Technological boost Schools seeing results with state's eMINTS

As fourth-grader Robert Myers tried to match a picture of a digital clock with a picture of a face clock displaying the same time, his classmates at Franklin Elementary School chanted "34, 35, 36."

Robert was trying to beat the record time of matching five clocks in less than 38 seconds on the classroom Smart Board. He almost succeeded, ending up just a few seconds over 38.

A Smart Board is a large interactive white board that attaches to a chalkboard. It works like a computer, only instead of using a mouse, students use their fingers to push on an object, like the digital clock, and drag it to where they want it to go, like above the face clock. Once the object is where it needs to be, they simply take their fingers off the board.

The Smart Board is just one piece of technology used by third- and fourth-graders around the state, including Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Mo., as part of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's eMINTS, or enhancing Missouri's Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies, program.

Fourth-grade students at Franklin Elementary School in Cape Girardeau and West Lane Elementary School in Jackson use the eMINTS program, which allows for teachers to have access to a wider variety of lessons and students to complete lessons and research using the Internet.

In February, DESE released results of a statewide analysis of the eMINTS program which showed astounding differences in Missouri Assessment Program test results between third- and fourth-grade children in eMINTS classrooms and the same age children in regular classrooms.

Deborah Sutton, director of instructional technology for DESE, said eMINTS students were compared to non-eMINTS students and also to the state.

"In all cases the eMINTS kids outperformed the other kids," said Sutton. "The eMINTS kids are excited about learning. They're in control of their learning, so they're more engaged in it."

In 400 classrooms

To date, DESE has supplied more than 400 eMINTS classrooms in 125 districts with work desks and chairs, desks with built-in computers, all connections to the Internet, a Smart Board, projector, digital camera, scanner, a laptop computer for the teacher and 175 hours of training over a two-year period for the teachers.

Next year, because of financial stresses in the state budget, DESE will only fund the teacher training and the connectivity, not the equipment costs.

But Sutton says it won't be a stumbling block for expanding the program."We had a committee of principals come in and say 'We can find ways to get the equipment but we need the training,'" she said.

Helen Gibbar, instructional technology coordinator for the Cape Girardeau School District, said the program was initiated at Franklin because that was the only school in the district with only two classes per grade level.

"I know other districts who have three or four classes at the same grade level," she said. "We really lucked out in the sense that we didn't have that hard decision of who gets the classes and who doesn't."

West Lane Elementary wasn't as lucky.

The school has nine fourth-grade classrooms, but because DESE only provides the technology for two classrooms per district seven of the classes are without eMINTS.

"We've had comments to the effect that, yes, there are students who wish they could be in the eMINTS class," principal Stan Syler said. "It's unfortunate with the way the program is set up, but parents can request more than one teacher for their child for the next year, and we try to honor one of those teachers."

Fast-paced and fun

Students who use the program say it's more fun than more traditional learning styles, but it doesn't replace the old way, it just adds to it.

"It seems like if you do it on the computer you're kind of just doing it and you're not learning it," said Franklin fourth-grader Monteal Pearson. "You learn by writing it down. That's why I work out my fractions on paper and then type in the answer on the computer."

Monteal's teacher, Judy Gau, says that exactly what the program is about.

"It's fast-paced and it's fun," Gau said. "But it's just a learning tool like a book or any other tool. The difference is it's so broad reaching and up to date."

Gau said because the computers are so quick, she can cover a lot more material than she could in a regular classroom.

"When you do daily grades the students have one chance to get it right," she said. "Here they get immediate feedback, so they are motivated to go back and fix the mistakes."

And motivation is the key, she says.

"I could have never gotten them to work that long on a math lesson in a regular class," she said, after finishing an hour-and-a-half long lesson on fractions. "They don't care what subject it is, they'll keep going as long as you let them because they're having fun."

Ashley Sexton, a fourth-grader at Franklin, said she loves using computers to learn.

"It's better than books because it's easier to look stuff up," she said. "Instead of having to go through the books you can just type in a word."

Some bugs in system

Ashley said the computers are great, but they aren't without their problems.

"Sometimes it freezes up, and it's really annoying," she said.

Gau said technical problems don't happen often but they can arise at any time, so eMINTS teachers have to be flexible and have backup lesson plans ready every day.

Even with occasional problems, Gau and Julie Antill, the other eMINTS teacher at Franklin, say the program is worth it.

Since the program has only been in Franklin and West Lane elementary schools for a year officials at both schools say they haven't been able to track test results on standardized tests between eMINTS students and regular class students yet.

But that doesn't mean they haven't seen results.

"We're too early in this project to really be able to use any local results," Syler, the principal at West Lane, said. "That will be a focus in the future. It's important to remember while test scores are important there are some things they can't test, like the level of excitement."

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128