It was a simple lesson on counting pennies, but students in Christina Baldy’s first-grade class at Cole Arts and Science Academy were enthralled.
Seven shiny copper pennies, as big as dinner plates, were projected on an interactive whiteboard, a hot, new classroom tool that makes the chalkboard feel as antiquated as the rotary phone.
“Subtract four cents,” Baldy asked during the arithmetic lesson, offering what looked like a pen to a student, who tapped it on the projected image and slid the coin into a virtual piggy bank — leaving three pennies behind.
The interactive white board is part of a technological revolution that is changing the face of teaching and learning in the 21st century.
Today, schools hand out laptops to students, teachers access online data portals to track student scores and the state is bringing broadband Internet to rural schoolrooms.
“These tools are changing teaching practices,” said John Canuel, director of educational technology for Jefferson County schools.
“When we look at laptops and cellphones and these devices, most of our students have never known a world without them or this access for information. The challenge is teaching students to be effective users of that information.”
Schools now are laced with fiber optics, boosted with Wi-Fi and festooned with laptops. Students hold wireless clickers that allow them to punch in responses to questions and teachers to beam video images of textbooks from document projectors.
Baldy’s classroom just received hand-held devices that look like Nintendo DS game players. She can upload computer games related to her classroom lessons to them.
“This is definitely increasing student engagement,” Baldy said. “They are just infatuated with technology. They are just so focused on it and what is going on in the classroom.”
More effective and engaged
As part of Colorado’s bid for a share of the $4 billion Race to the Top grants being offered to states with the most innovative school reforms, educators are trying to bridge the so-called digital divide by improving technology in all school districts.
“There is a lot of talk about 21st-century classrooms and individualizing classroom instruction and individualizing professional development for teachers, but the only way we are going to get to a point where we can customize teaching and learning is if teachers have these new tools,” said Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien.
State officials are writing grants to add more broadband access to rural areas in hopes of building a more streamlined assessment program across the state.
The Morgridge Family Foundation has donated $4.5 million to 1,800 Colorado teachers for whiteboards and assessment tools and will provide another $3 million in the next year.
“Teachers say they are more effective and students more engaged with the (whiteboards),” said Renee Joyce, program officer with the Morgridge foundation. “The foundation is really focused on empowering teachers to prepare students for the 21st century global workforce.”
Denver Public Schools allotted $10.5 million in its 2008 bond for technology upgrades. In January, the district will roll out an online teacher portal that will bring a volume of information to teachers’ computers — such as student test scores, links to standards and district-wide curriculum.
“It will be a one-stop shop for data,” said Kipp Bentley, in charge of the district’s technology. “We are putting all of the district curriculum, pacing and planning guides and publisher content in there. It’s like a good teacher’s filing cabinet and school library all in one.”
A Denver charter school over the past two years has been perfecting the use of student data with a tool that is drawing national attention.
The Denver School of Science and Technology’s computer system, developed with Alpine Achievement Systems of Castle Rock, allows teachers to analyze test data and coursework in almost real time, which allows them to better understand how their students are learning.
The school gives laptops to all high schoolers, and they are tested weekly with questions linked to specific standards. Teachers get results immediately and are able to figure out which students are having trouble and offer help. In the past, teachers would have taken tests home, graded them and come back with the results.
Videos are embedded into the curriculum that students can to watch on their computers for help.
Pinpointing students’ gaps
The system has cut paperwork in half for teachers at the science and technology school, giving them more time to concentrate on teaching.
“Before, teachers were shooting from the hip, not sure what was working and what wasn’t,” said Bill Kurtz, head of the school. “There were some hero teachers who could do it. But we are trying to create a system where lots of teachers can be effective.”
The school’s leaders have presented the system to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the NewSchools Venture Fund and officials from New York Public Schools.
On a recent day, teachers pored over data from a trimester final — paging through spreadsheets on a laptop to figure out what areas needed work.
Advanced placement chemistry teacher Jodi Crutchfield found a majority of her students had flubbed how to calculate the empirical formula of hydrocarbon using combustion analysis.
When she quizzed students on the subject Oct. 1, 85 percent passed. But on the recent final, only 45 percent answered correctly — showing students needed a refresher.
The science and technology school is Denver’s highest-performing school. Kurtz credits great teachers working with the data and smartly using technology to improve.
“Technology will never replace the teacher,” Kurtz said. “It is the tool that will make the teacher and the learner better.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
