The Huron Expositor, 1998-12-09, Page 3Technology
helps students
Reading, writing skills improved
in. students using computers,
says study in local Catholic board
BY SCOTT HiLGENDORFF
Expositor Editor
Students in primary grades
using computers show
improved reading and
writing skills, a study in
Huron Perth Catholic District
School Board schools has
revealed.
"1'm ecstatic the assessors
were able to find a link that
helps students grow," said
Superintendent of Education
John McCauley.
The Ontario Institute for
Studies in Education (OISE)
was hired by the hoard to
study the use of multi -media
units that were placed in
primary grade classrooms
(Grades 1 to 3). The
assessors were hired as part
of a Technology Incentive
Partnership Program (TIPP2)
that saw the hoard match a
S1.2 million grant from the
provincial Ministry of
Education..
The OiSE was hired, as
part -of the grant agreement
for the hoard 19 form a
private partnership.
' McCauley said the OISE is
ih'c education arm of the
University of Toronto and
the hoard thought it had the
hest reputation to conduct a
study into the hoard's use of
technology. •
The Huron Perth ,and,Elgin
Count\ hoards both
_participated in the TIPP2
.program and a similar
assessment was made in
Elgin schools. As far as he
'knows. McCauley said this is
the first study of its kind in
• Canada.
"The University of
Toronto. through the OISE,
is' so interested that, at their
,.'own cost. they're going Pei
come hack a year from now
to reassess." said McCauley.
The project, called "The
Was Ahead," brought five`
multi -media computers,
scanners and other
equipment into 64 class
rooms across the hoard and
the OISE studied whether or
nol their was student or
teacher growth ' through
having the machines in the
classes.
McCauley said they
researched and found
software , that -could he
directly linked with the
curriculum.
"Learning did occur for
both ;he teachers and thc
students," he said.
The agency discovered
i computer literacy in loth
groups increased as did
computer skills.
' Teachers also found the
computers motivated
students.
Dorothy VanEsbroeck, a
Grade 2 teacher at St. James
Catholic School in Seaforth
saw students willing to
continue further on a project
when they were doing it on
the computer rather than at
their desks.
Teachers at the school said
students seemed more proud
of their work when it came
from the computer programs
and looked more
"professional" to them.
in Grade 1, higher writing
skills were found in students
and higher reading skills
were found in Grade 2
students:
One of the programs , used
in the VanEsbroek's class
was Storybook Weaver
which takes phrases and
allows students to develop
them into stories that she
found were generally longer
than if they had been done at
the student's desks. ,
External technicians'were
hired to he available if
technological problems
resulted and manuals were
developed for thc teachers to
use to adapt the software to
the curriculum.
McCauley said the
constant support teachers had
was one of the reasons for
the s4ccess.
"The technology itself
wasn't getting in the way."
he said.
McCauley said the results.
arc great and he wishes the
technology' could he made
available across the
province, let alone across the
school hoard. '
Hc said the TIPP2
program was a dream come
tru,c of the' Huron Perth
hoard.
But unless there's an
infusion of funding given to
school board for technology.
he said it 'will difficult for
all students to experience the
learning advantages revealed
in the study.
The program was
originally developed by a
steering committee of
educators and members of
the private sector and those
people arc going to he
recalled 'to look at the
recommendations that have
come from the study and
'how to implement them.
• Among • the
recommendations are,
suggestions that more
professional development
take Place to assist teachers
in adapting computer use to
the classroom, the district
circulate examples of how to
use computers effectively.
within a variety of subjects
and that the results of the
TIPP2 program continue to
be tracked.
"The positive to us is that
technology can make a
difference when you link it
to the curriculum,"
McCauley said.
Catholic board's
approach to special ed
already fits legislation
BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
Expositor Staff
Retiring curriculum -
student services
coordinator Connie
Birmingham told the
Huron -Perth Catholic
District School Board on
Nov. 23 that its evolving
approach to special
education already addresses
many changes recently
legislated by the Ontario
government.
Shc reported to the board
that many of these policies
arc in force here right now,
for instance those aimed at
fostering more meaningful
involvement for parents of
"exceptional" students.
"i think our special ed is
the envy of many boards,"
said Birmingham, who has
helped shape policy for the
local hoard hoard since
1984. originally as a
special education advocate
from St. Boniface School at
Zurich.
She said this board has
always taken the approach
that it would do, nothing
with its exceptional
students that their parents
didn't want.
"We've never had an
appeal," she said. "We
came close and learned
from that situation."
Special education
advisory committees must
now meet at least. 10 times
a year, she said, up from
the previous three or four
annually.
Huron -Perth's committee
still has "lots to do" in the
extra meetings, she said.
A new parent's guide is
being developed, among
other changes connected
with the provincial
legislation, to make parents
more fully aware of the
board's programs.
Birmingham officially
retires in January.
Students at St. Patrick's Catholic School in Dublin were
visited by Cactus Anne (Mousseau) of Hensall and her
hind leg -walking goat, Snowball. Student Brendan Bilcke
of Staffa,' who gave the goat to Anne, encourages him to
walk on his hind legs.
An end
to teacher.
bashing
could help
pending
shortage
BY GREGOR CAMPBELL
Expositor Staff
Ontario's government
_should-"'ty{lit hashing
education and teachers.
as' a first step in handling
a looming shortage of
teachers.. 'director of
education Gactan
Blanchette said when the
Huron -Perth Catholic
District Board's_ met in
Dublin Nov. 23:
The growing shortage of
teachers also concerned
trustees at thcir Nov. 9
budget meeting. whcn
Blanchette said the hoard
was already finding
occasional teachers in
short supply.
"The problem has
grown faster than
'anybody •ever expected.
not only in Ontario." he
said.
Blanchette` said the
provincial government
lowering the retirement
factor for teachers by five
years. from 90 to 85 last
year, along with newly
mandated pupil teacher
ratios of 22:1. and
teachers retaining six
classes out of classroom
schedules. are all aspects
of the shortage.
Employee perks offered
by boards'of education
and schools in the United
States to attract Canadian
teachers can also be very
attractive, he noted.
Blanchette said it looks
like qualified teachers are
becoming hardest to find
in technology. business
and mathematics.
"It is a serious concern
for us all," thc education
director added. '
Information from the
Ontario College of
Teachers was circulated
to trustees last week,
indicating "more than
10,000 teachers will
retire in 1998 alone.
compared to 4,650 in
1997."
Applications to
teacher's colleges in this
province are also at a
historic low, according to
this information, with
fewer than 8,000 students
applying in each of the
last two years. That's a
steady decline from a
peak of 20,000 in 1990,
HILGENDORFF PHOTO
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