R-8 conducts tech training for teachers

May 06, 2008 11:51 pm

— By Joe Hadsall
jhadsall@joplinglobe.com
Bret Ingle, a fifth-grade teacher at Columbia Elementary School, is full of ideas for how to use a Smart Board in his class.
“One of the other fifth-grade teachers already has one in his class,” Ingle said. “He has already hooked me up with lessons and other ideas.”
Ingle was among almost 100 Joplin R-8 teachers who attended a kickoff Tuesday for a technology-training program. The educators will undergo more than 45 hours of training to learn how to make the best use of technology when developing lesson plans.
Many Joplin classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards, laptop computers and liquid-crystal display projectors. The equipment is used for interactive demonstrations in education.
The school district has been increasing the use of electronic equipment through its “iTEK initiative.”
Karen Secrist, a third-grade teacher at Eastmorland Elementary, said she has seen a difference in her pupils since adopting the new technology.
“You can go so much further into a lesson,” said Secrist, who acts as a mentor for teachers in the program. “It allows for an inquiry-based lesson, where they search for information on their own.”
Since beginning the program about three years ago, the district has bought about $1.5 million in laptop computers, Smart Boards and LCD projectors for classrooms. The district also has received about $200,000 in grants for technology.
School board president Anne Sharp said the money has been well spent.
“The board felt that the use of technology is the way the world is today,” she said. “It’s an avenue to level the playing field for all of our students.”
A key component of the program is to train teachers on ways to use the equipment to its full potential. Without training, the equipment would be a waste, said Angela Neria, chief information officer for the district.
“If you hand out technology without showing teachers how to embed a lesson in it, it doesn’t make an impact,” Neria said. “That’s a lot of money to not make an impact.”
A state education official said Joplin’s program is among the most progressive in the state.
“Joplin is one of the model implementations in the state,” said Monica Beglau, director of the eMINTS program. “The board made a big commitment to using local funds.”
The district is nearing the end of a two-year data-collection period. After that time expires, Neria said, the district would be able to assess how effective the electronic training is.
Neria said the district is seeing promising signs.
“We have seen an improvement in attendance and fewer tardies,” she said. “We see kids who are shy and don’t like answering questions ask for chances to present things to their peers. Teachers tell me stories that give me goose bumps.”


Training phase

Tuesday’s kickoff was for the third and final phase of training current teachers. As new teachers are hired, they will receive the training as well. About 235 teachers are to be trained by 2009, said Angela Neria, chief information officer for the school district.

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