Technology & Learning - October 2008 - (Page 44)

FROM DESTRUCTION TO DETERMINATION New Orleans Schools Make a Comeback with Technology H urricane Katrina in August 2005 was the costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history. The New Orleans public school system had 128 schools before the storm. Today the original district has only 21 schools in its jurisdiction. Most of them are in older buildings that were on high ground and survived the storm. Katrina caused $800 million worth of destruction to the schools, but it also provided an opportunity for a new beginning. The staff was determined to succeed when schools reopened after a year. Before Katrina, New Orleans schools were failing academically, ranked 67th out of the 68 parishes in the state in 2005. Planners seized the opportunity for change. A dedicated tech team knew that technology could make a critical difference in students’ future success. They chose Qwizdom student response systems as linchpins of a model classroom project that included interactive whiteboards and laptops. The goal for technology, according to Peggy Abadie, Executive Director of Information Technology, is for “technology to help transform instruction in such a way that ownership of instruction is transferred to the learner.” When the team began planning, they thought they would design a one-to-one program but realized that “research showed that it’s the instructional model—not the box—you use to make achievement go up.” They wanted teachers to differentiate instruction and students to be responsible for their own learning. They needed reporting capabilities and increased student-teacher interaction to accomplish that. Andrea Walker, the Center Manager of Greater New Orleans Science and Math Initiative suggested they take a look at student response systems. They chose Qwizdom’s Q4 Student Response System as the pivotal technology because they improve teachers’ ability to know immediately how students are performing and engage and sustain students in learning at the same time. According to Science and Math Specialist Dana Gonzalez, “The systems had well defined software in terms of curriculum and were usable immediately. We didn’t have to create new curriculum.” The team believed that Qwizdom systems could “reduce the amount of teacher time on things that technology can speed up, improve the time spent between teachers and students, and increase efficiency of student learning so they learn better and learn faster.” Some teachers had been using the Q4s in math and science before the storm, and the technology team observed a lesson. They were awestruck at the instructional process. Rather than having a few hands raised to answer questions as in traditional classrooms, all students could answer on their devices. The teacher saw the answers as they came in and knew immediately what the common error was, which students hadn’t answered, and who needed help with which aspect of the problem. The students were so enthusiastic that the teacher had to encourage them to leave for the next class because they wanted to stay longer to learn. Today the district has 3800 Qwizdom clickers in classrooms, starting with high school math and science so that 98% of those classes have the response systems. Science achievement has risen every year for the 3 years since the storm in the classrooms with the devices. Achievement levels are lower in classrooms that are still without them. According to Eric Roubion, the district’s Instructional Technology Coordinator, “The data becomes instructive. It helps the teacher create new models to individualize instruction. Before a unit test, the teacher can check what each student understands about the topic and provide support.” The results have been impressive. Since 2006, the first year of testing after Katrina, the average improvement is 4–8% in standardized test scores. “We would like to think that it’s Qwizdom that made all the difference,” says Peggy Abadie. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT QWIZDOM 1.877.QWIZDOM (794.9366) info@qwizdom.com www.qwizdom.com 44 | TECH & LEARNING A DV E R TO R I A L http://www.qwizdom.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Technology & Learning - October 2008

Technology & Learning - October 2008 Contents Editor’s Desk News & Trends We All Stream for Video Put to the Test Special Needs Guide to Tech Products The New Rules of Copyright Picture Perfect What’s New Leader of the Year Profile

Technology & Learning - October 2008

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