More Than Machines
This is a special feature from the State Educational
Technology Directors Association.
Comprehensive technology integration programs go beyond
laptop initiatives to provide teachers with the support they
need to improve student engagement and achievement.
HELLO OUT THERE! A webcam
lets homebound Nicholas Huether
participate in his fourth-grade class.
"WHAT A DIFFERENCE THIS PROGRAM
has made for Nicholas-- it is wonderful!" exclaims
Geneas Huether, Nicholas' mother. "He actually hears
the lessons, he can ask questions, hear the class
discussion-- and he even takes a lunch break when
the class has lunch."
Fourth-grader Nicholas is a homebound cancer
patient who attends Plainview Elementary School in
rural Chesterfield County, SC. This year he was provided
a laptop and webcam as part of Chesterfield
County School District's Student Technology and
Education Proficiency initiative.
Prior to the implementation of the STEP program
in 2007, this kind of direct virtual participation would
have been impossible. In his several previous homebound
experiences, Nicholas was isolated, working
independently with little to no communication with
his teachers or fellow students. "Other years,
Nicholas just had a teacher visit him in the afternoon
and quickly go over his work," Huether says. "Now he is really part of the class and can see his friends. We hope that
he can return to school next fall, but if he can't, we can't imagine working without this program."
Nicholas' experience offers a glimpse of what Chesterfield's STEP program has made possible. Much more than a
laptop program, it is a model example of a comprehensive approach to improving teaching practices through the use of technology. The goal, according to John Wagnon, the
district's educational technology director, is "to help improve
academic achievement and technology literacy scores through
increased student engagement."
"The transformation has been amazing.
If we took the technology away from the teachers
now, I'm not sure they would know what to do."
The initial STEP funding came from Title II-D of the No
Child Left Behind Act-- Enhancing Education Through Technology
(EETT)-- and provided each sixth-grader at Plainview
Elementary School and McBee Elementary School and each
seventh-grader at McBee High School with a laptop computer
for use at school and home. In addition, through an agreement
with the local telephone company, students with limited economic
means are provided free home internet installation and
a reduced rate of $5 per month for service fees.
STEP classrooms receive a host of digital tools, including
document cameras, interactive whiteboards, and projectors.
Another key feature: technology
coaches, who train participating
teachers and, Wagnon says,
instill "a comfort level" that
allows teachers to "innovate
and explore new avenues."
The tech coaches have also
helped guide teachers in using
the new tools to incorporate project-based learning into core
subjects. According to technology coach Pat Hendrickson, this
has been key to the success of the program. For example, at
McBee, sixth-graders typically participate in The Stock Market
Game, in which students invest a hypothetical $100,000 in an
online portfolio, and Plainview sixth-graders take part in Junior
Achievement's JA Global Marketplace, which teaches students
about the global economy and how it affects them.
"This element of the program encourages teachers to collaborate
with one another and compels students to work across the
curriculum," Hendrickson says.
The district credits these instructional changes for the major
gains its students made on standardized tests at the end of the
2007-2008 school year. Overall, 66 percent of Chesterfield students
exceeded their expected subtest scores in reading on the
Measures of Academic Progress assessment, and 48 percent
exceeded their normative growth expectation in math. Even an
improvement in behavior is credited to STEP. There were 361
disciplinary incidents in the Chesterfield district during the project
year, whereas 823 incidents were recorded a year earlier.
"The capacity of teachers to motivate adolescents in an academic
setting has its limitations," Wagnon says. "We believe that
the laptop technology served to enhance student motivation,
resulting in a more productive learning environment."
These kinds of outcomes are convincing states and districts
across the country to focus their resources on similar comprehensive
integration models. The State Educational Technology
Directors Association's (SETDA) "2009 National Trends
Report: Focus on Technology Integration in America's Schools"
looks at efforts to replicate the successes of previous EETT
grantees, including North Carolina's Impact model and Texas'
Technology Immersion Project (TIP). Data from the study shows
notable improvements in achievement among students who
receive a technology-supported education. One dramatic statistic
comes from Greene Central High School in Snow Hill, NC,
where college-going rates rose from 26 percent to 84 percent in
the five years since implementation of a modified Impact model.
Arthur L. Davila Middle School in Bryan, TX, a TIP participant,
has seen its scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge
and Skills increase steadily in both math and reading over the
past two years. Among the school's seventh-graders, the pass
rate on the reading portion of the TAKS rose from 62 percent
to 75 percent, and on math from 51 percent to 65 percent.
After seeing similar academic gains made by its students,
Chesterfield extended the STEP program to McBee High eighthgraders
this year, and then for 2009-2010 won a new EETT
grant that will continue the laptop program for all three grades.
In addition to the federal support, Chesterfield is receiving a
boost from the state that will allow it to install WiFi service and
LCD monitors on its school buses. The district encompasses
both the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge and the
Sand Hills State Forest; transporting students around the park
and/or forest to their schools means commutes that can exceed
three hours round-trip. The new technology will enable students
to make the most of the travel time.
Short videos that support classroom instruction will be shown
on the monitors, as well as others on topics relevant to students,
such as study skills, bullying, and protecting the environment.
STEP students will also have the option of using their laptops for
independent online activities via the WiFi connection. The state
is partnering with AT&T, which will bear most of the project's
"Despite the challenging economic times," Hendrickson says
of the district's tech integration efforts, "we are making it work."
A Spirit of Collaboration
Another striking model of the success of comprehensive technology
integration is found in Pennsylvania, where state money
goes to finance equipment, infrastructure, tech support, and professional
development for schools participating in Classrooms
for the Future, an initiative that puts advanced technology tools
into the classrooms of high school students across the state.
Southern Columbia Area School District's lone high school
implemented CFF in 2006. The small, rural district's vision of
technology-infused education is founded on strong leadership,
professional development, increased broadband access, and
project-based learning in the core curriculum areas. It found a
perfect partner and sponsor in CFF, which could flesh out that
vision with the technology tools necessary to fulfill it.
The program, explains Ian
McCoog, a CFF technology coach,
has equipped teachers with laptops,
printers, digital whiteboards, projectors,
and cameras. "Mobile laptop carts are provided for each
classroom in math, language arts, science, and social studies,"
McCoog says. "The special education department also has a laptop
cart and the media center has [one] for after-school use.
These additional carts were not provided by CFF, but they are an
example of how we are building upon the program."
Ongoing professional development has been key to the effectiveness
of the implementation. "The best thing about this grant
is the coach/mentor," says Brian Davis, the district's secondary
technology coordinator. He says technology coaches work with
teachers alone and in groups and also provide training in Web
2.0 tools. "Having these coaches has empowered our teachers."
The training continues online, where teachers take courses
from Embedded Learning that focus on technology integration.
Plus, the state provides basic hardware and software training.
And through Pennsylvania's intermediate units, regional agencies
that act as liasons between the school districts and the state
department of education, CFF districts have begun collaborating
on lesson plans and tech-integration ideas. "We never had such
collaboration in the past," says McCoog. "The grants have made
our large state smaller somehow."
Southern Columbia has helped its own implementation by
increasing broadband speed from 3 Mbps to 10 Mbps via the
state's Educational Technology Fund, which also supports internet
service at the district's three schools. With better broadband
service combined with the new tools and tech training, Southern
Columbia High School teachers are taking full advantage of
the open source tool Moodle. "One of our more experienced
English teachers, a former technophobe, now has his entire curriculum
available via Moodle and shares Shakespeare YouTube
videos with his class regularly," says Davis. "The transformation
has been amazing. If we took the technology away from the
teachers now, I'm not sure they would know what to do."
Backed by the technology, Southern Columbia teachers are
able to enliven classroom lessons with project-based learning.
"For example," McCoog says, "this spring, science students participated
in the 2009 Stream Cleaner Environmental Forum. Our
students joined students from four other states that connect to the
Chesapeake Bay watershed in exploring environmental issues.
This wouldn't have been possible three years ago."
The rise in student engagement is reflected in the testing data:
Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) reading,
writing, and math scores for Southern Columbia 11th-graders
have increased, including an 8 percent increase in math scores
over the two years since CFF was implemented.
Based on the success the program has had at the high school,
the district is at work creating a plan for refreshing equipment
over the next three years and has expanded the program to
seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms at Southern Columbia's
middle school for the 2009-2010 school year by purchasing thinclient
notebooks. "We are trying to be proactive when planning
for the future, especially with hardware
replacements and technical
support," says Davis. "We know
that we can't turn back now."
Chesterfield County and Southern Columbia are both now
working to maintain their programs despite the expiration of
their initial grants, finding ways to stretch their resources while
applying for new grants to support their programs. Together
the two districts demonstrate that no matter where you find your
funding, whether at the federal or state level, the imperative is
having a comprehensive plan that accounts for more than just
the distribution of machines, but creates a technology-rich
learning environment that is supported by ongoing professional
development, technology coaches, high-quality curriculum,
sufficient broadband access, and administrative leadership.
The full impact of comprehensive technology integration is
found in the thoughts of Dennis McDaniel, principal at Chesterfield's
Plainview Elementary, who says the infusion of
technology has been "a great blessing" for his school and believes
that the project's influence will have staying power. "Learning
has been totally transformed for our sixth-graders," he says. "We
expect that this will pay tremendous dividends as the progress of
these students is measured through standardized tests and other
methods for the remainder of their school career."
For more information on technology integration, visit
our website at www.thejournal.com. In the Browse
by Topic menu, click on Integration/Networking.
Christine Fox is SETDA's director of professional development
This article originally appeared in the 06/01/2009 issue of THE Journal.