KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES: WQITH

Computers today go hand-in-hand with time-honored teaching methods. Business teacher Kathy Hecht passed out test results last week to students in the business computer lab. Jackson USA Signal/ Mark Evans

Rob Goyette (left), director of technology in the R-2 district, looked over one of the 25 Internet-ready laptop computers obtained in a grant written by agriculture teacher David Wells (right). Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

Black belts and greenhouses might not appear to have much in common with computer technology at first glance. Both, however, play a roll in the Jackson R-2 School District's move to reach state-of-the-art technological status.

Rob Goyette, head of technology for the R-2 District, is training 21 "black belts" to deal with problems that arise throughout the district. These black belts, though, will be working staff and students through computer and Internet problems, rather than breaking boards or heads.

While a greenhouse might seem just as unlikely to be connected to the growth in computer technology, the new R-2 greenhouse is being made possible to a large degree by that technology.

The 30-by-60-foot greenhouse, currently under construction next to the agriculture building, is part of a 75-25 percent $196,500 vocational enhancement grant written by agriculture teacher David Wells. The grant includes 25 Internet-accessible laptop computers.

The grant, which Goyette called "very important," is on the cutting edge of today's technology. A new software program will allow students to photograph new homes with a digital camera and plug any of thousands of ferns, shrubs, trees or other landscaping items into the image. The home owner will be able to see how the yard would look in five or seven years and how various locations and sizes of trees would affect shading on the house.

"We took a survey in the community and among business owners and there was a need for students to have computer skills and hands-on horticulture experience," Wells said. Being able to point out that 133 new single-family homes were built in the city litmus of Jackson last year helped sway the grant reviewers.

Being cordless, the portables may even be used in the greenhouse itself, to figure proliferation tables and germination stages. The laptops came with self-charging cabinets, which help insure against low batteries.

Jackson continues to wade deeper into the information age throughout the district. The passage of the $6 million bond issue for R.O. Hawkins Junior High will help alleviate some computer inadequacies at that school.

Currently Junior High librarian Larry Elledge must make do with four computers, while Dreda McElrath at the high school has 30 in hers.

"We've come a long way," McElrath said. "We're now automated. We used to have three computers, total. There's still more I'd like to see us do."

Students may now check out library books with the mere swipe of their student ID card, which doubles as their lunch card. This is similar to most universities today. The library computers have programs like ProQuest, a master index, and Surge, a newspaper index. World history and other software programs are also on various computers in the library.

"We try to keep the programs very similar to the junior high," McElrath said.

The district has about 750 computers, about 650 of which are available to the 4,500 or so students. This is a 6.9-to-1 student-to computer ratio. The ratio of students to the 500 Internet-ready computers is 9-1. While these figures do not yet match state averages, they continue to improve dramatically. (See table.) Just three years ago Jackson badly lagged behind state averages, with a 20-1 student-computer ratio, compared to the state mark of 7-1 and a 127-1 ratio of students per computer station connected to the Intent. The state average was 24-1.

Category 1997 1998 1999 2000

Students-to-computers 20-1 (7-1) 12.5-1 (6.4-1) 8.1-1 (4.8-1)

6.9-1

Students per Int conn comp 127-1 (24-1) 48.6-1 (13.5-1) 14.9-1 (8.6-1)

9-1

"We've come a long way in the past five or six years," said Goyette, in his first year in Jackson, "mostly thanks to grants. We've made a lot of progress but we still have a long way to go."

Currently six of the 10 schools are linked by fiber optic cable.

Millersville, Gordonville and North and South elementaries are not linked.

The schools is working with Charter Communications to try to work out an arrangement to use some of the company's fiber optic cable that runs through the R-2 district.

Other goals include having all 10 schools connected so that file sharing and fast Internet are available to all students and faculty. Hubs are being replaced with much faster switches, meanwhile, an improvement that should help procure more grants in the future.

Goyette and the district are careful to keep things in perspective.

One thing the district is doing to boost this idea is implementing technology into the curriculum more and more. Excel and other programs are available for moth, Powerpoint for speech, Microsoft Word and other writing programs for English.

"That's something exciting to me," Goyette said.

Of course the faculty members have to be comfortable with the new technology or it to fly. Therefore staff training is important. The weekly black belt sessions is part of this. These 21 individuals will handle all but the most baffling computer-related problems. When the situation warrants, Goyette will step in. In addition Goyette is getting ready to offer a weekly training session for any staff or faculty member. He will be working with them on topics like e-mail, Microsoft programs, projectors and the Smart Board.

The Smart Board is becoming more and more common in the classroom, replacing the traditional chalk board. A computer screen can be shown on a large screen for an entire class to see. The teacher (or a student) can press icons on the screen as if he or she were pressing the keys on the computer. That way each student can see exactly what steps are involved.

The high school has five computer labs. Becky Riney teaches business courses in the largest lab, which has 34 student stations. Classes include desktop publishing, advanced computer application, multimedia and Internet/web page design. It is used all even hours.

Debra Hoffman teaches in another business lab, with 18 computers. Like many, then came from a 50/50 state vocational grant. Classes taught include business technology, business management and record keeping. Among new classes being considered is one on business and Internet ethics.

A keyboarding lab has 28 stations and is used by various classes. These 28 are not yet networked. Goyette listed getting them networked with the school's other computers and getting a new laser printer for the lab as high priorities.

A math/science lab, meanwhile, has 30 stations and a Smart Board. (Actually, "Smart Board" is a brand name. The R-2 district uses a competing brand called the "Team Board.") Goyette said training is forthcoming for teachers to learn the ins and outs of the innovative projection system.

In a locked room behind the math/science lab is the hub of the computer operation. The Novell server and two fire walls are locked in a protective case in the former storage area.

Grant money has made much of the growth possible. E-mints is a grant that has shoots for raising scoring on achievement tests by lowering the student-computer ratio to 2-1. E-rate offers discounts on equipment and telephone service to schools. A TLCF grant will increase staff use of e-mail and will help teachers retrieve test scores. The KIDS Communication Project will see students publish their own magazine, using "Dreamwriters." Other grants have been obtained in the past to get Dreamwriters, laptop computers for the enhancement of writing skills. In fact, middle school English teacher Ellen Luekens has received state-wide recognition for her writing program using the laptops.

This, of course, is the whole idea.

"We don't want to acquire technology for technology's sake," Goyette said, "but for teaching kids and enhancing communication. We're trying to focus on just purchasing technology for the sake of purchasing technology. We want the end result to be improved test scores and communication ability."