slip” because students must answer
it at the end of class. As students respond to the question, their answers
become visible on the teacher’s computer. Teachers can make the aggregated, anonymous results visible to the
whole class on a display device to help
students understand common misconceptions. The next day, the teacher
can adjust instruction depending on
how many students have understood
the lesson’s learning objectives. This
requires little time beyond developing
and entering the question, because the
software automatically scores short-answer questions, saves the data, and
analyzes it at the click of a button.
Reteach Weeks
Schools can use data gathered via students’ laptops to tailor instruction to
their individual needs, as DSST does
every trimester during “reteach weeks.”
Early on, the school developed a set
of college-readiness standards in each
subject based on the ACT program.
These standards guide instruction,
and the school measures individual
progress toward their mastery.
DSST teachers try to focus on helping students improve their scores. “It’s
all about doing better,” a teacher of 9th
and 10th graders said about the unique
approach the school has adopted.
Once a trimester, the school uses
assessment software to administer interim assessments, including multiple-choice questions that DSST has aligned
to the ACT standards. Immediately
following the assessments, teachers
hold data-analysis sessions to identify
student weaknesses and design lessons
to address them. Then they schedule
“reteach” weeks to provide instruction
and support for targeted standards on
which students did poorly.
Tying questions to standards, which
computers make easier, helps both
students and teachers. In fact, the great
majority of students report that these
reteach weeks are either “very helpful”
(44%) or “somewhat helpful” (35%).
Forty-one percent of teachers agree
that the reteach weeks are “very important” for DSST students, and another 48% report that they are “
somewhat important.” Interestingly, more
Hispanic students (53%) and African-American students (45%)—who typically receive lower test scores in urban
school systems—than Caucasian
students (33%) report that the reteach
weeks are “very helpful.” (However,
these differences are smaller if you
include students who say the reteach
weeks are “somewhat helpful.”)
Students take the PLAN, EXPLORE,
and ACT tests in grades 9, 10, and 11
to help prepare them for college-level
work. DSST students are also tested
as part of the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Their scores are
among the highest in Colorado on
both the ACT and the CSAP tests.
essays, which reduces paper use and
saves time. The laptops allow students
to type their work, which is often
faster than writing with a pen or pencil, both for the students and for the
teachers, who don’t have to decipher
students’ handwriting.
During the same class period, the
teacher can use her tablet computer
and a projector to display a paragraph
written by one of the students. She
marks up the student’s work—the
name can be confidential—using
a stylus to write on her tablet. The
whole class can watch and listen as she
explains her editing, and they can help
with the process, as well. This allows
all the students to learn while the subject matter and their writing process
is still fresh in their minds. And when
she is done editing all the papers, she
can save or e-mail students’ edited
copies back to them.
Language arts teachers are also enthusiastic users of Moodle, an open-source program that enables class
discussions to continue online in a
password-protected environment.
In one class, a certain number of
Moodle posts are due from students
Real-Time Edits
Language arts teachers at DSST also
use the instant feedback made possible by student laptops to improve
their teaching of writing. One experienced teacher explained that students
send her electronic copies of their
in most schools, it often takes days to grade assignments and tests,
which makes it more difficult for students to learn from what they
have done or even to know whether their work is right or wrong.
LAPTOP LABS
DSST uses the physics First approach, which requires al
in physics. Two-thirds of all seniors also take either honor l ninth graders to enroll
s or Advanced
placement physics.
As part of the DSST survey, more than 120 students wh o were enrolled
in physics provided information about the use of laptops in that subject.
eighty-six percent use the laptops, connected to probe s that record
and instantly download scientific data to the laptops, at le ast once a
week to collect data, and 92% use them to analyze data . The majority
also use laptops to communicate about science at least weekly.
The physics teachers also use online simulations develo ped by a
nobel prize winner at the university of Colorado. more th an half of
DSST physics students use these simulations at least on ce a week.
They also use an electronic physics textbook that is sto red on each
laptop. Students can click on animations or simulations in cluded in
the textbook.
“i believe that the most helpful use of technology has be en interactive
lessons or lectures about specific topics,” wrote one stud ent. “it makes
it so much easier to understand a concept if you can see it happen in an it happen in an
animation.”
