SYRACUSE — Technology was a main theme of the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening, Nov. 10, in Syracuse. The board heard two reports specifically dealing with technology.

First, a video was shown narrated by Jace Stewart, technology coordinator for Wawasee Middle School, concerning the 1:1 initiative. It is hoped every student in the school corporation will have an electronic device beginning with the 2016-17 school year. Presently devices have to be shared in some of the Wawasee schools.

A technology focus group met Oct. 9 and plans to meet again in early December. This year, the group has focused on looking at different options available through Google and Chromebook. One survey has already been developed in house asking for input on the types of features students would use on devices and another survey from the Indiana Department of Education has a component dealing with technology, but also touches on other education related areas.

It is hoped a decision on which devices to use would be made before Christmas break and then some devices would be purchased in January for staff members to give them time to get comfortable using them. This is all pending approval by the school board though.

Mary Lou Dixon, board member, asked if students can still use the devices even if they don’t have Wi-Fi at home. It was noted the surveys have shown more than 80 percent of students have Wi-Fi at home.

A second report was given by Kim Nguyen, career and technical education director, and Ryan Edgar, Wawasee Middle School teacher, about the expansion of the robotics program into elementary grades. Nguyen noted just a couple of years ago, robotics was only a club but has since expanded to high school classes and now down to even the third grade. He said robotics “is a huge field and has happened to explode recently.”

A “Mechatronics” career pathway has been created. Mechatronics is a term applying to the multidisciplinary field of engineering. A curriculum was created during the summer and now students choosing this pathway will have a strong engineering and robotics background by the time they reach high school.

Edgar, who presently also teaches at North Webster Elementary and will eventually start going to Syracuse Elementary, said he teaches what circuit boards are used for, what coding is and what the robots are capable of doing. Students are required to write out what they want their robot to do and present their plan to the rest of the class. Another teacher, Kim McCreary, teaches the Milford School students.

Nguyen said every electronic device has to be coded and coders are in high demand now. He knows of local employers who can’t seem to find qualified coders.

In other business, Joy Goshert, director of instruction and curriculum, noted the state school board met Oct. 28 and did not approve the proposed changes to high school diplomas. She said several concerns were expressed, such as the math requirements meaning more math teachers would have to be hired. “If more math teachers are hired, someone would have to be let go somewhere else,” she said.

Other concerns included the lack of flexibility for students, the need for a general diploma schools currently offer and the potential confusion caused by the new diploma names.