County Parents Experience Digital Tech In Classrooms
Posted: January 21, 2016
By ERIN FLYNN
HARRISONBURG — Parents in Rockingham County experienced how many middle school and high school students are learning to use technology in the classroom during an event Wednesday at Elkton Middle School.
The forum aimed to illustrate “how learning is being transformed,” according to Larry Shifflett, director of innovation and learning for Rockingham County Public Schools.
Wednesday’s event was part of the division’s Digital Conversion Initiative, a five-year program that began in middle schools in fall 2014 and was expanded in high schools last fall.
The initiative, which aims to provide each student with an electronic device, is expected to cost up to $6.5 million.
By ERIN FLYNN
HARRISONBURG — Parents in Rockingham County experienced how many middle school and high school students are learning to use technology in the classroom during an event Wednesday at Elkton Middle School.
The forum aimed to illustrate “how learning is being transformed,” according to Larry Shifflett, director of innovation and learning for Rockingham County Public Schools.
Wednesday’s event was part of the division’s Digital Conversion Initiative, a five-year program that began in middle schools in fall 2014 and was expanded in high schools last fall.
The initiative, which aims to provide each student with an electronic device, is expected to cost up to $6.5 million.
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Interactive Sessions
At the forum, teachers from East Rockingham High and Elkton Middle schools led five sessions that rotated every 15 minutes. Parents could pick three sessions to participate in. The sessions covered various topics, including middle school music, middle school science, middle school history, high school science and high school math. Kley Todd, a band and choir teacher at Elkton Middle, taught the music session, which allowed parents to use Auxy, a music creation application, on Apple iPads. Todd said the technology allows him to teach complicated topics, such as chord structures, in a simple way. He emphasized that the technology isn’t meant to serve as a “stand in” for instruments, but rather to enhance the music-making experience. Reaching Out To Students
According to Oskar Scheikl, the division’s director of information management, devices are being tested in 19 classrooms in middle and high schools throughout the county, reaching nearly 3,000 students. “One of the things we’ve noticed is the amount of creativity that students are using with this technology,” Shifflett said. In April, Scheikl said, officials will decide which device to use divisionwide once feedback is received from students and teachers. The division is testing three devices: iPads, Macbook Airs and Google Chromebooks. The devices will be rolled out at the middle school level first, halfway through the 2016-17 academic year. Contact Erin Flynn at 574-6293 or eflynn@dnronline.com Reposted with permission.
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