Education evolution in technology

Times have definitely changed in this technology driven world.

Gone are the days that a child relied solely on encyclopedias, paper and pen to research for class assignments.

Here are the days when an entire classroom full of students have the opportunity to use laptops at their desks.

These are the very reasons that the Maryville R-II School District deems it fit to provide their teachers with additional technology training and equipment to keep up the pace with the rest of the world.

Janara Sims, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Maryville Middle School, along with fifth-grade social studies teacher Mindy Diller, are currently receiving training through eMINTS.
The eMINTS National Center is a non-profit, independent business unit of the University of Missouri that offers professional development programs created by educators for educators.
The eMINTS training is supposed to:
• Inspire educators to use instructional strategies powered by technology.
• Engage students in the excitement of learning.
• Enrich teaching to dramatically improve student performance.

Sims and Diller were first introduced to the training last spring, along with several other teachers in Nodaway County. Because of funding issues, Sims said she saw a lot of teachers unable to continue training. However, she feels very lucky that the Maryville School District deems it important enough to fund the eMINTS training for their teachers. The entire training process takes two years.

John Zeliff, the assistant superintendent for the Maryville School District, said this kind of training is invaluable because the students really seem to respond to the technological aspect of it.
Approximately once a month Sims and Diller go to the McKemy Center on the Northwest Missouri State University campus and receive tips and training on how to use technology in their classroom settings.

This type of training goes one step further, as Sims said part of the main focus is to stress inquiry-based learning.

"The main thing is to really get these students thinking," she said.

While she shares the 24 laptops she was awarded with for her classroom with the rest of her team at MMS, she said having the availability of those computers for class is a big help — especially when she wants her students to look up information for various historical projects they may be working on.

"I'm really excited," she said. "I've enjoyed it so far, and I think it's really going to make me the teacher that I want to be. It really gets you engaged, and I think because it uses inquiry it gives them (students) much more confidence."

Sims said she implements an "ask three before me" rule with her students. This means that she would like her students to ask at least three other students in their areas about any problems or questions they may have, and if those other students still don't know, she will go back to that particular area and thoroughly re-explain it to the rest of the class.

Some of the technological advances in many classrooms include use of the interactive whiteboards, the SMART Board. These boards combine the use of  whiteboard with the power of a computer, and allow both students and teachers a more active way to interact.

Sims said that once you start to learn all of the things you do, it's actually pretty easy.
"It's new to me, and I'm still working out all of the kinks, but it's just so neat what you can do with it," she said.

SMART Boards have a touch-sensitive display that connects to your computer and digital projector to show your computer image. Teachers can then control computer applications directly from the display, write notes in digital ink and save their work to share later.

This training will allow teachers to better their teaching abilities, and Sims said there is also an e-mail system, so that other teachers working through the training, can give each other tips and ask each other questions. Sims said she will also eventually have a Web site up.