KU News Release

KU education project bridges digital divide in 168 classrooms

LAWRENCE — Most elementary school classes require students to do at least one thing: sit and listen. But some Garden City public schools are requiring the opposite — and standardized test scores are higher because of it.

“They’re required not to sit and listen,” said Layne Schiffelbein, a technology facilitator for the district. “Our kids jump in and become an active part of the learning.”

Garden City is one of 65 districts in Kansas to use the Technology Rich Classrooms initiative, operated through the Advanced Learning Technologies and Education Consortia, based at the University of Kansas.

“It’s bringing Kansas kids up to that vision of what our modern classrooms should look like,” said Kari Stubbs, TRC coordinator and an instructor in KU’s School of Education.

TRC provides classrooms with one laptop for every two students, digital cameras, laser jet printers, scanners, projectors and other electronic accessories.

Teachers work with technology facilitators, like Schiffelbein, to train them on how to incorporate the equipment in their lessons. Together, they combine the core curriculum such as reading, writing and math, with those modern resources.

“So, instead of giving (the students) a worksheet and asking them to identify a simile or a metaphor, we let them make their own,” Schiffelbein said. For example, one child used Paint software to draw a scarecrow — his simile was “stiff as a scarecrow.” She said the technology made this lesson more understandable for the fifth-graders who usually struggle with figurative language.

After the tsunami of 2004, students were able to contact a Sri Lankan family and start a pen-pal exchange. The Kansas students eventually sent school supplies to Sri Lanka.

Through that project, the children learned geography, language, reading and writing.

“It was a great way to use technology for its most valuable purpose, which is connecting people from across the globe,” Stubbs said.

Research shows that connecting technology to learning experiences can improve student achievement rates, while decreasing dropout rates and tardiness, she said.

In Garden City schools, third-graders in TRC scored 16 percent higher on the Kansas Reading Assessment than those who were not involved in the program. Fifth-graders scored 6 percent higher compared to students in a traditional classroom setting.

Schiffelbein said the only difference in those classrooms was the technology integration; all other demographics were the same.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, TRC is funded by Title II-D. The federal dollars are distributed through the Kansas Department of Education competitive grant process.

Schools with low reading, math and science test scores are given preference. They must also show a number of students in need, based upon the number of children in the free or reduced lunch program.

The program started in 2003, and 168 elementary classrooms in 64 districts are participating.

Grants last for two years. But, Schiffelbein said, the Garden City district found it so effective at the end of two years, the school board agreed to continue it by allocating more than $44,000 for six classrooms in 2006-07 and $83,200 for 2007-08.

“It’s not just about a piece of equipment for us, we change the way teachers teach,” Schiffelbein said.

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