Technology integration keeps expanding

With each passing year, Clovis Municipal Schools has expanded effective integration of technology in the classroom. Through careful planning schools are increasingly expanding access to current devices, as well as educational programs and software.

School sites have multiple mobile laptop carts, shared among departments or grade levels as well as multiple digital tablet carts. Each classroom is equipped with a state-of-the-art interactive projector connected to a digital media player for streaming content wirelessly.

What does this mean? This means that a teacher can connect a teacher laptop or tablet from anywhere in the classroom to the large-scale projector — completely wirelessly — and share information from the device itself or from the internet.

Imagine “walking through” any major museum in the world on a virtual tour, moving from exhibit to exhibit. Imagine connecting to a favorite children’s author in real time through video conferencing, so the author and our students can actually see one another while talking. Imagine virtually dissecting a frog in a science class with three-dimensional perspective, but none of the mess. Imagine, using an app on a student digital tablet, flying over the Egyptian pyramids at Giza; then, zooming in to actually go inside the tombs on a virtual tour, stopping to examine and read about the artifacts found there.

Technology can put the world at the fingertips of teachers and students. To ensure that technologies are judiciously and effectively used, principals provide on-going training for teachers with in-district specialists to ensure educators are adequately equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to use these technologies to enhance learning.

Students respond extremely well when teachers incorporate technology. One high school educator, science teacher Tina Majkrzak, described how students’ ability to submit work digitally via a secure, online learning environment encourages not only her high-performing students, but also her low-performing students to submit their work, using any internet-connected device.

Another, D. Shaun Hunton, English teacher at Clovis High, described how using technology in his classroom more fully engages students and creates more efficiency. For example, as students work online, Hunton’s ability to view student work and immediately offer digital, real time comments on their online document fosters greater student engagement.

“The students love it, respond well, and look forward to this immediate feedback,” Hunton said.

Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the instructional technology coordinator for the Clovis Municipal Schools and can be reached at: [email protected]