Schools embrace technology as teaching tool
The debate surrounding kids and screen time goes on, but in one east side Vancouver elementary school, technology is changing everything from show and tell to taking attendance.
In a Grade 3 class at Collingwood Neighbourhood School, student Delfina Hillar moves large coins around a smart board using a paint brush to show that she and her classmates know how to make change for 48 cents.
A smart board is like an iPad the size of a big-screen TV; it’s the chalk board of 2014.
In fact, at Collingwood, there are no chalk boards, no chalk, none of those felty erasers or dust. Every classroom has a smart board that allows learning to be completely infused with technology, said Liz Hayes-Brown, vice-principal of this east side elementary annex that is home to students in Kindergarten through Grade 3.
Every day, Mrs. Dean’s Grade 3 class starts with a student presentation, similar to Delfina’s. The students gather around while one student adds the date to the smart board. Then, the student talks about the number of the day. On the day The Vancouver Sun is visiting, the number is 48.
Forty-eight is a good number for a math demonstration — because it is an even number and divisible by so many other numbers: 2, 4,6, 8, 12, 24. Delfina, who came to Canada a year ago from Argentina and spoke very little English at that time, leads the demonstration like a pro.
She asks the students how a person can count to 48. The first student says by twos. As the students count by twos, Delfina highlights the numbers on the board. Once she’s done, the students
Technology enhances and augments great teaching, but it isn’t a substitute for great teaching. LIZ HAYES-BROWN VICE-PRINCIPAL, COLLINGWOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD SCHOOL
quickly say, you can count by 24s. They were able to figure that out because 24 numbers lit up while they counted by twos.
This counting goes on until all of the numbers that go into 48 have been accounted for. But this demonstration, which is really a lesson in the multiplication tables, shows how technology can make learning deeper. Long ago, students might have recited their times tables out loud, eventually memorizing them by rote. They would probably use question sheets over and over to master the facts.
Today, they might still do math drills. But the visual, interactive lesson with the smart board allows them to visualize the concept of the times tables and practice the skills without even realizing what they’re doing.
The group session includes presentation skills, verbal skills, social skills and immediate feedback. Delfina gets an incredulous look on her face when she hears a wrong answer, and it is quickly corrected by others who count their way to the next multiple.
On paper, this would not be possible; with technology it is seamless.
Collingwood school is unusual in Vancouver in that it has a smart board in every classroom. A longterm fundraising campaign made the technology purchase possible, said Hayes-Brown, adding that each classroom also has a document camera, which is kind of like a modern-day overhead projector.
In another classroom — a Grade 1 and 2 combined class — the document camera is used to make it easier for the class to see one student’s show and tell item, which is a homemade lion. The lion is placed under the camera, which enlarges it and makes it easy and clear for all of the students to see it at once and ask questions.
The same student then makes a pattern on the smart board by moving large winter-themed icons into a frame. The class has to figure out what item comes next in the pattern — again they’re learning a math skill, probably without even noticing.
The school also has an iPad cart, which is filled with enough iPads for a classroom set. The cart was purchased by the Vancouver school board. Hayes-Brown said every special needs student at the school has their own iPad, and that the iPads have been useful for storytelling, verbal skills and helping students who struggle with reading.
“Technology enhances and augments great teaching, but it isn’t a substitute for great teaching,” Hayes-Brown said.