K12 Schools Must Fill Need For Digital Media Skills
There is a new urgency to teach digital media literacy as a study finds students are taking online information for granted
ANY SCHOOL CAN ENTER THE world of robotics by using graphing calculators and a small programmable car. Entrepreneur and preservice teacher Becky Rowland invented a robot car that runs on four AA batteries and can be programmed by using a Texas Instruments graphing calculator. The calculator attaches to the vehicle by a single connection. The TI Robot kits are ready to go; students install wheels and bumpers and plug in a calculator. The robot is quick and simple to program, making it a good classroom activity for math teachers and their middle or high school students.
Rowland, who first became interested in robotics after a school project when she was 13, believes that most schools don't know how to properly use the graphing calculators they have. At Norland's Web site, free lessons can be accessed, including Mission to Mars, Turns and Mazes, and Game Day, along with all the BASIC programming instructions necessary for success.
Rowland says that some classes have actually dressed up the robot cars as animals and programmed them to drive through a jungle-theme maze.
A penholder attachment for the side makes it possible to use a pencil, pen or marker for tracking vehicle paths on the classroom floor. This summer Norland will offer a larger, floor-model robot. www.tirobot.com
Baltimore Features Video
BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC Schools (Md.), one of the nation's top 25 school districts, has simplified the process of using video clips to support instruction. Each of the 169 district schools has a video-on-demand server with over 1,200 preloaded Safari Montage videos available in one searchable library. Teachers can search by subject, grade level, state standards and topic. There is no streaming, so the video plays without hesitation. Fifty five users can access the server at the same time to share the high-resolution clips in either Windows Media Player or Quick-Time. Teachers can play entire videos or video clips.
Many give Della Curtis, the library and information services coordinator, credit for bringing Safari videos to the district. Her vision always seems light years ahead, says Middlesex Elementary School media specialist Ann Groth. "I believe Superintendent Dr. Hairston was also important, because he listened to Curtis's idea!" Groth adds.
Baltimore County staff recognized the teaching significance of the technology as soon as it arrived, and they will offer professional development for teachers to make optimal use of it.
RIALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT (Calif.) is using a new product to streamline weekly planning checks by administrators: eChalk's Lesson Planner, which allows curriculum
specialists to direct and guide teacher lesson plans, and principals to review them digitally. Specific goals can be met, and teachers can get immediate comments and feedback. Lessons can be viewed forward, backward and archived for reuse.
Teachers can easily develop and post plans-including standards covered, homework, and resource guides-to parent-accessible class pages so they can keep abreast of classroom work.
IN 2005 WASHINGTON'S KENT School District had a 4:1 student-to computer ratio. District officials began looking at 1:1 solutions and how instruction and data could be better delivered to the fourth-largest school district in the state. The district began a ninety-student pilot program at the Mill Creek Middle School, using the beta-release TC4200 Hewlett-Packard tablets. The pen interface allowed students to balance math equations and solve problems that couldn't easily be done with just a laptop. HP's extended life, eight-hour batteries meant that students didn't have to worry about losing power in the middle of the school day.
Kent purchased a class server as a management system to share teacher-created lessons, homework and discussions throughout the district.
