More Vermont Classrooms are embracing technology
By Stephanie M. Peters, reposted from the Rutland Herald

Peter Evans was meeting with a parent recently when the conversation turned to technology - specifically cell phones - in the classroom.

What is the school's policy on the use of electronics - iPods, MP3 players, PDAs, digital cameras and laptops - in class, the father asked Evans, principal of Montpelier High School.

He had been opposed to students using tech devices, the dad told Evans, until he saw his son pull out a cell phone while he was working on his homework one night. The teenager explained that he hadn't had a chance to copy down math equations on the board at the end of class so he used his phone to snap a picture of it.

"That really changed (the dad's) mind about how wise kids are using technology," Evans said. "His point was that schools shouldn't ban the use of the devices, but learn from the students and also create an environment that promotes technology."

School administrators and teachers across the state share that opinion. Most Vermont schools haven't banned the Sidekicks, iPhones and Zunes that sometimes seem glued to students' hands.

That isn't to say, however, that they've been fully integrated into the classroom. Not yet.

Vermont schools are trying to embracing a wider variety of technology, devices with names like ELMO, Smart Board and TI-Inspire. They're bulking up on interactive white boards and smaller laptops, and they're taking advantage of free software programs whenever possible.

They'd like to be able to incorporate technology like Skype that, outside of the classroom, are already popular with kids, but the challenges are numerous. (Skype is a software program that allows users to make phone calls over the Internet.)

Already behind the technological curve and on a budget, schools must consider socioeconomic and geographic problems, professional development and educational value.

"It's a wonderfully moving target," Karen White, superintendent of Rutland Central Supervisory Union, said in an interview at her office last week. "It's exciting, but I think we need to stay focused on what the outcomes are for kids as far as content."

Content-driven technology can be easily controlled and monitored by teachers - unlike a personal laptop or PDA - while still providing a fun, hands-on experience, according to Peter Drescher, education technology coordinator for Vermont's department of education.

"If a student brings their own laptop, is it going to be on the school's network, then what about viruses, and filtering?" Drescher said. "I'm not sure schools are quite comfortable with it yet."

White's district tackled this question last year when it invested in $800 mini laptops. Lynne Blair, RCSU's curriculum coordinator and teacher coach, said the computers are limited to open source and Web 2.0 software, free, pared-down programs comparable to the better-known Microsoft or Apple software.

Last week, Blair demonstrated a text-to-speech reader and the computer's built-in Web cam that she hopes could be paired with Skype of Global Classroom for remote learning programs.

"One of the things we've talked about in Proctor and West Rutland, because we have the small schools, is maintaining the diversity of classes with a low enrollment. (With the camera software) we could perhaps offer the class at one school, and have students at the other taking it," Blair said. The district is also exploring long-distance partnerships with a school in Maine, and possibly some internationally.

In Barre, the principals of both Spaulding High School and Barre Town Middle and Elementary School said their teachers have started to plan lessons around another facet of the Internet: user-generated content. They recognize the educational value in Web sites like YouTube and Wikipedia, despite popular fears about inappropriate content.

Timothy Crowley, principal of Barre Town Middle and Elementary School, envisions a history class creating a Wikipedia page for a local historical site, for example. (A wiki is a Web site that promotes collaborative research and allows anyone to edit its content.)

"They ought to play a role (in the classroom)," Crowley said. "What people are most excited about, and interested in, is all the negative stuff out there. I liken the experience to taking your kids to Washington, D.C. There are streets that you better not let them go down, and there are others that they shouldn't die without seeing."

At Spaulding High School last week, 14 teachers completed a five-day institute focusing on integrating Web 2.0 tools into their teaching. By the end of the week, the group built their own wiki Web site with links that will allow them to access the Internet without having to memorize Web addresses or accidentally surf through unwanted content, according to Principal Robert Phillips.

Despite the proliferation of wireless Internet in the classroom, few principals said they're having problems with students trying to log on from their own laptops or PDAs during the school day. This is in part because most schools said students typically don't bring their own computers to class (they are provided by the schools).

At Montpelier High School, Evans said about 10 percent of students, or about 35 students, regularly use personal laptops during lessons. Montpelier also has one of the more lax policies on cell phones. Classroom use is still verboten, but there are three designated areas in the school where students can talk between 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Evans said.

When personal electronics are allowed in the classroom, however, it also raises concerns about the divide between the "have and have nots," according to Drescher.

"It's a digital divide piece," Drescher said. "How do you accommodate the students that don't have (the technology)? How do you equalize the access?"

For now, many districts are addressing these questions by stepping around them and offering students other forms of technology. In Rutland, more classrooms are being equipped with Smart Boards, large, touch-controlled screens that work with a projector and a computer. Students from elementary to high school are using mobile computer labs, also known as COWs, or computers on wheels, according to Superintendent Mary Moran. She said the district is hoping to place more computers in primary grade classrooms.

At Main Street Middle School in Montpelier, teachers are also asking for ELMOs, document cameras that are an electronic update of the overhead projector.

In West Rutland, a math teacher extolled the virtues of the graphing calculator.

"They're really enjoying playing with it," said Rene McIntyre, a West Rutland High School geometry and algebra teacher, of the TI-Inspire calculator. "It's a way we can introduce math concepts without any kind of stress on the student ... without them having to memorize a bunch of rules first."

Still Drescher, who oversees K-12 technology initiatives throughout the state and distributes federal funding earmarked for technology in schools, wonders when the debate over personal electronics will turn to action.

"I think it's important that we think about this," he said. "How long are we going to continue to say no to these devices coming into schools, when this is the technology they're expected to use in their jobs?"

Source: Rutland Herald, Living in a digital world, by Stephanie M. Peters

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