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
Other resources are just steps away. All of Good's computers have access to Web resources. Teachers can check out a classroom set of Apple Emates (laptops for kids), one or more of the 10 Sony digital cameras, one of four Flex Cams, one of four Epson projectors, CD-ROMS (the school's collection numbers 500) and a SMART Board whiteboard. For class projects or keyboarding, teachers may schedule time in the 30-station Compaq computer lab.
"We want teachers and students to have the e-learning tools they need to succeed," Anderson says.
Upgrade's Impact
How much are technology efforts changing the lives of students in Irving? The district is constantly conducting student and teacher surveys to find out, Farsaii says.
Through a recent survey completed by 1,080 students, 755 reported using their laptops daily for learning. And 885 students said the laptop is "extremely useful" or "useful." When asked about how the laptop changed their attitudes, 704 students said the tool has given them "much greater" or "slightly better" appreciation for school. Students also reported greater skills mastery in areas such as computer basics, PowerPoint and e-mail when they compared their current skills to their pre-laptop skills.
Frances Lane, whose 16-year-old son Robby attends MacArthur High School, has noticed a difference in technology awareness between students at different grade levels. "Sophomores have had the advantage of using the laptops and all the great software that has been made available to students in recent years. The seniors didn't have that advantage all along." Robby uses his laptop for graphic arts projects and to edit videos created by the student council. "He has really embraced the technology," she says.
While teacher surveys don't show total saturation of classrooms with curriculum integration, instructional technology specialists and needs-driven professional development are there for support.
One example of how this translates into classroom learning: Pamela Eason's fifth grade class at Elliott Elementary School used videoconferencing equipment to hold a joint lesson on meteorology with a fifth-grade class in Fair Lawn, N.J. Irving students gave their New Jersey peers first-hand accounts of their experience with tornadoes, explains district spokesman Ryan Sanders.
The district also recognizes teacher enthusiasm for technology with its Distinguished Technology Educator awards. As of spring 2003, 61 teachers (including Eason) had gotten this designation, and lesson examples from each are shared online.
Irving administrators recently acquired $53 million in additional funding from a second bond issue to finish off the laptop initiative and expand the technology program.
Besides awarding 300 Macintoch computers with presentation system equipment to Irving teachers through an incentive program, the district is adding more computer training labs.
Meanwhile, interest in the school system has grown significantly. Microsoft has named it a Center of Excellence, and the company invited Anderson on a two-week speaking tour of Japan last March. She addressed both educators and political leaders.
"I went with Ray Myers, [liaison to the international education community at] the U.S. Department of Education, to essentially present Irving's new e-learning program to Japan," Anderson says. "Most schools in Japan do not have computers. So we wound up speaking to six or seven school districts, from Sapporo down to Okinawa, about our own success story."
And what's the next chapter? "All anyone knows for sure is that there are a lot of people out there who want to do what we're doing," she says.
Brian O'Connell is a freelance writer based in Doylestown, Pa.
