Case Study: Thomasville City Schools
Hitting Every Child's Learning Style
"Together teachers and students are discovering the rewards of using the multi-dimensional Promethean’s Activclassroom System. Students are rapidly becoming more engaged and teachers praise its interactive abilities."
Chris Cobitz, Director of Technology, Accountability and Media, Thomasville City Schools
Challenges and Goals
Fundamental notions on how learning takes place are changing. And that was never more apparent than in the spring of 2003, when work began on renovating a 50-year old section of Liberty Drive Elementary.
As a precursor to the restoration, the administrative staff and teaching faculty spent a great deal of time sharing their views and discussing their desire to create an enhanced educational environment in the new wing. They envisioned an integrated technology model that would address a burgeoning barrier, that is, capturing and retaining students’ attention in the classroom.
“To address the participation and attention issues in the classroom tomorrow requires that we redesign how we teach today,” said Cobitz. “And so, for our students to become better learners in the future means we have to give teachers the best technology now.”
Cobitz and Liberty Elementary administrators began researching various technologies that would fit the specific goals they had identified to address their school’s educational challenges. First, any product selected needed to be highly durable – kids are hard on everything. Second, the teachers voiced their need to increase mobility in the classroom without losing control. Finally, they were looking for the “x” factor – as in “excitement” on the part of their students.
Implementation
Their keen due diligence led them to Promethean’s Activclassroom System – or as they like to call it the “Activclassroom” system. The school purchased 16 interactive whiteboard systems with Activstudio software tools and resources. They knew the solution would not be complete without the addition of the Activslate, which allows teachers and students to control the whiteboard from anywhere in the classroom; the Activote, hand-held voting devices that provide teachers with instant student feedback, and the Activtablet, which allows teachers to develop lesson plans and flip charts when away from the board or at home.
“Initially, we didn’t comprehend where this teaching solution would take the teachers and students, but the Promethean system has clearly fulfilled our vision for how technology should be used in schools,” said Cobitz. “Technology should decisively extend the core curriculum and strengthen student learning.”
Two of the Promethean system devices -- Activslates and the Activotes -- can be credited with single handedly transforming the school’s classrooms by increasing student participation and reducing discipline issues. Cobitz added, “The ability for our teachers to easily call on an Activslate or to deactivate all slates at a touch of a button gave them a high level of comfort that their classroom wouldn’t turn into a circus-like atmosphere. Quite the contrary, students have responded to the lessons with increased openness and responsiveness.”
Implementation cont...
With the introduction of the Activotes teachers are able to accurately gauge whether students understand various concepts – not to mention that students are more motivated to seek the correct answer – if in fact they miss the answer.
“Recently, I had to interrupt my instruction while I was teaching the concept of equivalent fractions,” said Buck.
“I asked a question and the students responded via the Activotes. The real-time assessment feature clearly indicated that some of my students misunderstood the concept. I went back through my flip charts and instantly reviewed the key components. I repeated the earlier question that had stumped some of them and this time it was clear by the responses that the entire class was ready to move ahead. The exciting thing about this was that I discovered this misunderstanding right then, not while I was grading papers that afternoon or the next day. It’s real-time teaching and learning!”
Results
Attitudes towards learning and teaching are changing.
“The Promethean solution has opened my eyes to different ways to teach a particular idea or subject,” said Peggy Sines, a fifth-grade teacher.
“When I’m preparing my lessons, I’m more inclined to think about how I can bring this lesson alive. I’m incorporating action, audio and visual aids, and the Internet. In the long run this is going to help my students grasp concepts better and making teaching easier.”
“This new wave of teaching is so much more hands-on, integrated and thematic instead of worksheet and drill-oriented,” said Denese Byrd, principal at Liberty Drive.
“Our educators have stepped out of the traditional role of teachers and have assumed the role of facilitators and the students are active participators. The teachers are presenting ideas, concepts, and subject matters and the students build upon those lessons through collaborative project-based activities. To play on the advertising slogan -- this is not your father’s classroom -- we are actively preparing students to become the next generation of employees who are leaders at team work and problem-solving.”
School Profile
Liberty Drive Elementary in Thomasville , NC , enrolls approximately 600 students in grades three through five. Approximately 85 percent of students receive free or reduced price lunches. The urban school, near Winston-Salem and Greensboro , is part of the Thomasville City public school system, which consists of four schools serving nearly 2,500 students.