Technology & Learning - November 2008 - (Page 22)

BESTOF2008 Highlights from T&L TOP CLASSROOMS A look back at some of the year’s best practices from America’s classrooms. For the full stories, go to www.techlearning.com Make Your Own Videos DISTRICT: Horry County, Myrtle Beach, SC HOW TECH MAKES A DIFFERENCE: Horry County produces their own video programs, such as news shows and a science series called “Forever Wild,” and uploads them to their server for the teachers to use. David Bell, media services coordinator, says this helped to solve the cumbersome process of ensuring that DVDs and videos were circulated to the district’s 50 schools. Streaming allows the district to distribute materials to teachers for professional development, homebound students, parents, and teleconferences. They paid a one-time cost of $5,000 for one encoder. Their network was already in place, as well as their production studios and other materials. Keep 1:1 Going DISTRICT: Kershaw County School District, SC HOW TECH MAKES A DIFFERENCE: When the district looked to upgrade its antiquated computer hardware, then-Superintendent Herbert Berg presented one-to-one as a solution. Agnes Slayman, assistant superintendent, says they had to jump through many hoops to secure the needed $8 million to fund the program for the three high schools. They standardized their resources to save considerable money already allocated, then turned to their community for additional financial support. Once local funding was secured, Kershaw contracted with Hewlett-Packard, signing four concurrent leases, each for about $2 million. In January 2005, more than 800 ninth-grade students were issued notebook computers. Though it’s faced challenges, Kershaw also has seen results. Parents have become more involved since each teacher created an eChalk page where homework is posted. In fact, Web site hits increased from 30,787 the first year to 118,715 last year. Create A Game Design Course DISTRICT: Phoebus High School, Hampton City Schools, Hampton, VA HOW TECH MAKES A DIFFERENCE: When Debby Martin, a business education teacher, saw that community colleges were offering game design courses, she thought it would help her students in the work world if they learned this skill. She introduced a Video Gaming class that kicked off with a curriculum that includes the history of computer programming; an introduction to the Java programming language; training on Game Maker software; and instruction in Alice—a 3-D programming environment developed by Carnegie Mellon researchers. Martin reports that students responded positively to the class and is expecting even greater outcomes after training last summer—thanks to a National Science Foundation grant—with two computer science professors who support educators’ use of Alice software. 22 | TECH & LEARNING http://www.techlearning.com

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

Technology & Learning - November 2008 Contents Editor’s Desk News & Trends Put to the Test WeeWorld Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection SAS Curriculum Pathways Rosetta Stone Classroom Version Pulse Smartpen Highlights from T&L Top Classrooms Kepping the VoIP from Being the Wrong Number Watch It Back Office Business What’s New Keeping Tabs Leader of the Year Profile: Music to Their Ears

Technology & Learning - November 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.