Technology at Dunn Elementary is a high priority.  We have 2 computer labs.  Lab A was constructed in 1998.  On November 30, 2004, the lab was upgraded to a 32-station OS X "Tiger" eMac lab.  Computer Lab B is part of the original building and was upgraded to 30 OS 9.2 eMac stations on January 8, 2003.  Both labs are Internet capable and have projectors to facilitate instruction. 

Grades 1 through 6 are scheduled in a computer lab twice a week.  Kindergarten comes to lab once a week. Special groups such as Pre-Kindergarten, Resource, ESL, and PASS are also offered lab time as the schedule allows.  Available for student use are thirteen monochromatic laser printers and two color laser printers.   File management is introduced as early as 2nd-grade when our students navigate to the correct location on the file server to save their files.

Keyboarding is considered a "life skill" at Dunn and is conducted the first 4 weeks of school. Every student in 3rd- through 6th-grades receives instruction and practice for 25 minutes daily. First- and Second-grades use “Kid Keys”, a program designed to reinforce the curriculum of these students and their learning needs. Each grade level, 1-6, has a target "words per minute" speed.  To achieve this goal, we encourage accuracy and practice.  The majority of our students reach or exceed their target speed: 2nd-grade, 5 wpm; 3rd-grade, 15 wpm; 4th-grade, 20 wpm; 5th-grade, 25 wpm; and 6th-grade, 30 wpm.  Some 6th-graders have recorded speeds of over 80 words a minute. Word processing skills are begun soon after Keyboarding using Microsoft Office Word.

Included in the software on our lab computers are two programs designed to teach the logical processes of programming and presentation, MicroWorlds EX and Microsoft PowerPoint. The basic language of MicroWorlds is often introduced to students in fourth-grade.  In the 5th-grade, all students write MicroWorlds procedures and are introduced to Microsoft PowerPoint.  Sixth-grade students receive instruction in Power Point and create a non-linear PowerPoint presentation about their last year at Dunn Elementary. 

Technology at Dunn does not stop in the computer labs.  In every classroom, there are at least three Internet capable computers, an iMacSE Pro, an OS X eMac, or an Intel OS X iMac.  Students can access the online Dunn library card catalog, obtain information for a research paper on the World Wide Web, practice keyboarding, use a word processor or one of the programs selected to compliment elementary curriculum.

Our hope is to provide every Dunn student with a solid foundation in technology just as we do in math, reading, writing, science, social studies, physical education, art, and music.