San Lorenzo schools embrace eLearning

Fifth-grader Franklin Hu has some practical advice for what to do in an earthquake: "Don't panic. Always protect your neck, because the neck is where most of the nerves are located, and it doesn't have much protection."

Facts such as these, plus statistics and graphics gathered from Internet sites, are incorporated into PowerPoint reports on seismic activity put together by students in Sheila Rutherglen's fourth/fifth-grade combination class at Hesperian Elementary School in San Lorenzo.

In most schools, reports requiring Internet access and PowerPoint might mean that students would have to huddle around one or two computers for group projects - or rush to complete reports while visiting the school's computer lab once or twice a week. But in Rutherglen's class, each student has his or her own laptop computer for use throughout the school day.

"I love the laptops," says Hu. "It's faster and better than writing cursive. It's fun."

Rutherglen's students are participants in "eLearning," a program for students in grades 4-12 that is designed to incorporate technology into all aspects of classroom curriculum. Eight of the district's 16 campuses (two high schools, one middle school and five elementary schools) are eLearning sites, which means students have daily access to laptops, free of charge.

Through wireless access points installed on walls and ceilings at school sites, students can connect to the Web from anywhere on campus - including football fields and playgrounds. In the future, students will be able to access their work via computer from anywhere in the world by logging on to the school's website and using a password.

The eLearning program, in its third year, is partially funded by federal money earmarked for socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Additional equipment and consulting services are made possible through a partnership with Dell Inc. Presently, 3,400 laptops are being used by students in the East Bay district across from San Francisco. Until recently, students were allowed to take the laptops home after school and on weekends, but teachers found that less damage is incurred when the computers stay on campus.

Having state-of-the-art technology - and the training to use it properly - is a high-tech dream come true for members of the San Lorenzo Education Association (SLEA) and their students. "Teachers are very enthusiastic. And student attendance has risen since we started the program," says Kathy Crenshaw, a teacher on special assignment in educational technology.

"I love it and can't even imagine teaching without computers anymore," says Rutherglen. "My students look forward to school and can't wait to get back to working on their projects. They have totally embraced working with technology."

One of her favorite assignments is asking students to plan virtual trips to areas the class is studying. Working within a budget they must not exceed, students go online to research prices for food, lodging and visits to historical sites. They must present trip costs and mileage per day in spreadsheets. Historical sites must be presented in brochure form, with lots of background written by students. A trip diary must be displayed in a PowerPoint slide show with lots of graphics. Such assignments, says Rutherglen, incorporate multiple subjects including mathematics, language arts and social studies - and allow students to be creative.

Project-based learning where technology is a tool for teaching and learning is made possible by training, say San Lorenzo teachers. Instructors

who volunteer for the program receive a 40-hour accelerated training course delivered through the "Intel Teach to the Future Program," sponsored by Intel and Microsoft.

"Teachers who participate in the program learn how to create standards and project-based thematic units of instruction infused with technology," says Crenshaw. In addition, eLearning coaches model lessons, collaborate on lesson plans and observe, support and provide feedback to teachers as they try to use technology to its best advantage in the classroom.

Web-based videos created by the coaches supplement training, and teachers are encouraged to post their own lessons on a website. "It's wonderful to see teachers sharing their lessons with each other," says John Gough, an eLearning coach and the district's webmaster. "That way, others don't have to reinvent the wheel."

San Lorenzo's eLearning schools also have access to a computer media specialist who provides technical support, allowing teachers to focus on curriculum and instruction.

Still, there are "bad computer days" when things don't always go as planned.

When teachers incorporate technology into classroom instruction, it changes everything, says Pam De Carli, who teaches a fourth- and fifth-grade combination class at Corvallis Elementary School. Instead of the teacher always standing at the front of the classroom and lecturing, students get to be in the driver's seat. "Computers tend to 'self-focus' students, which is a good thing because teachers can't always be the song and dance person up there."

De Carli surveys her students, intently working on individual projects related to the U.S. Constitution, and says, "I could disappear or go stand outside and they would still keep working."

High school students tend to be more engaged when using laptop computers rather than books for research because it tends to be more current, says Mike Jones, an eLearning coach who teaches economics at San Lorenzo High School. He directs his students to go online and research the last trading prices for stock at large corporations, research dividends and find out financial information. Soon, he says, they will "buy" stocks and try out investment strategies.

"Laptops make learning more fun for students," says Ryan Taylor, a senior. "I can take notes faster and be much more efficient in doing my work. I think it's helped my grades."

The laptops are even used in music classes. Fourth- and fifth-graders at Hesperian Elementary learn how to read music through a software program, Music Ace I and II. Eventually, students will write their own compositions utilizing the program. Of course, computers can't take the place of actually playing music. For that, they have real instruments and a school band.

Fifth-grader Phillip Manning looks down at his screen in music class, where the image of an elderly man with a thick German accent tells him, "The staff needs a clef." Manning puts the clef in the appropriate place and the little man says, "You are amazing!" and grins.

"It's eye-catching and also appealing to the ear," says music teacher Richard Madrid. "It provides the 'interest element' that keeps students enthralled, and students can work at their own pace. The kids love it, and so do I."