Editor’s Note: This is the fifth part of a six-part series looking at the use of technology in education.
There is a plethora of examples of how technology is helping students.
Visit any local school in any of the school corporations, and the examples are there.
One way technology can improve student learning is by differentiating student learning, Warsaw Community Schools Chief Technology Officer Elaine Bultemeier said.
High-ability students can be more challenged, while students having difficulties can be provided with extra help.
“Achieve 3000 delivers the same content to each student, but at their own level,” Bultemeier said.
Every student is still learning the same information, and current information, but at their own pace. The technology also provides quick assessment of each student’s ability so a teacher can efficiently address the students’ needs.
“Technology can help increase student engagement,” Bultemeier said.
Last school year, using Apangea software, Leesburg Elementary students won a state award by doing story problems in math on their own time, including over Christmas break.
“I don’t remember using textbooks to do math problems on my own time,” Bultemeier said. “Technology connects with students who do stuff they normally wouldn’t do because they’re curious.”
At Mentone Elementary, teachers are freed from their desks with the use of their iPads, according to Brad Hagg, director of technology for Tippecanoe Valley Schools. Teachers can demonstrate something with the projector, but control it anywhere in the classroom with the iPad.
Angie Miller, Mentone principal, said they spent a lot of the first half of the school year learning about the technology. Now, teachers are getting to stuff at deeper levels.
Mentone is going from “poster” projects to “digital” projects, Miller said. Using Google Treks, Misty Cripe’s fifth-grade class created digital maps of U.S. states, making note of historical places the students found.
Jalen Shepherd was creating a digital map of New York. He found searching the Internet on the iPad to be easier than any other means to gather information.
“I think so because this one, you get more information from in case something happens,” he said.
Every day, Miller said, Mentone teachers are using technology like projectors and videos to introduce concepts and further students’ education.
Each of Valley’s buildings has computer labs. That access is important, Hagg said, because now schools have online testing that they do and that is required by the Indiana Department of Education.
At Akron Elementary, classrooms have Smart Boards. Tippecanoe Valley High School has more than 400 computers, Hagg said, and “they still say it’s not enough.”
Down the road, Hagg said, Valley is looking at a one-to-one initiative, meaning each student will have their own laptop. “It’s a daunting task,” Hagg said.
There are other initiatives Valley could consider.
“Flipping the Classroom” is having teachers take what they normally would teach in the classroom, record it and put it on the Internet or video for students to watch at home. The next day in class, the teacher and students go deeper into the content, Hagg said.
Another model is collaborative learning. Students form groups and work together on projects.
The most important thing in the classrooms, however, are the teachers. Bultemeier said, “Technology doesn’t replace teachers.”
Washington Elementary Principal Tom Ray said technology is an accelerator and motivator. It makes learning fun, and students will cheer for it.
Bultemeier said, “Technology is not a silver bullet. It’s just here to support and enhance learning. I caution anyone against believing a piece of technology will transform education. It’s about the people involved.”
Hagg said technology is shifting education and creating a new paradigm. Information can be accessed in new and different ways. Technology rapidly changes the landscape. Students can gather more information on a subject than what they can get from a textbook or lecture.
“We have to change to match that new challenge,” Hagg said.
He said the best education is when schools can blend online learning with social interaction. While there’s tons of information out there that can be accessed with technology, online learning only doesn’t give kids the opportunity for face-to-face time and social skills, Hagg said.
“So if we can blend them, we will be successful,” he said.
