Interactive displays win raves in parish schools

By Kia Hall Hayes
Times-Picayune
October 16, 2007

Computers link to big boards

 

In Darlene Saurage's second-grade class at Lee Road Junior High School, all eyes were on James Vincent.

Grasping a pen-like tool, James, 7, approached the interactive whiteboard, which showed a square that had been colored blue. Using the pen, James "erased" the shading, revealing the number 14.

Studying the shapes on the board, James dragged a rectangle holding 10 cubes and then 4 individual cubes into an empty box, successfully counting out 14 cubes. After James proudly took his seat, his classmates' hands shot up.

They wanted their own chances to use the Promethean board.

The traditional chalkboard, meanwhile, took another step toward the mimeograph and slide projector, both now relegated to the cobweb-filled attic of public consciousness.

Educators say the interactive whiteboards, which are essentially chalkboard-sized computer screens, are becoming the norm. They're one of many ways educators are working to keep up with tech-savvy children, they say.

"Kids grow up in world that is so technology-rich, and we have to do this so we can stay in their world," said Anna Bowie, principal of Lee Road Junior High in Covington.

Teachers hook the boards up to their computers to access the Internet and show videos. They can also download lesson plans onto the board. Students and teachers use the pen to write, highlight and drag images across the board's touch-sensitive surface.

Using lesson plans on geography, social studies and foreign languages, high school teachers also can benefit from the new technology.

Many teachers develop plans themselves, while others use ready-made plans on a variety of subjects from the Promethean Web site, educators say.

The boards, which were installed in classrooms across the St. Tammany Parish public school system last spring, have received rave reviews from teachers and students. About 470 are currently being used in the district's 52 schools, and school officials hope to purchase 130 more by the end of the year, said Terry Meyer, the district's supervisor of federal programs.

At Lee Road, Bowie has 25 boards and plans to use "every cent" available to have one in every classroom -- another 20 to 25 -- by the end of the school year.

Teachers and administrators in other schools have been clamoring to obtain the boards, which are made by Promethean Inc. of Alpharetta, Ga., since the district's literacy coaches discovered them at a Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators conference last year.

"They said, 'Oh my gosh! We need to start getting these into our schools,' " Meyer said.

In addition to the interactive boards, the district has other high-tech additions. A handful of schools are using student responders, hand-held clickers that allow students to answer multiple-choice questions. When pushed, the students' answers are counted and displayed on the board, allowing the class to see how many got the answer right.

Essentially turning the classroom into a game show, the responders make learning fun for students while allowing teachers to check for student understanding, teachers say.

Another tool is a hand-held overhead projector that uses Bluetooth technology to project what's written on its surface onto any screen.

Both are cheaper alternatives to the $1,200 Promethean boards, which the district and schools purchased with grant money, Title I money, PTA contributions and the schools' technology budget, Meyer said.

"We're just trying to keep up with the kids," she said.

To that end, the district has invited Promethean consultants to demonstrate how the board can be used, and holds professional development sessions at its Covington-based education center and in individual schools.

Abita Middle School teacher Marie Endermann says the board is "very awesome," but, like any new technology, is not without kinks. The projector can freeze up if its bumped, she said.

"We love it, especially when it works right," Endermann said.

Fifth Ward Junior High School principal James Smith said the board has helped shy students take a more active role in class. His school has seven boards, and has ordered nine more.

"They feel like they're working with their Xbox or something like that," he said of students.

The board had students engaged in first-grade teacher Amy Savarese's class as well, where her Promethean board had a picture of a pumpkin surrounded by six bubbles. Students then used the pen to write descriptions of the pumpkin in each bubble.

In another lesson, the board showed pictures representing different stages in the life of a pumpkin. The students used the pen to put the pictures in order, starting with an image of a pumpkin seed. Her students love the board, Savarese said.

Chastity Blackburn, 7, said she likes doing "math stuff" on the boards.

"They're, like, so much fun," she said.