by Whitney Merrill
Teacher Deborah Cowden, in classroom C-109. Photos: Whitney Merrill.
In classroom C-109 at Cunha Intermediate School in Half Moon Bay, each of the eight science tables has a stack of textbooks and a laptop on it. As part of the 2010 BookServer and the Digital Classroom project, Deborah Cowden has been using technology in both her science and English language development classes for the past year to transform the way her students learn and how she teaches.
Cowden with books and laptop.
Then the real collaborative work began — working on agreements between the principal, the school information technology organization, parents and students. There were questions about security, access and permission — and questions about how students would use the technology. A sixth-grader heard the news about the new laptops and said, “That is really cool!” Cowden asked, “Why it is so great? We all have laptops at home.” The student replied, “This is the way we do things; this is the way we learn.”
Cowden uses terms coined by Marc Prensky, saying: “These children are called digital natives; they were born into this society with technology. We 20th-century teachers … the best we’ll be are digital immigrants.”
“Technology in the classroom changes my role. I’m a facilitator, they’re the learners,” Cowden says. In her role as facilitator, she builds online courses that students can access in class or at home. This allows for repetition and review at each student’s individual pace — and if students are out sick or on vacation, they can still access the courses. The technology also provides a collaborative environment, with discussion threads and access to the Internet for ongoing research and investigation.
Flip camera.
In science class the students are working on an over-arching question about air pressure through a student-directed project: How does air pressure affect weather? Cowden has student teams collaborating on pieces of the project and pulling research from various sources, including websites — some that she provides and some that the students find on their own. Cowden helps them develop information literacy — finding reliable sources and fact checking what they read. She is also working with Len Erickson and Coastside STEM — Science Techology Engineering and Mathematics — on a robotics class that enables her students to have ongoing access to a professional working in the field.
For their final projects, students produce multimedia presentations using video, PowerPoint presentations and music. Cowden shows me a few and I am amazed at the work being created by eighth-graders; many people working at technology firms in Silicon Valley would be hard pressed to create such a presentation or video in support of their own work.
Cowden's earth science learning objectives.
Cowden says that when students are given the opportunity to learn online, more of them are engaged — and more of them pass tests and complete assignments. In her eighth-grade technology class, the percentage of students successfully completing projects went from 25 percent to 75 percent. “Technology supports student-directed learning and it puts the responsibility of learning into students’ hands,” she says.
Cowden’s wish list for the upcoming year includes continuing the program, and expanding further into multimedia with additional Flip camcorders as well as keyboards and midis. She would also like for all teachers who want to use technology in their classrooms to be able to do so.
Science books and Wi-Fi connected netbook.
Even with all of the emphasis on technology, it is clear that her true passion is for her students and how they are learning. She says, “They’re making connections that I didn’t make until junior year in college. I get thrilled with who they are.”
