HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-10-02, Page 25When someone answers a questionwith another question, it cansometimes seem disrespectful. Butwhen it happened on Monday, Sept.
22 to trustees of the Huron-Perth
Catholic District School Board – from
one of their own administrators – the
unorthodox response was received
with knowing nods.
“How many classrooms do we
have?” asked information technology
coordinator Loretta Ayotte, when
asked by South Huron/Bluewater
representative Mike Miller how many
“Smart Boards” she would like the
board to provide.
Ayotte felt confident giving that
response, having just wowed trustees
with a wide-ranging demonstration of
the much-more-than-just-a-computer
technology’s capabilities.
There are currently about 30 Smart
Board projection screens in Huron-
Perth Catholic schools. Originally,
beginning almost 10 years ago, they
were introduced in Grade 6
classrooms to be used to assist in
improving board-wide scores on
provincially-standardized Grade 6
literacy tests. Just this past summer, they madetheir move into secondary schools –again, as part of a strategy to improvestandardized test scores, this time forthe Grade 9 math students.But enthusiastic expansion beyond
those applications has occurred in
many elementary schools, due largely
to the desire of both teachers and
students to bring the technology to
other classrooms, and to the readiness
of school communities to raise funds
for their purchase.
According to Ayotte, most
classrooms in St. Marys elementary
school in Listowel have Smart
Boards. Parents and friends of St.
Aloysius elementary school in
Stratford recently purchased some of
the systems – valued at around $4,300
each.
And the reason for the demand is
simple, says Ayotte: Smart
Technologies, the company which
developed and continuously upgrades
the systems, has created a school-
friendly computer technology that is
impossible to resist.
“Any teacher who has used it can’t
imagine teaching without it,” the IT
co-ordinator explained.
At the Sept. 22 board meeting,Ayotte played a segment of a“podcast,” created using Smart Boardtechnology by last year’s Grade 6/7students at St. Patrick’s elementaryschool in Kinkora. The purpose of the project was to try to
convince administrators to provide
a Smart Board for the school’s
Grade 8 classroom – because they
preferred not to move back into a
learning environment without the
technology.
“We definitely try to keep them in
use at all times,” Ayotte said, noting
schools with just one Smart Board
ensure other grades get to use it while
the lucky Grade 6 students are in the
gym or library.
The screen – which, when not in
use, resembles a run-of-the-mill
projector screen – is oriented like a
computer desktop. Instead of a
mouse, the icons on the screen can be
manipulated by touching the screen
and dragging a finger along. Tapping
or “double-clicking” on particular
icons can reveal additional
information. Teachers and students
can all use the screen.
“The company says there’s
practically nothing that can go wrong
with them,” Ayotte said. And thatpromise has largely proven true; asidefrom the replacement of a few of thebehind-the-screen wires that run the“touch-sensitive” capabilities, none ofthe original Smart Boards have fallenout of service.
Smart Technologies has also
developed an online presence, as well
as releasing a Smart Board-
compatible “Notebook” application
that students can download to their
own home computers. With all of the
board’s schools now connected to
high-speed internet, it has become
increasingly possible for work to be
transferred from home to school and
vice versa.
According to Ayotte, the company
asks only that school boards purchase
the Smart Boards. The additional
capabilities are provided as part of the
purchase contract. “There’s a very
free rein if you’ve bought a Smart
Board,” she explained. “The company
wants you to use it that way.”
The most important result, she said,
has been marked increases in the
readiness of students to take part in
classroom activities.
“Student engagement goes way up.
Teachers (who use them) have always
said that students’hands are up all thetime now,” she said.There was universal praise for thetechnology around the trustee table.Goderich/Northwest Huronrepresentative Jim McDade, however,cautioned his counterparts not to be
entirely awestruck.
“Like you, I have a sense that this is
a positive thing,” he said. But he
added it might be nice if there was
some concrete, research-based
evidence showing how much benefit
there is, and in what aspects of the
learning experience.
“There’s a good opportunity over
the next couple of years to track that,”
he suggested.
Still, board chair Bernard Murray
was open with his praise of the
system, saying that with the
introduction of Smart Boards into
Grade 9 Math classes, “I believe that
we’re going to see tremendous
improvements.”
Referring to efforts by
administrative staff to convince
trustees about the value of the
technology, he added: “Just having
seen the Smart Boards and what
they’re able to do . . . the sale has been
made.”
Continued from page 22
board) to do a lot of that background
with school councils before the
process began,” he said.
Last year, the process began with
a catch-all ARC orientation meeting
at the board’s Seaforth headquarters.
This year, there will be two separate
orientation meetings “so that more
community members might attend
and understand the rationale for the
process.”
Those meetings will be held
Wednesday, Oct. 22 at Usborne
Central Public School and Thursday,
Oct. 23 at East Wawanosh Public
School.
And, in keeping with feedback
provided by last year’s ARC
members, the board will clearly state
from the outset that school closure is
a distinct possibility.
Perth South/West Perth trustee
Carol Bennewies, who served as a
lightning rod for criticism last year
among a group of concerned
Mitchell-area parents, gave cautious
approval to the changes.
“I raised many of these issues at a
Mitchell High School council
meeting and people there were
happy that we were willing to
listen,” she said.
She added, however, that there
remains a perception that the board
may be unwilling to change certain
aspects of the process – in part,
because the circumstances in each
community are different.
Following the ARC orientation
meetings, each community-based
committee must hold a minimum of
four public meetings within a
prescribed time period. The earliest
possible dates for the final ARC
meetings are Feb. 24 and Feb. 25,
2009.
Final reports from the ARCs are
used by trustees as information
while considering final decisions.
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2008. PAGE 25. Smart Board screens in 30 Catholic schools
This year board will host 2 separate meetings
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