Laptop Pilot Evaluation

May, 2000

Examples of Technology Integration:

Sandy Washburn - Family and Consumer Studies
Increased access to technology has allowed me to develop some exciting activities that provide opportunities for students to deal with real-life problems and audiences outside of the classroom. For example, three of my classes are just finishing a nutrition project where the students act as nutrition counselors for adults. They interview the adults and establish food histories. They then use the Food Processor (a Nutrition Analysis Program) to develop printouts of the information. They study the printouts and write up explanations of the printouts for their "clients". We then take all of the printouts (forty-four total) for the class to statistically analyze. Each student chooses one nutrient to study. That student creates a frequency distribution and calculates a mean for all of the class printouts using an AppleWorks spreadsheet. They then research the nutrients and write short articles about the nutrient, incorporating the mean from the class study into the article. Students share articles to create a newsletter using the AppleWorks Newsletter assistant. After grading, the student gives his/her "client" the entire project (with a note from me reminding the client that this is student work, not a professional evaluation!). The project is quite lengthy, but provides opportunities for students to enhance their understanding of nutrition, broaden their computer skills and practice their writing skills.

Nancy Gold - Science
This year the Accelerated Physics team implemented a technology design component to our course. Students designed a computer simulation to match physics problems they had written. The problems increased in complexity and incorporated the previous topics covered. Without access to the computer program at night and weekends, I would not have been able to resolve problems the students were facing. The culmination of the semester included a very complex problem as part of their final exam, something students would not have been able to tackle without the project throughout first semester. The project would not have been possible without having access to the computer program outside of the normal school day.

Paul Mazzuca - Social Studies
I have two examples that I would like to submit. The first example would be in the area of professional growth. I have taken two on-line courses this year. Throughout the courses, not only did I have to complete the work on-line, but I also shared my responses with other students around the country in the course chat room.

Another area that supports my "transformation" level status is the fact I use my web page weekly to update my assignments for the students, counselors, parents, etc. to check weekly. I also post pictures and my students have valuable history links they go to when doing assignments.

If it was not for the laptop program, I would not have the access to efficiently update my web page every week. It would also be more difficult to take on-line classes because of the lack of access to higher powered computers in the white building. Because of the program, students are also able to do more computer generated work and send them to me via e-mail. I am mainly referring to computer generated presentations that the students do. I hope this helps.

Amy Dohler - Social Studies Teacher
After participating in the PowerRanger pilot program, I have begun implementing technology in my classroom in the following ways:
  1. I have begun using PowerPoint instruction in my classes for lectures, visuals, etc. (For example, I created a slideshow of artwork from the Byzantine Empire to introduce the unit to my World History classes. The students inferred information about the civilization from these visuals, then toured a museum web site on Byzantine artwork to learn about the civilization and evaluated the accuracy of their inferences.)
  2. I have instructed my students (and colleagues) in PowerPoint skills and begun assessing student knowledge using PowerPoint slideshows for several units.
  3. I have created a web page that links students to several important history web sites and to my unit guides and assignment sheets. I hope this summer to begin putting slideshows and classroom lessons/readings on this site as well.
  4. I have also created cooperative classroom exams using the computer in a few cases.


Margaret Plank - Foreign Language
The laptop has improved my ability to link a classroom here with a classroom in Germany in the following ways:
  1. The teacher of the German class and I regularly e-mail each other to make lesson plans.
  2. The students have sent photos of each other through the other teacher's and my e-mail.
  3. There has been no need to censor any of the mail, but I could because it is sent to me and I have a chance to read it first.
  4. Students submit their e-mail messages first to me as an assignment. I can e-mail it back to them with corrections on the same day.
  5. Students working on their e-mail in the evening have e-mailed me to get an immediate response.
It is also easier to make future plans, too:
  1. We are investigating how to put a video clip of each other's school on a web site to make it easier to exchange basic information.
  2. We have planned a possible video conference for next year.


Robert Lyons - Social Studies
In answer to your question on the adaptation or transformation phase of the assessment, I would first state that the technology available through the school has significantly enhanced student learning. For example, I use PowerPoint presentations to introduce both my American Revolution unit and my WWII unit. In addition, students are required to use both internet skills and PowerPoint presentations in their own presentations. Specifically, students create PowerPoint presentations for their music presentations and must integrate computer technology in their human dimension presentations which I use as my alternate assessment tool. In reference to my laptop, I use it in class and hook it to the projector for my PowerPoint presentations. In addition, when we do our human dimension presentations, I am able to offer the students additional sites that they can use to compliment their work because I have already done my research at home. Lastly, students can e-mail me and keep me informed about their progress and ask for suggestions on a particular project.

Soo Kim - ESL
Having the laptop gave me a greater opportunity to explore and expand in knowledge and experience on the computer at school and at home. I was (and still am) quite overwhelmed by all the resources available through the laptop (and other technology), but through this pilot program, I was able to have a starting point.

I received training in PowerPoint this year, and currently I am taking the on-line class on HyperStudio. With the training, I have incorporated technology to present materials to students and expanded classroom activities. (There are 10 iMacs in my classroom). I have also shared my work with others in the office. That's it!

Sean Carney - Business Education
There are several ways that I practice higher levels of computing skills, but the skill which directly relates to the laptop would be the creation of presentations outside of the classroom. There were a dozen presentations I made for my graduate school class and Future Business Leaders of America which I would not have done without the use of my laptop. During the state leadership conference for FBLA, I was in charge of taking pictures and preparing a slide show. Using the digital camera from Stevenson, my students took pictures at the conference. Then at night, the students transferred all the picture files onto my laptop. The next morning we used a program which presented the pictures in a slide show to an audience of one thousand people.

Furthermore, I also was asked to take minutes at the FBLA Board meeting. I whipped out my laptop, took minutes, and then promptly e-mailed the minutes to all pertinent parties.

Michael Reimer - Science
The adaptation or transformation of the PowerBook for me has been as a time management usage. I take the train to and from Lake Villa and I utilize my time with the PowerBook.

I enter grades for students, prepare assignment sheets, read articles downloaded from the internet, and modify or prepare word processed items. It has been a great tool for me and an excellent use of my time.

In the future, I would like to incorporate the PowerBook more in the classroom. It is difficult, however, to find the time to learn how to utilize the different ways to enhance the classroom and bring more technology into the curriculum.

Thank you for the opportunity to be a PowerRanger. The PowerBook is a wonderful tool.

Don Carmichael - Science
The software that I am using now that I would not have used had I not been a PowerRanger includes: Adobe Photoshop, PowerPoint, Stella, and HyperStudio.

I have asked my students to regularly write presentations to deliver content and to use presentation software to present research results. I used AppleWorks before I had access to this machine. AppleWorks was sufficient but has numerous limitations. I did not have PowerPoint or HyperStudio on my classroom computer and when students submitted projects with these programs the memory on the classroom machine was too low to support the documents. Now that I have this machine, I am able to show any presentation on any platform. Because my students were using programs that I was unfamiliar with, I learned to use them. I can now author presentations (for the delivery of content) on a variety of software.

Further, I have used Adobe Photoshop to digitize assessments that have pictures and graphs. Instead of using a diagram from some book, I can actually take a digital photograph of a lab set up from my classroom and create test or quiz items about its function.

Phil Raffaelli - Health Education
Since the start of the PowerRangers laptop program, I feel I have improved in all areas in relation to the use of technology in my classroom. I have spent many hours at home on the laptop working to improve my skills on the computer. If I did not have the laptop, I don't think I would have put the time in. I feel it has really helped improve my instruction in the classroom. In health education, we are basically teaching without a text book. Through the use of the internet, PowerPoint presentations, and e-mail, I have provided my students with the most up to date information in our area of study. I have used much of the new equipment available to us to enhance the learning experience of my students. I have taken two classes (PowerPoint and Web Page) that I probably would not have if it was not for this program. Also, it seems that I have become a resource person for the other health teachers in this program. Because of the PowerRangers program, our health team has made great strides in collaboration. After my experience with the laptop, I would buy my own if the school did not continue this program. That is how strongly I feel about how it has helped me in the classroom this year.

Dave Wilms - Science
In the A.P. Environmental Science Course, we have used the technology to develop student presentations, prepare classroom presentations for daily lectures and activities, and access on-line information for discussions and handouts.

I am now currently able to access information on-line, download information, and use sites to enhance classroom discussions and handouts. Having access to the laptop has given me the computer power to run, download, and work between several applications simultaneously. Without the newer technology, the more powerful computer, and the flexibility of working with several programs, many of the items and presentations that were generated this year would not have happened.

Also, the speed, power, flexibility (including the ability to work using a battery on the fly) and efficiency of the laptop has contributed to inspiration for my evolving as a teacher. This is also a very valuable benefit of the program.

Thomas J. Loew - Health Education
My computer knowledge was zero before receiving training from Stevenson staff development. Now I can do nearly anything as a PowerRanger.

My greatest example is in the fact that I have helped put the Health Education curriculum almost virtually on-line (http://www4.district125.k12.il.us/health/health/homework.html). This is transformative because it brings the curriculum into the student’s home or wherever the student is. This helps students who were ill/absent on a particular lesson see the slide-show lesson and current assignments and projects from the comfort of their own homes or anywhere else in the school with Internet access. Students use these on-line resources to prepare for tests/quizzes and even review for CPR skill competencies by viewing movies of the skills! Now that I am more proficient, I am better able to help students create very polished, professional presentations. In addition to using the technology to reinforce the health education concepts, I have been using it to help students learn how to do research, collaborate and present information in a professional manner. These skills will help them in their advanced studies and future vocations.

Jason Stacy - Social Studies
I feel most proficient in the use of the laptop (and technology in general) in both student-centered and teacher-centered work. Specifically, I use the laptop to research information/pictures for PowerPoint presentations in my A.P.U.S. history course. These presentations are then presented via my laptop. Also, I often use the computers in my classroom to allow students to research particular subjects in teams and present a product based on this research to the class. Finally, I use the laptop for communication between parents, students and me. I have a few students whose parents ask for weekly updates and I send these home via e-mail.

Christina Holler - Science
It was truly difficult to name only one thing, but overall I would have to say that PowerPoint in the classroom has been the most effective use of technology throughout the year. This is true on three levels:
Myself: As a teacher, I have used PowerPoint in the traditional classroom setting. I have found this to be the best and most convenient way to present information in the classroom. I have taken advantage of the html conversion of PowerPoint and now post "lectures", notes, or activities on my homepage so that absent students or those who would like to review the information again can do so during study hall or at home.

Students: I invested just a few days’ time to teach all of my students how to do PowerPoint. They have had the opportunity several times to use this in my class as part of a "student as the teacher" projects. As part of SAIL, these students have also used it in history and English. It has improved their research skills, their public speaking abilities, and enhanced their organizational skills for the planning of long term projects.

Coworkers: I probably have contributed more to my fellow teachers this year than ever before. Many of the PowerPoint activities I have created I have placed in a shared folder and other teachers have used this in its exact form or slightly edited. I believe I have encouraged those teachers who probably wouldn't have used the technology to try, and, like Mikey, they liked it! These same teachers are now creating other activities/projects which I will have the opportunity to use.

Gregory M. Sherwin - Social Studies
Between my laptop and the team-taught course I'm involved in, my experience, and more importantly, my students’ interaction, technology has been greatly enhanced.

As a teacher of U.S. history, I have made the History Fair an important component of the course. Students must become historians, researching primary and secondary sources to create an in-depth final product.

In the past, students have chosen this final project to be a research paper or a exhibit on poster board. This year, with the help of my laptop and Christina Holler, another laptop participant who I team-teach with, the students conducted research via the internet. More importantly, over eighty percent of the final projects designed were PowerPoint presentations on the computer. These students honed their skills by learning the basics in science class as I taught them how to conduct research. After finishing a general slide show for science, the students were ready to mesh their knowledge of effective research with the knowledge of the PowerPoint program. Throughout the project, Christina and I would support students along the way. Computer lab time was given for students to self-direct their projects, and parents were informed of the depth of the assignment.

I believe the students’ projects were greatly enhanced because of my laptop. None of the classroom computers have this program. Students gained valuable knowledge, which should stay with them throughout the years.

Gina Graham - Health Education
During our disease unit in health class, I had the students do a PowerPoint presentation on a family disease. The project began with the students talking to their parents to get family hospitalization/death histories. Once they can identify the top three diseases, they are able to choose a project from that list. After identifying the disease or condition, they must use the internet for research. They must answer the following questions:
Dan Larsen - Social Studies
Many moons ago, you foretold of a school in which powerful slates would transform the one room school house to a global classroom. Boy, were you right.

Professionally speaking, an Advanced Placement cadre of teachers, of which I am a part, frequently interchanges frustrations, ideas, and challenges. Apart from these conversations occurring on-line, they often involve solutions which require and necessitate the availability of technology. Chalk ONE up for the laptops.

From the clients' perspective, although my students grow weary of another "technology-based project," the laptop has allowed me to thoughtfully prepare and assist students in numerous activities. Right now I have students searching the globe for living Watergate personalities. Today I have government students playing around with the latest Federal data bases. A.P. students are finding precious review materials on-line, and student recommendations are being passed electronically.

So as you see, wise counsel, the laptops have transformed life in our village. Only time will tell before the laptop replaces you. I would like to think that at least one person will be needed to turn them on. Could that be me?

Patrick O'Donnell - Social Studies
I have every student do an alternative assessment using technology. During first semester, the project is a group project (computer slide shows, 35mm slide and sound shows, or documentary video tape). Second semester the project is individual. Several students have taken their first semester projects outside the school and competed in the Chicago Metro History Fair. I feel some of these projects may go on to state and maybe even national. All my students have to demonstrate computer literacy that includes word processing, slide show, internet access and e-mail. My web page has had 5100 hits since I posted the site in late January of 1999. The students have made using the web site an essential part of their class work.

Doug Koski - Communication Arts
Because of the laptop program, I have been able to communicate with parents and students outside of class on a regular basis. I teach the SAIL program and that is a very hands-on, time consuming program. The kids are weak in many areas and need quite a bit of attention. I do two things to help my kids because of the PowerRangers program.

1, I maintain better contact with the parents. Not only do I have the ability to e-mail on a regular basis, but I can do it from home. I post the students’ assignments on a web site, and because every one of my students has access to the web, parents or students can access the homework calendar from the convenience from their homes. This is a great help to sick students or families on vacation. Also, parents can easily verify whether or not their children "really have homework or not" on any particular night.

2. Many of my students have difficulty comprehending the homework. During our Shakespeare unit, many students visited a classroom chat room where I tutored students about the nightly reading. As many as twenty-four students can log into this chat room and ask each other questions about the work. This is an invaluable tutoring experience that would not occur without the laptop program. I am available for at least two hours a week on line at home for the tutoring convenience of my students.

By using the laptop program, I am able to communicate with parents and students on a regular basis regarding questions, homework assignments, and individual or group tutoring.

Sheila McGrath - Science
As crazy as it may seem, it is often easier for me to reach Richard Paronarius, Shinobu Kikuchi, and Kanako Nozu in Tokyo, as well as Greg Wilmot in Australia, then it is to reach a physics teacher in other the building. (With no phone in the cave, we need walkie talkies.) These individuals, along with myself, are coordinators of the AT&T Virtual Classroom Contest. I know these individuals are near e-mail during their work day (which is late in the evenings or early in the mornings for me), and we communicate through dozens of e-mails during the day (or night). I receive all their e-mail related to the contest, as they receive all my e-mail related to the contest, so we can all respond to any teacher participating in the contest. It is an amazing collaborative effort. During the contest, I could receive over one hundred e-mails during a single day. I knew everyone was checking their e-mail, and I could follow the events of the day (or night). At times, I felt more in tune with these individuals than the people around me, because my only means of communication is through e-mail correspondence with them.

I do not think this will make full sense to someone unless he/she experiences it. It really is an amazing means of communication and collaboration.

Larry Scalzitti - Mathematics
In Advanced Algebra this year, our team of six teachers collaborated on an internet driven project. We had the students investigate the power of compounding interest, first with paper and pencil formulas (with the text as a reference). Then we introduced a very powerful resident program on the TI-83 graphing calculator to add some "real life" applications. After that, we developed an internet project where the students had to investigate auto and home costs and the loans necessary to purchase both. As a final piece, we had the students go home and teach the whole project idea to their parents: theory, calculator, and internet investigation. The project was conducted over a two week period and included two full days in the computer lab, at least two days exploring the power of the calculator and another few days going over the basic concepts involved in the project. There was also a period of assimilation prior to the students’ efforts to pass all of this knowledge along to the parents.

Without the opportunity to "have laptop, will travel", it would have been extremely difficult to prepare this project and even more difficult to communicate without it. Teaching is a demanding profession and being able to have an accessible tool at my side, whether in the classroom, the dining room, the office, at home, or anywhere in between, has allowed me to create and record as often as every free minute I can find.

This is not an isolated incident, as I can relate even more stories where the ability to do online research (to gather valuable data or find a good site to include in a project) and the requirement to actively communicate with my peers and students made the difference between just a good idea or a good implemented plan.

I cannot say enough positive things about the laptop project. It has made my life as a teacher much more enjoyable.

Craig Sincora - Health Education
The use of the laptop has forced me (even though I do not feel completely comfortable) to try new techniques in the classroom. For example, Tom Loew and Phil Raffaelli have made some fantastic slideshow and PowerPoint presentations that have become integral parts of our Health Education program. We have had to learn how to hook everything up to the overhead projector through the VCR so this can be used in the classroom. John Martin invested in remote units that give us the freedom to walk about the classroom and still change slides without any problems. I have been especially appreciative to all who have taken me a step further in my knowledge of technology.

Steve Wood - Science
One of the things that I was able to do this year was to create PowerPoint presentations. I did not know how to use this software for a computer slide show prior to this year. Having the software on the laptop computer allowed me to experiment with the program at home, helping me learn the program significantly faster than if I were restricted to my "spare time" at school. Further, without the ability to do the work at home, I may never have taken the initiative to use this software.

I constructed presentations that I used for my biology class lectures. In the presentations, I was able to include not only text, but also pictures and movies that I found on the internet. By assimilating a variety of sources of information and types of media, I was able to streamline my lecture and presentation materials into one location. I found that the students enjoyed the presentations and were interested to see what would appear on the screen next.

In the future, I plan to have my students use PowerPoint to give presentations to their classmates. Without personal knowledge and expertise of the program, I would not have felt comfortable doing this. I am looking forward to having the "portable computer classroom" of laptops available. They will greatly assist in the incorporation of this goal. I also think that I will be getting a projection system in my room next year, which will greatly enhance my ability and desire to use the technology. The students often have difficulty in seeing the images when they are projected on a TV monitor.

I was able to share the process of creating PowerPoint presentations with my peers, as well as showing them the presentations that I had constructed. I think that other teachers were surprised at how easy it is to construct the presentations and how appealing they can be.

The greatest benefit that I have found in having the PowerBook is the convenience of having one computer that contains all of my files. I realize that the purpose of the laptop pilot is not to simply save teachers time. However, by saving time and making more efficient use of the computer, it has allowed me to complete more work in less time and explore new teaching ideas that I may not have otherwise had. I think that making the laptops available to teachers that feel they would use them would make our faculty more efficient in their everyday teaching lives. A natural outgrowth of the familiarity and comfort with using the computer will be increased use and application of technology.

Sandra Wright - Social Studies
This laptop has allowed me to use technology not only in improving my skills as a teacher, but also my students’ skills. I was approached by the Foundation for the Teaching of Economics to see if I wanted to be a test candidate and program evaluator for their new on-line learning course designed to help improve economics education. I have been enrolled in this course since January and will be finishing in May. I will hopefully be a part of the group of teachers who are involved with the presentation set up by FTE prior to the National Council of Social Studies Annual Conference. During this course, I have had to use the laptop to complete weekly course assignments. These involve a great deal of work that I complete over two or three days. I have to watch videos on real time, enter discussion groups, e-mail assignments, visit bulletin boards etc. Each assignment has an internet component where I have to use the internet to gather information and design lesson plans. Through the discussion groups, I have received all sorts of feedback and new ideas to use in the classroom. Thanks to the laptop, I have designed four different internet activities to be used by my economics students and I am constantly searching web sites for economic data. I would not have had the time or hardware to complete this class if I would not have had the laptop. I work on this course both at school and at home and it is great to be able to have everything in one spot. I have been able to store all the simulations, lesson plans, internet sites, etc. on my laptop so that I can play with them to help find a best fit for my students.

Sandi Millman - Mentor Teacher
The laptop has made me a better instructor this year. I could stay in constant contact with my students and parents at all hours of the day, including the times when my husband was in the hospital. I was able, by e-mail, to help students with their homework and solve behavior problems.

The PowerPoint program that I learned was a valuable tool for my values clarification part of the Mentor Program. The students prepare a PowerPoint presentation that helps them identify their emotions that get in the way of being successful students, and are currently developing a unit to help them problem solve.

The laptop allowed me to work alongside my students to help them with slide shows and I could check their work from the server.

Finally, I am aware now of the need to explore areas of assistive technology to help all students learn. Special Education, 504, and "at-risk" students can find success with the right tools.

Eric Twadell - Social Studies
Sam - As you know, my use of the laptop has been primarily in the performance of my new role as Director of Social Studies. In this role, the laptop has been invaluable to the day to day operations of my job. I have been able to perform a wide variety of tasks quickly and efficiently. For example, I have been able to communicate via e-mail to the department on a number of issues that would have otherwise needed to be done through "snail mail" or during team meeting times. The laptop has made my ability to communicate with various people in the department and in the school much more efficient. Additionally, I have also been able to use the laptop to work on school projects (i.e. observations, summatives, reports, etc.) at times when the use of a desktop was inappropriate or impossible. The portability of the computer has enabled me to do significant amounts of work at home, and while at places where the use of a computer was limited (i.e. while traveling, etc.).

Cheryl Kessler - Math
The laptop has been incredible this year. It's hard to imagine that I taught for five years without it! One of the greatest advantages for me has been the opportunity to e-mail parents at any time during the day. I am able to have my e-mail open all day which gives me the chance to send messages even while I'm eating lunch. In the past, I would not be able to sit in front of a computer while getting other things done. I have also used e-mail to be in touch with individuals about the GIVE program. I have contacted newspapers, parents, organizations, feeder schools and people here at Stevenson (Sue Penrod for the Daily Bulletin, Jim Conrey for the Minuteman, Chris Franken, Charlene Willingham and Jackie Coleman).

The laptop has also allowed me to create slideshows for my classes with greater ease. I am able to work on my materials for class outside of school at any time. I am able to carry the laptop with me on vacation and get a great deal accomplished without being tied down to the computers here.

John Bolger - Social Studies
The area that I have felt most comfortable with has been the section on "using the computer to communicate in new ways". I spend an incredible amount of time e-mailing former students and parents, probably close to seven to eight hours per week. This is both good and bad, but ultimately it is the one area that has greatly increased my ability to perform as a teacher at Stevenson.

Todd Sikora - Math
Graph-link: Being able to "paste" screens from TI graphing calculators has brought my teaching, tests, and worksheets into the 21st century. There are no more hand drawn graphs, and it allows me to create better non-calculator parts to a test. (i.e. ask more interpretive questions given a calculator screen). It has also allowed me to create more powerful PowerPoint presentations.

PowerPoint presentations: I was able to give three PowerPoint presentations (one of which was for Tim Kanold in Kansas City). These presentations added so much more to my "normal talk". I was able to outline my talk and use graphics from the TI calculator as well as images from the internet. (I attached two of the power point presentations which you can either use or trash!)

Jennifer E.Tierney - Health Education
Bottom line, every teacher should have a laptop. This is coming from someone two years new to Stevenson who had little experience with computers. With the help of colleagues, CHARLENE and her classes, and trial and error, I have learned a lot. I wasn't thrilled about being in the pilot program because of my computer skill level. Now, I am so happy I have a computer that is solely mine to use whenever. I can bring it anywhere and get work done. Everything on it is my work and I know exactly where everything is. I know I still have a lot to learn in terms of technology and actively bringing it into the classroom learning process, but I believe I am off to a good start.

I would say that my biggest use for my computer in the classroom is presenting slideshows. I just took a PowerPoint class and am going to take advantage of many presentations. Once I become more confident with the program, I will have my kids complete slideshows using the travel and computer labs.
Besides the slideshows, it has been extremely helpful to type up lessons and have them at my fingertips to use or print out assignments. Overheads or filed material tend to get lost or become a pain to fish through each time I am on a different topic. With the laptop it can all be saved in one place.

Technology is here now and will be an even greater part of future education. Teachers will truly benefit from having a laptop. Those who don't feel comfortable with computers will need to learn. Believe me, I have come a long way in computerland. Of course, it doesn't come close to the majority of users, but I will continue to learn.

Andrew Richardson - Math
With regard to the possible enhancement of communication as a result of the laptop, in preparation for the AP exam as a class, the students and I have done the following:
  1. Posed questions in review chat rooms;
  2. Used on-line texts and web sites for sources of problems; and
  3. Allowed me to interface with fellow teachers in the school and throughout the country on trends and possible AP questions.


As you can imagine, these are questions that require timely responses. The laptop has allowed me the freedom and speed to make these an integral part of my lessons.

Victoria Zimmerman - Social Studies
I have used technology a great deal in researching and preparing for the new AP class I will teach next year (AP Human Geography) along with Greg Sherwin. We have used the College Board web site for everything including course outlines, sample test questions, course resources, scheduling and searching for seminars. Finally, I have recently signed up to join the online AP Human Geography discussion group. I anticipate that this will be a helpful resource for every aspect of teaching the course. As far as on-line information, I also subscribe to findlaw which helps me to update myself on Supreme Court activity which is a major part of my American Government course.

By the way, in response to the following, “Use technology to communicate in ways previously not possible”, I have these examples: e-mailing with parents, posting student work on the school web page, involving community members in projects through the Internet, etc. I have had a great deal of parent contact via e-mail this year. It has really helped to facilitate communication with parents. Phone tag can be frustrating for all, as well as inefficient. Many parents have e-mailed me for updates on their children's progress, and it has been much faster and satisfying for all.

Also, Monica Noraian (now at Illinois Weslyan University & Illinois State University) asked several of us to serve as "cyber mentors" to her pre-service teaching students in a social studies methods course. I corresponded with a student on a weekly basis. She had a topic each week to discuss regarding educational issues in general, as well as specific methods and ideas. It was a very interesting experience, which I am planning to do again in the fall.

Lori Polin-Silva - Foreign Language
Petra Sebastián, Rachel Gressel and I designed a sixty page, interactive PowerPoint presentation on the preterite tense in Spanish. It can be used across the curriculum (Spanish 2, 2x, 3, 3x 4, 5x, and AP). We used an LCD projector to present it. We wouldn't have been able to create it or present it without the use of laptops. Lino was gracious enough to let us use his as well.

Lisa Marie Nehring - Math
The laptop has enabled me to expose my students to technology that is used constantly in the business world. My students created a PowerPoint project on Markov Chains and will be doing an internet finance project of the web in a couple of weeks. PowerPoint has become a standard application in the area of presentation software. It is powerful enough to create complex multimedia presentations for business and government agencies. Technology is becoming an integral part of the business world, and giving students the opportunity to learn the technology early on will prepare them more for the future. The laptop gave me an opportunity to work on the project from home and at school. I would not have had access to the program in my office, due to licensing, thus being extremely inhibited from developing technology projects for the classroom. In addition, my students have benefited greatly from the technology projects and are even more prepared for college and the future.

Lindsey Celba - Physical Welfare
I have been able to work on and present slide show presentations in the classroom. I have also been able to access the world wide web with my students to research various topics. My students can view specific sites as we go through the material on each particular unit. I have introduced my students to the various types of technology that is also available to them by exposing them to the slideshow presentations, world wide web, and HyperStudio, as well as other forms of technology. Through my instruction, my students will now get the opportunity to create their own presentations as part of a unit that we discuss in class. The laptop has allowed me to more easily access the learning tools that are available through technology, which in turn allows me to introduce those same learning tools to my students for their own utilization. My students continually benefit from the time that I am allowed to work on class material outside of the classroom due to the convenience of having access to my laptop at all times

Mark Onuscheck - Communication Arts
To be sure, my professional practice has been technologically realigned over the course of the past year. I contribute this shift to my laptop.

While I consider myself a computer novice, I am starting to see practical and methodological applications to my teaching. At first, my use of the laptop was baseline. I enjoyed the convenience of lesson planning and word processing at home. I worked further ahead of schedule, and I spent more time crafting better handouts and activities for my students. I toyed with using the internet in the classroom and I spent more time using the web as a tool for informing my practices and student learning. I’d consider these lower level, beginner efforts.

On other levels, I have started to experiment with creating threaded on-line discussions with students I work with during the evenings. I am only beginning this effort, but already I can see great benefits. In this forum, students respond in written format and all students must respond. (Everyone is heard in this forum space.) Likewise, in a telcollaborative project I worked on with the North Regional Education Lab, I threaded a discussion among teachers to help revise a unit I work on with my English classes. This discussion has helped my unit planning directly.

I’m sure that I will continue to work on sustaining more of these technological efforts.

Tricia Garcia - Communication Arts
I can now quickly locate information on the web to use directly in classroom instruction as well as for professional development. In several of my graduate school classes, we were required to hold group chats on the internet and locate sources, etc. Technology has also helped to collaborate with teachers from other districts.

The speeches I assign in class are now accompanied by a slide show as a visual aid versus posters/pictures. The kids seem to like this much better too.

For a poetry project, part of the assignment was to visually represent a poem and analyze it. Many students chose to create their own web page and share it with the class.

This year, more communication with parents has been via e-mail. This, of course, has added to the work load quite a bit considering that parents want weekly updates on grades, participation, etc. They also usually request a syllabus e-mailed to them. Sometimes, it is difficult to keep up with this.

Elizabeth Sparacino - Social Studies
Obviously the laptop is portable. Portability is key to the seamless integration of technology into the life and practices of a teacher and her students. Before we had the laptops, our access to technology was limited by time and place. Now that we have the freedom to use the technology where we want and when we want, we are beginning to see the possibilities available to us. This year it has been much easier to send weekly e-mail notes to special education teachers and parents in world history to inform them of upcoming assignments. In AP Euro, students are thrilled that their e-mail inquiries are answered almost instantaneously. Teaching AP Euro for the first time, I found the AP Euro on-line discussion group was a valuable resource to compliment the resources made available by my colleagues.

The fact of the matter is that teachers are in the information business and our ability to keep current is dependent upon having access to the best information resources. My laptop is an extension of my brain.

Andy Conneen - Social Studies
The PowerRanger program has been extremely helpful in my ability to integrate technology at a relatively high level. The most useful application has been in the compilation of supplementary articles for my AP Comparative Government course. This course requires constant updating of international news events. The PowerRangers program has allowed me to stay current on the most recent political news in a very efficient manner. Weeks of preparation were previously needed to create these supplementary packets. I am now able to compile these sets of articles in a couple of hours.

Return to the Power Ranger Home Page