OGY IMMERSION taken one-to-one to new heights
Digital cameras, video cams, and mi- crophones are also available for teach- ers to check out. Learning and Teaching Our teachers enthusiastically took to teaching in a technology-immersed school, and students quickly adapted to learning in this environment. Stu- dents are becoming visual and kinesthetic learners, and teachers have
transitioned from the traditional sage
on the stage to the more favorable
guide on the side as they incorporate
learning through group and individual projects that require laptops.
Providing software and online
programs is important for supporting teachers’ educational needs. FISD
widely uses AquaMinds’ Note Taker
and Microsoft Office as well as Apple’s
iLife and i Work suites. Online and
CD textbooks have allowed our students to rid their backpacks of heavy
books.
We also use several online resources
to enhance reading, writing, math,
and science learning. Vantage Learning’s My Access! writing program,
for example, provides students with
opportunities to edit their writing and
improve their scores. Net Trekker and
the Facts on File database allow for
pertinent research. Explore Learning
and AgileMind visualize concepts in
math and science for students, and
Discovery Education offers a host of
video clips for instruction.
In art classes at the high school, students use Adobe Photoshop to create
art projects with the same hardware
and software that professionals use,
and they have access to many works
of art on the Web. Students use the
built-in iSight camera for self-por-traits or to capture images to draw.
At the middle school, students use
Photoshop Elements for projects in
Computer Art and other classes.
The laptops make history come
alive. Students can hear speeches,
look at newspaper headlines, go on
virtual tours, and watch videos of
actual events. Seeing an event such as
the bombing of Pearl Harbor gives far
more meaning to the lessons.
Although math is a difficult area for
teachers to relinquish the use of paper,
pencil, and calculator, they are finding
many uses for the laptops. All notes
and assignments are now in electronic
format. Teachers conduct many quizzes online and include interactive ap-plets to reinforce ideas from class.
In science, technology has enabled
students to record scientific data and
visualize processes more realistically
than ever before. Using probes with
the laptops provides added visual and
kinesthetic elements to allow students
to see how and why functions act the
way they do.
