, either don’t know as much about it yet. I don’t know it’s hard to put a finger on it for me. I guess what I’m trying to say is, the kids know more about it than the parents, and the parents don’t really know to be scared or not scared of it,” Falslev said.
But he said that mostly he thinks they would feel it’s harmless when that isn’t always true.
Also on the program was Juan Caballero who teaches Social Studies at Logan High School. He uses technology and popular platforms to help students relate to curriculum like history.
“This one time, my students were having a hard time connecting with Henry the VIII, a Social Studies teacher teaching history. It just doesn’t make sense a lot of the time and I told that to them. But I found this app called Fakebook and I was able to create profiles for Henry the VIII, his wife and the Pope in Italy, and I asked the students to post based on what they think these people would have been saying,” Caballero explained.
He said the threads that came out of that were fascinating and the kids were excited to participate, to be part of history.