Technology Improves Student Performance | Kiddo!

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DOE Study Shows Technology Improves Student Performance

Before this summer, middle school teachers who wanted their students to use computers had to reserve one of the school?s desktop computer labs.? With 45 teachers and only two labs, getting a space often required six weeks? lead time, wreaking havoc on curriculum planning and making it a challenge to integrate computers into classroom teaching.

But no longer.? This summer, thanks to designated donations from two Mill Valley families and a matching grant from the Macquarie Group Foundation, Kiddo! was able to provide $75,000 to MVMS for the purchase of four iPad carts with 30 iPads each, plus software and staff training. ?Now each of the three academic ?pods? at the school has a dedicated iPad cart, shared by only 6-7 teachers, and the library has its own iPad cart reserved for research projects.

In addition, once the desktop labs were no longer needed, the school was able to clear out the lab space and distribute the desktop computers to smaller labs within each pod for use on a project basis. This has not only freed up much-needed space for the growing middle school population, but has also created, through the combination of iPads and smaller computer labs closer to classrooms, a nimbler and more flexible technology platform.? In other words, it?s now much easier for teachers to use computers in their daily lessons.

And that?s important.? A recent study by the United States Department of Education documented the numerous benefits that students derive from the use of computers in school.? Most significantly, it found that students with greater amounts of computer access became more motivated and self-confident learners.? The study found that when students are using technology, ?they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of information transmitted by teacher, textbook or broadcast,? and they are able to handle more complex assignments in which they define their own goals, make decisions, and evaluate their progress.? Technology also provides students with opportunities to excel across a broader range of challenges and tasks than those offered in traditional settings, which primarily stress verbal knowledge and multiple choice test performance.

Middle school principal Anna Lazzarini sums it up this way: ?Technology is no longer a bells and whistles item in education.? There are so many ways to use technology to deepen learning, to create hands-on experiences for students, to engage them, and to provide instruction that fits the needs of students in every area of study.?? In the technology-driven world our children must navigate, she adds, it?s critical to ?teach students how to use technology in appropriate ways.?

Middle school teachers are loving it, too.? Each iPad comes pre-loaded with features such as Pages, Keynote, iMovie, and iPhoto that already have proven to be valuable teaching tools.? But individual teachers can also buy apps pertinent to their subject area.? Cari Pompanin, who teaches sixth grade language arts and social studies, can?t wait to use Google Earth to help her students ?literally walk the Earth.?? She?s also planning to use Virtual Roma, which can take students not just to present-day Rome but to Rome at any period in its history.? ?Just think,? she says, ?we can travel to ancient Rome right from our desks!?

Our students deserve the best education we can give them, so that they can realize their full potential and meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world.? Improving their access to technology and computers in the classroom is an important piece of that puzzle.? Kiddo! is deeply grateful to all those in our community whose donations and support make that possible.

Source: http://kiddo.org/2012/09/technology-improves-student-performance/

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