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March 29, 2005 - Vol. 6, No. 13
TechLearning News
- School systems throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area are using a new language lab to improve language teaching.
- High school students in Butler County, AL have just finished registering for the district's newest program — distance learning.
- Students at Arkansas' Newport High School are getting the chance to combine problem-based service learning and advanced technological applications.
- Roughly half of the Boston's 15,000 school computers at the end of their useful life, with too little budgeted for maintenance or upgrades.
Not Your Father's Language Lab
Vocabulary and grammar are fine, but at heart, learning a language is about conversation. New technology is making it easier for language students to practice speaking and for teachers to keep track of their progress. School systems throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area are using a new language lab to improve language teaching. At the push of a button, plastic trays — about a foot deep and each the length of an aisle of desks — descend from the classroom ceiling and stop alongside students' chairs. Students grab headsets from the trays and put them on. Using a laptop computer, teachers pair students to work together on oral language. Speaking softly into microphones, students can converse with partners located anywhere in the classroom. The headphones allow the students to focus on their conversation, without being distracted by the other conversations taking place. Teachers can also listen in on any conversation and correct student pronunciation. Only the student being spoken to hears the correction. The equipment can also be used to capture samples of students' oral language. They simply speak into the microphone and the system stores their digitized speech on the teacher's computer. The teacher can listen and grade the digitized voice clips at any time. Gwinnett County is testing the language lab at Shiloh High and expects to install similar labs next year in all of the system's 16 high schools, at a cost of $1.5 million for the equipment and teacher training.
Source: Gwinnett County Public Schools
AL County Turns to DL
High school students in Butler County, AL have recently registered for the district's newest program ý distance learning. A new technology infrastructure will bring the same resources now available only to students of Greenville High School to the county's two southern high schools. Each school will have a receiver up to 140 feet in height and classrooms wired with technology that allows a teacher in Greenville High School to see and hear students in Georgiana and McKenzie. Remote classrooms will be staffed by qualified personnel who will monitor the students and assist with classroom management. To make the distance learning program work, the three high schools will need to implement a consolidated bell schedule. The district plans to offer AP calculus, biology and chemistry classes, among others. The system will also be used to provide in-service training for teachers. The entire cost of the distance learning system is $405,000 spread over four years that will be paid for through federal dollars, with the district providing in-kind contributions such as the buildings and land for the towers. District leaders are very proud of their new system since there are approximately only four school systems in the state currently using this technology.
Source: The Greenville Advocate
High Tech Supports Students' High Touch Projects
Students at Arkansas' Newport High School are getting the chance to combine problem-based service learning and advanced technological applications. The Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) Lab course is a project-based learning class structured around students taking on specific projects that help their schools and communities. They use the capabilities of a sophisticated computer laboratory as a resource to complete these projects. The teacher in an EAST lab takes on the role of facilitator, guiding and encouraging students toward achieving the goals of their projects. EAST is about using technology as a starting point in the development of creative, open-minded and innovative problem solving in the context of teamwork, responsibility, and personal initiative. Students share in a rich educational experience that, at various times, makes them the "expert" in their specialty or a driving force behind the completion of a project. The EAST model relies on a support network provided by school, community, and industry partnerships. The network allows EAST schools to offer a multifaceted interdisciplinary, service-learning curriculum integrated with advanced technical applications in the disciplines of architecture, animation, computer aided design (CAD), 3D design engineering, digital imagery, electrical design, global positioning systems (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS), image analysis, networking, system administration, programming, Raster editing and manipulation, visualization, and web development. Students work together with industry and community members to apply cutting-edge technology to a problem presented by a "client" from the community. The resulting learning environment is more like the modern technology workplace than a classroom.
Source: The Newport Independent
Boston Faces an Aging Technology Base
Five or six years ago, the Boston Public Schools spent millions purchasing and installing computer technology throughout the district. When budgets got tight, however, money for maintaining and updating that equipment got cut to as little as $500,000 a year. Today, with roughly half of the schools' 15,000 computers at the end of their useful life, the district estimates that it would take $9 million to update and repair its computer inventory. Next year's school budget request includes just $650,000 for computer upgrades. The problem is further complicated by the variety of platforms and systems in place. There are 10 or 12 different kinds of printers at Charlestown High, for example, making maintenance an efficiency nightmare. This is fairly typical of schools throughout the district. Even when the equipment works, teachers and students are frequently frustrated by computers that run applications slowly or can't run the newest software programs at all. At the central office, outdated computer operations leave payroll, human resources, student and other kinds of data scattered on four different systems, some of which are nearly incompatible with each other. Boston's situation is typical of many school districts where large technology installations are imperiled by a failure to invest sufficient resources to maintain and maximize the original investment.
Source: The Boston Herald
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