Integrating State-of-the-Art Technology to Increase Student Access
By Paul O’Malley, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Butler SD 53
Butler School District 53 prides itself on ensuring that students and teachers are equipped with the software and hardware necessary to promote 21st-century learning. Since 2011, the district, located in Oak Brook, Illinois, has utilized a 1:1 model, deploying iPads and Chromebooks across the K–8 district.
District 53 came to a pivotal point during the 2020–2021 school year as the demand for technology intensified. We needed to adapt our classrooms of the future to classrooms of the now, adjust the infrastructure and increase bandwidth to keep learning on track.
The board of education’s infrastructure, education and finance committees met to discuss an investment in technology; they considered the scope of the project, funding, project timelines and deliverables, as well as the technology’s effects on teaching and learning.