New technology rich classrooms at Irving, Whittier
This article discuss a Technology Rich Classroom (TRC) that has been created for 3rd and 4th grade science classrooms. Two separate elementary school prinicpals, their science teachers, and a technology specialist wrote a grant to provide for four TRC's including laptops for students, smartboards, Elmo document cameras, LCD projectors, student response systems or "clickers", and other new technologies. The goal is to engage students in science and increase their learning. They will measure the success of the program by evaluating student scores on the 4th grade state assessment test, using student, parent, and teacher surveys, measuring perfomance on classroom projects and assessments, and by looking at attendance and discipline records.
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"The goal of this two-year grant is to combine ongoing and extensive staff development with instructional technology to create classrooms in which students are on task and engaged, working as teams to solve real-world problems."
ReplyDeleteI attended a workshop today to become LoTi certified. The class focuses on teachers structuring their classrooms for this purpose. Staff development is key to making this happen. Also, many teachers miss the point about making classroom assignments "real world". Another point that can be made, "Are your students involved or engaged? What is the difference?" All of this technology is wonderful and a great start, but the key element is "What are you going to do with it? Or even better, what are your students going to do with it?"
I am glad to see that the group coordinating the efforts have a plan in place to evaluate the progress of the TRC's. Evidence of success is driving schools to move forward regarding technology. There are too many situations where there are potentially beneficial programs for students but the research is not current enough or is too sparse to justify purchasing. I am confident these coordinators will see the fruits of their labor in a positive measure that will only encourage more systems to embrace TRC's.
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