Executive Summary – Instructional Technology Integration in Educational Specifications
The Gilroy Unified School District Educational Specifications embed instructional technology as a core design element across all grade levels and specialized programs, ensuring facilities support a dynamic, future-ready learning environment aligned with the District’s LCAP goals. Technology integration is treated not as an add-on, but as an essential infrastructure for instructional equity, student engagement, and career preparation.
At the TK–5 level, learning spaces are designed for 1:1 device use, interactive displays, and flexible layouts that support early digital literacy, guided learning platforms, and communication with families. Grades 6–8 expand technology integration through project-based labs, shared makerspaces, and digital media tools that support exploration in coding, design, and STEM-related pathways. Grades 9–12 feature professional-grade infrastructure, including industry-standard CTE labs, media production studios, and specialized environments for virtual learning and digital entrepreneurship.
Special Education environments incorporate assistive technologies and accessible digital tools, embedded within general ed classrooms and therapy areas. These include hearing loops, communication boards, adaptive workstations, and visual scheduling systems. All instructional environments include robust broadband access, distributed power/data, and acoustic design to support digital teaching and learning.
Technology also supports teacher collaboration, with dedicated planning rooms and hybrid-enabled professional learning spaces. Across the district, facilities built from these specifications ensure that every student and educator has access to the tools and environments necessary for effective, inclusive, and forward-thinking instruction—delivering on GUSD’s commitment to equitable access, innovative practice, and real-world readiness.
The Gilroy Unified School District (GUSD) implements technology integration through multiple goals and initiatives, though it does so in a distributed and program-supportive manner. GUSD’s LCAP integrates technology across instructional, equity, and professional learning goals. Technology is positioned as a tool for inclusion and access, especially for students who benefit from differentiated support (English Learners, SPED, and foster youth), and as a core enabler of instructional quality in all grade levels. The facilities reinforce this by embedding infrastructure, layout flexibility, and assistive tech support into every learning space—from early childhood to CTE.
1. Technology Integration as a Design Standard
Weaving instructional technology infrastructure into design criteria across TK–12 grade bands, includes:
- Distributed power and data in classrooms to support 1:1 computing and project-based learning.
- Interactive technology zones (e.g., mobile display boards, collaboration pods).
- Lab and maker spaces planned with digital fabrication, coding, and multimedia production in mind.
- Clear tech-use expectations by grade band, e.g., classroom projection at TK–3, student-led presentation tech by 6–8, and professional-grade media/editing gear in 9–12.