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Technology changing how kids learn
CHEYENNE, Dec 21, 2008 (Wyoming Tribune-Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
When Chris Black wanted students to see the school their Christmas pen pals attend, she chose a mouse instead of a map to help her.
Using a Web site and downloaded program called Google Earth, she quickly found Jacksonville, Fla., and zoomed in on an aerial view of the students' school there.
She projected the image from her computer onto a SMART Board so her third-graders at Anderson Elementary could see the school whose students sent a Christmas letter. She also found an image of Anderson Elementary and displayed it on the SMART Board as well.
"What do you notice?" she asked children about the two schools.
"There's more trees there than here," one said. Others spotted a busy traffic interchange near the Florida school.
Third-grader Kyli McClain enjoyed the exercise. Without technology, "we wouldn't learn certain things," she said.
Black's school desk is technology friendly. In addition to books and pens on her desk, there's a printer, personal computer, document camera and flatbed scanner.
A teacher for 16 years, she calls technology an "extremely effective teaching tool."
The best reason to embrace technology is because it reaches kids, she said. "That's who they are now. That is how they live their lives. They are digital learners. None of this is new to them."
Children in her cheery class practice math with a colorful software program called Mathlines. The students eagerly touch the SMART Board when the correct number appears.
Technology is a tool to enhance instruction, according to Gordon Knopp, Laramie County School District 1's director of technology.
"We're preparing kids for their future, not our past," he said.
Its importance is highlighted in a federal law called No Child Left Behind. The law requires students to be literate in technology.
Employees in LCSD1 need to be proficient, too. Nine technology coaches are trained in the district to help them. Teachers also are trained to use SMART Boards.
The use of technology has increased dramatically in the district. When Knopp started the job in 2002, 3,000 computers were connected to the district network. Now 11,000 devices --n from computers to copiers -- are hooked to the network.
Students in LCSD1 use technology to:
-- Find assignments or class notes posted on teacher's Web sites.
-- Track their grades online.
-- Make PowerPoint presentations. Plenty of elementary children know how to compile such presentations.
But not all schools in the district operate with the same level of technology. Some don't have schoolwide wireless access to the Internet. Some have fewer SMART Boards than others.
The state School Facilities Commission pays for new schools like Sunrise Elementary and Cheyenne's Triumph High -- as well as remodeled schools -- to be wireless.
The commission also pays for new schools to have SMART Boards and infrared teacher microphone systems in every classroom.
The commission uses money from mineral severance tax revenues to fund such school projects.
LCSD1 doesn't have the money to upgrade all schools at once, Knopp said. Technology will be upgraded by the state as schools are renovated or replaced. The process that will provide consistency could take five to 10 years.
At Bain Elementary, for example, renovations aren't planned right away. Employees and parents are moving ahead, applying for grants to buy SMART Boards. An art auction also will raise money.
The school doesn't get money from the state right now to install more technology. Its parent-teacher group plans to install two additional SMART Boards this year, said PTO President Sarah Pflughoeft. It costs close to $5,000 to buy and install a board, she said. The district will help when costs exceed $2,000, according to Knopp.
Its PTO also is responsible for upgrading the computer lab, she said.
No big renovations are planned for Cole Elementary right now. The school has a lot of technology because it is designated a Title I school and gets federal money.
Principal Bob Bowen said the school was the first in LCSD1 to get SMART Boards in every classroom.
Technology has helped children, he said. Bowen attributes much of the school's increase in standardized math and science test scores to technology in the classroom.
Cheyenne's Central High math teacher DeAnn Eisenhart makes full use of SMART technology in her classes. Her use of technology complements her enthusiastic teaching style. She doesn't have to stand near the board to write. A mechanical tablet called an airliner allows her to jot down notes from anywhere in the room. What she writes appears instantly on the board.
In her honors algebra class, she can project a large, realistic image of a graphic calculator on the screen. She can save lecture notes on the board and download them onto her Web site.
In LCSD1, the ratio of students to computers is about 3 to 1, Knopp said.
The ratio slightly exceeds the state average of 2.6 students for every computer, but is better than the United States average of 3.7 students per computer.
Some districts have one computer to one student. But the 1-to-1 ratio isn't in the plans for LCSD1.
"We have investigated it and at this time's not one of our pressing matters," Knopp said. "The 1-to-1 just for the sake of technology is not good for helping kids learn."
Technology needs to be a tool that can complement learning and not the focal point, according to Knopp.
Classrooms at new schools in LCSD1 have technology closets where laptops can be stored and charged. They also house CD and DVD players.
All schools in LCSD1 have at least one computer lab, Knopp said. Parents and teachers who want more can raise money or use school accounts. The district will match money that PTOs raise.
The district has labs housed in separate rooms and mobile labs stocked with laptops that are used in classrooms.
At Bain Elementary, "we are very well stocked with computers," thanks to the district's efforts, said Principal Brenda Creel.
LCSD1 spent $3 million three years ago to update its computers, Knopp said.
Computers are useful for students, according to Pflughoeft. Her daughter Jennifer is in the first grade and loves the accelerated reader tests she takes on the computer.
"It's amazing," Pflughoeft said. "I'm amazed how it pushes her and challenges her."
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