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Paradise Valley Unified School District was fortunate to
receive the support of the community through the renewal
of a Capital Override in school year 2005-06. The Information Technology department is responsible for managing the majority of these funds, as directed by a broad-based committee of all stakeholders. Toward that end, the department has responded with many deployments of technology and information technology. Deployments vary from over 18,000 computational devices, ranging from high-end MacBook Pro’s, to desktop PC's, to Palm and DANA wireless handhelds. Internet services such as EBSCO, NetTrekkerDI, Study Island, Rosetta Stone, FastForword and Renaissance Place are implemented throughout the K-12 levels. The
department supports a large, wired and wireless network,
with data, voice and video now being converged and centrally
managed.
 The district supports operating systems including Macintosh OSX, Windows XP and Linux. Over 400 curricular and administrative software applications are installed, supported and licensed. Peripheral components include digital camcorders and cameras at all schools, probeware at middle and high schools, over 2,500 iBooks in mobile lab deployment, stationary labs in all schools, and approximately 2,000 multimedia carts (projection, document camera, audio) used by teachers in instructional delivery of media-rich, lesson plans. Interactive boards and tablets, along with audio amplification and speech recognition technology is also present in specific learning environments.
Technology includes the support and programming of our own data warehouse, PEARL (Paradise Education and Assessment Repository for Learning), accomplished through a unique partnership with Arizona State University. PEARL represents future data-driven decision making at the classroom, school, district and home levels. Student information includes grades, assignments, test scores such as AIMS, SAT-9 and pSAMs (online PEARL Standards Aligned Measures), and reading assessments. The department is currently developing and/or has in place, a number of modules, including: pOSE (PEARL Online Special Education module for the IEP process); pIGB (PEARL Integrated Grade Book for standards integration into an online gradebook for K-6); pOGB (PEARL Online Grade Book for high school students, teachers and parents); pMOO (now known as “Distancia” where over 12 high school courses are being developed/provided in an online environment); and pVITTS (IT Ticket System, allowing technology tickets to be entered at sites, tracked and resolved for effectiveness and efficiency).
 Additional information technologies include the business and support services necessary to maintain school operations. This includes maintenance of all student information systems, state and federal reporting, communications (data and voice), payroll, finance, purchasing, human resources and distribution.
The Technology Department supports and trains teachers and administrators through Technology Integration Facilitators. These professionals are certificated educators, with strong expertise in instructional technology. From more traditional, whole-group instruction on topics ranging from multimedia podcasting, to email integration, to power web browsing, to applicability of specific curricular applications, the full gamut of services is provided. Additionally, innovative programs are supported such as KOA - “camping out” at the site for before school in-service and preparation period instruction and technical troubleshooting, to support and training of STRs (Site Technology Representatives), who provide site-based technology efficacy and support for teachers and students.
 In general, all students learn fundamental computer skills through state-of-the-art computer applications in alignment with the Arizona Technology Scope and Sequence and Arizona Standards. In particular, students use specific technologies to investigate concepts, collect and analyze data and communicate their ideas in almost all disciplines, including core curriculum areas.
 Elementary School
Although computers are used to enhance learning in many subject areas, students are also expected to master technology-related objectives. These objectives form the foundation for the acquisition of lifelong technology skills and concepts which include keyboarding, computer systems, vocabulary and ethics. Applications include word processing, spreadsheets, databases, drawing, painting, multimedia presentations, email and Internet browsers. Additionally, all schools have access to a number of peripheral devices for a range of purposes, from capturing images to include in reports, to recording video to create digital movies.
Middle School
 The use of technology expands in the middle grades to include simulations and the expectation of computer availability for solving problems. Disciplines such as science, math and social studies rely on the computer to collect and analyze data as a matter of routine. The technology curriculum itself broadens to include basic programming, robotics, desktop publishing, basic web page design and production, and graphics editing. Basic television production will be found in the middle schools. Students learn many phases of creating excellent video and broadcast products.
High School
 In high schools, technology use will be more diverse and prevalent in essentially all curricular and extracurricular areas. Music composition and appreciation software will complement the use of MIDI interfaces, for example, in fine arts. Specialized data collecting probeware is available in science labs and the latest graphing calculators are used regularly in math classrooms. The technology curriculum branches into several distinct programs. Business courses focus on in-depth applications of word processing, spreadsheets, databases and telecommunications. Computer science courses include programming in Visual BASIC, Pascal, C++ and others.
 View
"The Dynamic Use of Technology in the PVUSD" video
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