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February 25, 2009

Technology tutorial: School board sees how teachers, kids

By Joe Pinchot

Hermitage School District technology coach Joseph Kulbacki handed Dr. Morren J. Greenburg a handheld device that looked like a television remote control.

As Greenburg eyed the device, trying to make some sense of it, Murphy McConnell, an Artman Elementary School third-grader, leaned over to the Hermitage School Board member and told him, “You push this button.”

So began a short tutorial on how to operate some of the newest technology to hit Hermitage schools.

The device, and others like it, is connected to a computer by a radio frequency. Third-grade teacher Joe Bender used the computer to project a science question on a screen, along with four possible answers. Dr. Greenburg, other members of the school board, some administrators and a select group of third-graders clicked in their answers, and Bender could see how many right and wrong answers were registered, and how each person answered.

Bender said he uses the system as a pre-assessment tool to gauge his students’ general knowledge of a subject before he introduces it.

“I don’t want the students to do things they already are proficient or competent at,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t practice things but, if they’ve met a standard, it’s time to move on.”

The system does not replace tests, but Bender said he also measures his students’ knowledge of subjects they have been discussing.

“I can see: student A, they have it; student B, this is a skill they need to work on,” he said.

“This is impressive,” said school board member Alan Warren. “This is something that makes learning fun.”

Hermitage has had online resources for students and parents available for some time. Teachers are expanding those resources with Web pages. Bender calls his an extension of his classroom because he can link illustrations and videos of subjects discussed in class, such as tornadoes and dog-sled races. Actually seeing a tornado helps comprehension much better than a picture of one, he said.

Students can take “virtual field trips” to far-off locations via the Web, he said.

Teachers can set up blogs and chat rooms in which teachers participate, Kulbacki said.

Technology has changed Hermitage’s classrooms. It’s a far cry from the days when an electronic pencil sharpener and a television were a big deal.

“I’m sure this classroom is much different than you remember,” Bender said to the school board members.

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