Knox Co. students get new technology in the classroom

Knox Co. students get new technology in the classroom

By ERICA ESTEP
6 News Anchor/Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Since students are exposed to more technology, many schools are struggling to keep their attention and get them excited about learning.

In response, classrooms are going high tech and educators hope the investment will pay huge dividends.

"We have a computer. My mom has a laptop and I have an iPOD Shuffle," says Northwest Middle School seventh grader Myia Beeler. 

"When they come out of the womb, pretty much, with a cell phone in their hand, it is really hard for them to come into a setting where there is no technology at all," Assistant Principal Beth Blevins explains.

This year, Northwest Middle School received a pile of high tech equipment including iPODs, NEOs and digital cameras.

"They're eager to come to class," Blevins says. "They can't wait to get into the classroom to learn."

Inside a seventh grade science class, students are using a computerized response system to practice test taking skills and review material. They use a handheld clicker to enter their answers. 

The teacher can see immediate results. "They get on-the-spot knowledge of whether kids are getting this information or not so that she can do re-teaching or remediation or acceleration as a response to that immediate feedback," Blevins explains.

Down the hall in a social studies class, students are taking notes using a writing tool called a NEO, which the teacher can quickly review on her own computer.

In a language arts class, lessons are delivered on an iPOD at a student's own pace. Teachers say the students often show them the ins and outs of the new technology. 

The students say they're often reminded of how times have changed. 

"My dad's always talking to me about those stories like that. He'll always say, 'Well back when I was a kid, we used to just have black chalk boards and then we'd shake out the erasers,'" Myia Beeler recalls.

Long gone are the days of the blackboard. Students now have access to interactive Smart Boards. Seventh grader Demasha Jones says, "It's much easier than just like notebook paper."

Seventh grade math teacher Charles Pusser says kids are much more interested in the lessons. "They are much more engaged. They're so used to PlayStations and technology themselves and they're so good at computers. When they're exposed to technology, it's natural for them to pick it up very quickly."

Teachers hope the high tech teaching will translate into students who are better prepared for high school and beyond.

Northwest Middle is a Title One school, which makes it eligible for federal funding for technology.The school is characterized as high growth, but lower achievement.

Educators say now the students will be better able to compete with others.