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Schools' tool: video games
Sterling Elementary showcases growing trend in Southeast Georgia
By Teresa Stepzinski, The Times-Union
STERLING - Reading, writing and arithmetic are going high-tech in Glynn County and neighboring school systems as educators turn to video game-like systems to engage students in learning.
Sterling Elementary School in northern Glynn County showcased its 21st Century Classroom program featuring state-of-the-art education technology Wednesday to about 20 school officials, including principals, teachers, technology coordinators and Board of Education members from Glynn, Camden, Bryan and Wayne counties.
Sterling, the newest school, is the only one in the Glynn school system fully equipped with the multi-faceted education technology, said Lucy Long, Glynn's director of instructional technology.
The other nine elementary schools have some but not all of the technology program. The long-term goal is to implement the technology in all the district's schools, Long said.
"Sterling has all the technology now, and all our new construction schools will have it too," she said. "We're hoping to convince the school board to make this a priority."
Schools throughout Georgia are turning to the technology to help students learn, Long said.
Many students are already technology-savvy through video and computer games, she said.
"We're trying to show the value of equipping each classroom like this. It's as essential as white boards, chalk and pencils," Long said.
However, chalk may break, but it never breaks down.
A few minor, high-pitched, screeching audio glitches hampered education technology company representatives as they set up the demonstration. But once the bugs were worked out, the company reps put through their paces an interactive white board, a tablet personal computer and a clipboard-like radio frequency pad to control displays on the white board.
They also showed how the Dance Dance Revolution music video game could be adapted for educational purposes.
Georgia school systems already using some of the technology include Glynn, Brantley, Bryan, Savannah-Chatham, Cobb and Gwinnett, said Danielle Grossman, an account executive with Computrac Interactive Solutions of Ball Ground, which sold the system to the districts.
The technology isn't cheap.
It costs about $4,000 to $5,000 per classroom to install the 21st Century system from scratch, Long estimated.
The cost is about $3,000 per classroom if a portion of the system is already in place, she said.
Glynn is paying for its system with federal funds designated for schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families, Long said.
Money to install the system in the middle or high schools will have to come from somewhere else, she said.
Glynn County school board members Lance Turpin, Ray Snow and Ruby Robinson attended the demonstration.
The district needs to keep pace with technology, but must also must ensure it enhances learning, Turpin told the Times-Union after the presentation.
"My opinion is, roll it out to the other schools as fast as we can depending on the funding availability and if the technology results in students' academic improvement," Turpin said.
Because not all schools qualify for the federal funding used to equip Sterling and other elementary schools, Turpin said school system administrators must find other ways to pay for the technology.
The school board is beginning the budget process. As part of the process, it's asking administrators for a technology assessment, he said
teresa.stepzinski@jacksonville. com,(912) 264-0405
story credit: The Florida Times-Union at http://www.jacksonville.com/
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