The integration of technology into instruction at Carterville Grade School (CGS), whose 530 students, ages 8 to 13, attend grades 3–6, has evolved in
four phases:

• deployment of equipment,
• professional development,
• teaching essential computer skills to students, and
• integrating technology into daily instruction.

Deployment of Equipment

In 1996–97, CGS was allotted $50,000 to install a computer lab to be shared with the junior high school in the same physical plant. Instead of installing one lab, however, CGS used volunteers to wire two labs, and saved enough money in labor costs to install 15 computers in the media center and 12 computers in the back of a junior high school class. This resulted in CGS having total access to the lab four days a week.

That same year CGS’s principal, Kelly D. Stewart, coordinated a Net Day Project. A steering committee solicited donations and organized volunteers, mostly retired electrical and telephone workers, to wire the district’s schools for a Local Area Network (LAN) at no expense. The district also received a Goals 2000 grant that allowed it a wireless connection to the state’s T1 line.

All district residents were then invited to a town meeting, in which they shared their hopes for technology for all learners. The meeting provided the foundation of the district’s technology plan and led to the formation of a community-based technology advisory council. The addition of a district technology line item to the budget, the awarding of grant funds, and parent-teacher organization fundraising have resulted in tremendous gains in CGS’s acquisition of technology. Every classroom now has at least one computer; 53 percent of the classrooms have two or more. In addition, a set of 30 AlphaSmart Pro portable keyboards allow all students in a class access to equipment at the same time. Students may also borrow these workstations overnight, affording them the option of working at home as well as at school on projects that involve word processing. CGS also has five scanners, six digital cameras, 14 laptop computers for teachers, a CD-ROM tower, and a projection device. TV viewers allow the classroom TV to serve as a computer monitor, and all classrooms have access to two large-screen TVs for presentations.

Professional Development

Initially, staff development included nine "Trail Blazer" teachers (two per grade level and one special education teacher), who participated in Level I training. This 45-hour course, provided by a company called FutureKids, covers basic computer operations, word processing, operating systems, spreadsheets, databases, graphics, multitasking, desktop publishing, telecommunications, and multimedia presentations. In the training’s culminating activity, the teachers design interdisciplinary units that use technology.

The Trail Blazers attended five days of staff development to focus on areas—such as digital cameras, scanners, and file sharing—about which they wanted to review or learn more.

Teaching Essential Computer Skills to Students

To teach essential computer skills to students, CGS has purchased a FutureKids computer curriculum that uses interdisciplinary real-life settings. Prior to each unit, Trail Blazer teachers receive instruction, then teach their own homeroom and a colleague’s homeroom weekly 50-minute lessons. Two additional rounds of Level I training have been offered in the district, allowing several special education and Title I teachers to be trained and adding one or two teachers per grade to teach the FutureKids curriculum.

After one year of FutureKids classes, students can use software such as MS Word, Excel, Publisher, and PowerPoint, and tools such as multimedia encyclopedias, research software (SIRS and H.W. Wilson), and safe Internet environments (Lightspan and Scholastic Network), making it possible for all teachers to use technology in instruction regularly.

Integrating Technology into Daily Instruction

Carterville’s integration of technology into instruction has been successful in a variety of ways, increasing students’ motivation, the quality and creativity of their work, and teacher collaboration. Students’ enthusiasm for essay writing was kindled, for example, when teachers started requiring students to show an outline and explain their ideas before being given an AlphaSmart Pro for word processing. Instead of responding, "I don’t have any ideas," or "I’ll do mine at home, where my mom can help me," students now rush to the teacher’s desk with outlines in hand because they love to use this technology for writing.

Students’ creativity is evident in the poetry books and PowerPoint presentations they produce by word processing with AlphaSmart Pros, scanning their own illustrations, or pasting clip art or Internet pictures into their publications. As a result, students enjoy the poetry unit more than ever.

CGS students participate in projects via the Internet that were not possible five years ago—sending e-mail to experts all over the world, for example, and corresponding with "key-pals" in Hong Kong. Other on-line projects include:

• Yukon Quest, in which Yukon dogsled race drivers and teams were randomly assigned to students, who tracked their team’s daily progress by reading newspaper articles on the Internet. (Student journals included their feelings about their team’s performance—teams with a sick dog, for example, were forced out of the race—and ideas for improving it. The class later simulated its own race.)
• Gal·pagos Island, in which students took a virtual field trip to the Gal·pagos Islands, where they retraced Charles Darwin’s historic voyage, investigating the modern world’s impact on the islands’ plants and animals. Each day brought new, exciting information as each week they explored a different multidisciplinary theme.

One of the most far-reaching benefits from incorporating technology into instruction has been the phenomenal increase in teacher interaction. Prior to the introduction of the technology program, teachers had been fairly isolated, collaborating only with colleagues at the same grade level. In the initial phase of the technology program, however, Trail Blazers consulted and worked with one another—just to survive teaching essential computer skills for the first time. Teachers now assist each other regularly, using a peer-mentoring model to share skills, ideas, problems, and classroom projects.

Once a Dream, Now a Reality

Five years ago, technology integration at CGS was only a dream. The official reasons why it was not possible to offer its students experiences with technology were many: no space for a lab; no wiring; not enough outlets; teachers are not familiar with computers; no money to pay for wiring, computers, or a technology specialist.

The partnership of the school and the regional office of education, however, along with community volunteerism and support, gave the CGS staff the ingenuity and tenacity it needed to overcome these "roadblocks." Today the dream has become a reality. Carterville Grade School students use technology for learning on a daily basis—and the improvement in student motivation and work is evident.

For more information:

Carterville Grade School

116 School Street

Carterville, IL 62918

Telephone: (618) 985-2456

Fax: (618) 985-2453

Principal: Kelly D. Stewart

Dr. Manul Goins, Superintendent

e-mail: kstewart@c-ville.wilmsn.k12.il.us