Real-life laptop usage to be studied.Ditching ditching,n See ditch. the guessing or anecdotal-story game for hard-core data is what a new two-and-a-half-year study of Deli laptops at the Henrico (Va.) County School District is all about. In the most extensive study of a school/laptop computer program in the U.S., administrators and computer experts hope to find real answers about integrating technology into schools. The study is part of the $18 million, four-year contract between Deli and Henrico to provide laptops for high school students. "This is about how to gather data that is responsive to teacher and student learning needs. Data ought to help with what adjustments we need to make and have an impact on student learning," says Superintendent of Schools Fred Morton Morton, village (1990 pop. 13,799), Tazewell co., central Ill., in a grain-farming and livestock area; inc. 1877. Food is canned, and tractor parts, washing machines, and pottery are manufactured. . "An equal part to this is gathering data that says, from the board's perspective, what difference does it make?" The difference in this study--which will be led by Dale Mann, professor emeritus e·mer·i·tus adj. Retired but retaining an honorary title corresponding to that held immediately before retirement: a professor emeritus. n. pl. at Columbia University Columbia University, mainly in New York City; founded 1754 as King's College by grant of King George II; first college in New York City, fifth oldest in the United States; one of the eight Ivy League institutions. and managing director of Interactive Inc., which specializes in evaluating the outcomes of different learning initiatives--from other studies is that it is beyond self-reporting and will have real data, Morton and Mann say. The study will include looking at server records, such as seeing how much reading and math was done on laptops in a given day, Mann says. Or server records could reveal if a laptop Same as laptop computer. laptop - portable computer is turned on at 7:30 p.m. Firewalls in the program won't allow students into chat rooms or questionable Web sites, so the only reason they'd be on the laptop would be schoolrelated, Mann says. "They're only doing work or talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to each other about homework, or messaging a teacher that they couldn't find a Web site," Mann says. "lf it's lighting up after school hours we know there is a productivity gain." Mann cited a reported statistic statistic, n a value or number that describes a series of quantitative observations or measures; a value calculated from a sample. statistic a numerical value calculated from a number of observations in order to summarize them. that 40 percent of the growth in the gross domestic product of the U.S. in the 1990s was due to productivity gains enabled by technology. "Kids have always had to go to the school to learn, but what if learning can go to the kids," Mann asks. Pop-up surveys to teachers and students will also ask such questions as, is the reading related to Virginia Virginia, state, United States Virginia, state of the south-central United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), North Carolina and Tennessee (S), Kentucky and West Virginia (W), and Maryland and the District of Columbia (N and NE). standards, or is the teacher talking or are you working independently? Researchers from the University of Virginia and Boston College Boston College, main campus at Chestnut Hill, Mass.; coeducational; Jesuit; est. and opened 1863. Actually a university, the school's Chestnut Hill campus comprises colleges of arts and sciences and business administration, the graduate school, and schools of nursing will provide some qualitative and quantitative pieces, such as looking at more direct interaction in classrooms, Morton says. The study could result in clear implications for staff development and "real learning as we continue to grow in the 21st century," Morton says. www.henrico.k12.va.us Question to Ask In what ways would the technology be used in class? What's working? What's not working? What does learning took like for students? Is this tool enhancing student learning? What should be done and how should laptops be used in different content areas like math, science and art? |
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