At Bellows Spring A New Principal Arrives with Tech Experience

It seems Elkridge is becoming somewhat of an epicenter of technology in education in Howard County—iPads are being tested at Elkridge Landing; and the media specialist at Duckett's Lane will be Matthew Winner, who is experimenting with video games in the classroom. 

At Bellows Spring Elementary, which draws students from Elkridge and Ellicott City, the new principal will continue the trend. 

Harry Walker, who started at the school this summer, is fresh off a private sector stint with a company, Education Elements, that is working to integrate technology into the classroom.

Walker is also finishing up a dissertation at Johns Hopkins University for which he created an evaluation rubric for the educational effectiveness of mobile apps.

He got the idea for the rubric after examining apps available in the field of education and realizing there are "so many bad apps." The rubric is designed to determine the quality of an educational app.

"I really want to investigate how we're using technology and using innovative ways to use technology," said Walker, who talked about getting students access to technology not only during computer lab, but throughout the day.

Walker's background includes 33 years as a teacher and principal in Baltimore County. His teaching experience includes everything from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade English.

He served as principal at Sandy Plains Elementary in Baltimore County.

Walker said his goals in addition to incorporating more technology in the school include transitioning the school to the new common core standards and preparing for new assessments.

"Technology is a tool," said Walker, "and the challenge for educators is to determine the best practices for integrating technology with what we know about effective teacher practices."

He said most elementary students are familiar with both computers as well as tablets and mobile phones.

"Kids even in elementary school are mobile digital natives," said Walker.

"They're swiping everything," said assistant principal Cathleen Lopez.

Walker said he's excited for the start of the school year and can't wait to have all the students back in the building.

He said he'll have an open door policy with parents and that he looks forward to meeting them.

When asked what he'd like the community to know about him, Walker said, "That every decision I make is based on what's best for the kids."