By Peggy Aulisio

By Peggy Aulisio


ACUSHNET — A federal grant is bringing Acushnet students into the 21st century, making learning fun while preparing them for the jobs of the future.

Using just some of the new technology last Friday, students in Shane Martin's sixth grade math class were moving words on a screen under column headings. They were using a technology similar to what CNN does with maps when calling elections, although not quite as flashy.

Students in another room were watching a video showing what happens when baking soda is mixed with vinegar.

And in another class, students studying Social Studies were matching Longfellow's poem on Paul Revere's midnight ride to the Revolutionary War events that actually happened. They checked the facts, not by poring through a textbook, but in a virtual museum on the Internet.

Superintendent Stephen Donovan said, "The era of the chalkboard and overhead projector is over. It's more of a 21st century world and the skills that are going to be required for students when they get older are going to be a lot different than the 20th century."

The educational technology used in Acushnet's elementary and middle schools comes from a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Technology director Christopher Oliver said many schools applied for these grants, but while some used it to pay for more teachers, Acushnet used it to buy technology.

Mr. Oliver said he wants the general public to understand the transformation that's happening "because not everyone understands how everything's changing and it's changing very rapidly."

Acushnet bought sound amplification systems, interactive whiteboards, student response devices, document cameras, and even iPads. Except for the iPads, which are being used in a pilot program, the technology is being used in every classroom.

The interactive whiteboards connect to a computer. The teacher projects from the computer's desktop to the board's surface and students and teachers then interact with the content.

"It's easier," said sixth grader Riley Bolarinho when asked how she feels about the new technology. That was after explaining how it works too fast for the Advocate editor to comprehend or write down.

Individual students use handheld clickers to make their responses. This feature helps teachers know instantly if all the students are understanding the lesson.

The sound amplification systems are saving teachers' vocal chords because the teacher gets to wear a small microphone, a remote, not attached to wires. The microphones have a mute button teachers can turn off while talking to individual students. The setup also includes a microphone for students to use while reading aloud, so even soft spoken students may be heard.

Mr. Oliver said the cost in a typical classroom for the sound system including microphones is about $1,100. "We know we're one of a few schools in the area with a voice amplification system," Mr. Oliver said.

Using the neck microphones, which use an infrared technology like remote control, the teacher's voice is distributed evenly, at a normal pitch, "not a loud voice," Mr. Oliver said. "It's about distributing your voice evenly."

Monique Cote', who has taught computers since 1999, said the new sound system has saved her vocal chords. Ms. Cote' said before the new system was in use, she had to undergo vocal therapy.

A fifth grade math teacher, Kelly Flynn, said, "I always lost my voice by this time of year, especially in cold season, because you're always projecting a little louder to get to the back of the classroom."

Acushnet, which has elementary and middle school but no high school, has more than 500 computers between the two schools. Using the grants they purchased ceiling mounted LCD projectors in place of TVs. Using the LCD projectors, the teachers can show movies through the DVD player and anything they want to use from the Internet.

Using the Safari Montage, a video on demand server, they can draw from more than 3,000 educational videos "at the teacher's fingertips," Mr. Oliver said.

Whether in math, history, literature or science, each video has chapters that tie into the state's requirements for learning at that grade level.

"It's all done over a web browser," Mr.Oliver said. "The teachers absolutely love it."

Citing an example of a math lesson, he said, if the students "aren't getting it," the teacher can open an Internet browser and show a video, providing a visual way for students to absorb the lesson.

Showing a video on static electricity as an example, he showed a quiz that went with it that fits in with Massachusetts standards.

"It's done in a fun way," Mr. Oliver said.

Also bought with ARRA funds were document cameras, which are used like overhead projectors, but with more modern technology. The cameras shine down on a document, which then shows up on the white board. They can be used for three dimensional objects, too.

During a tour of classrooms with principals Tim Plante of the elementary school and Christopher Green of the middle school, it became evident pretty quickly how engaged all the students were. When sixth grade math teacher Shane Martin asked who wanted to go up to the white board next and move the answers under the columns, just about every hand in the class shot up.

"It actively engages the students," Mr. Oliver said. "It's not just the teacher up at the black board."

The belief in the value of more engagement by students — instead of a lecture style class — permeates Acushnet school system from the superintendent to the principals to the teaching staff.

Principal Green said, "If you can't do it better with technology, don't," but, he added, "I want active participants, not passive learners."

In the class where Longfellow's poem was being matched against the facts in a virtual museum, the fifth grade social studies teacher, Aimee Shaughnessey, said, "They really like it." She pointed out that Longfellow's poem was written in 1861, "90 years after the ride."

The ARRA grant made it possible to buy a limited number of iPads, which are being used in a pilot program. Last Friday, students in Mike Pacheco's fourth grade class were sharing them while studying triangles.

Mr. Pacheco told the students that triangles are used in bridge construction because of the support they provide.

"Name some famous bridges," he asked.

Golden Gate Bridge came to mind easily but the students had to be prompted to remember the Braga Bridge. The clues were that it begins with B, is on the South Coast and has undergone seemingly endless reconstruction.

Next, Mr. Pacheco showed a video on the use of triangles in the Golden Gate Bridge design in San Francisco.

It was New England Patriots Day last Friday at Acushnet schools and the students were dressed accordingly.

They got a surprise when they turned on their iPads and got a message from Mr. Pacheco. He wrote, "I'm so confident the Patriots are going to win Sunday that if they lose, there will be no spelling homework next week,"

Reading that message caused a ripple of chuckles.

They'll have to do their spelling homework this week because the Patriots won.