Laptop as textbook
PLATO education program making a differenceBy ANDREA JOHNSON, Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com
Article Photos
WARWICK - Laptop computers, interactive white boards and an unusual use of the online education program PLATO is making a big difference in the learning environment at Warwick Public School.
"They like the idea of being on the computer, rather than (reading from) a textbook," said Kevin Bennefield, a social studies teacher at the school located on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation. Bennefield uses the PLATO program extensively in his classes.
Bennefield said the information onscreen seems to be presented more concisely than in a textbook and kids are more enthusiastic about using the program than being assigned to read 25 pages in a textbook.
Beginning this year, all students in grades 7-12 are issued a personal laptop computer for use during school hours. At the start of one class, a group of eighth-graders collected their laptops from a rolling cart that transports the computers from classroom to classroom and then took their seats.
Bennefield demonstrated how students log in to the program, can read a lesson, and then are presented with a series of study questions that go over the main points of the lesson. If a student gives the wrong answer, the PLATO program will present the correct answer along with a detailed explanation about why it's right. Then the program returns to the original question. Eventually the student should be able to get all of the answers correct. Students are given review quizzes and must get 80 percent of the questions right before they are permitted to go on to the next part of the lesson. Filters have been installed that prevent kids from going to Internet sites they aren't supposed to be looking at during class time. Kids are not allowed to take the laptop computers home, but technology coordinator Janna Jensen said they will likely be used in afterschool programs as the school year gets into full swing.
Superintendent Charles Guthrie said the school district has invested $1.5 million over the next six years into the PLATO program. He credits a progressive, education-minded board for being willing to invest the money into the program, even though he has so far been unable to obtain grant funding for PLATO.
Teachers at the school received training at the beginning of the school year and will continue to take professional development classes in its use. Guthrie said some teachers at the school use the program more than others or in different ways. He doesn't want to dictate exactly how they use it; he still wants them to be innovative. He said the more traditional teaching methods didn't seem to be working for students at Warwick who are, like other teens, adept with technology. He said so far PLATO seems to be doing a better job of holding their interest and attention.
Math teacher Rita Kaeding uses the PLATO program exclusively with her junior high and high school classes. Because the program allows students to work at their own pace and ability level, she can vary the difficulty level depending on where the student is at academically and is also able to give more individual attention to students as they work on the lessons.
"I love it," said Kaeding. One of her students agreed that he prefers using a laptop to reading a textbook and thinks it's easier than the old way.
Charles Fredrickson, curriculum director for the school district, said the PLATO program is academically rigorous and meets all of the state's educational standards. There are a number of course offering offered via PLATO which can help teachers in developing lesson plans for a course.
"It's not going to be just fluff and feathers," said Fredrickson, who oversees how teachers are using the PLATO program in their classrooms.
Other school districts in the state, including Minot Public School District, contract with PLATO for alternative school use or to help students catch up at their own pace when they've failed a required class and need to take it again to stay on track for graduation. The Burdick Job Corps Center makes use of PLATO, said Steve Joyal, curriculum coordinator for Minot Public Schools, and Minot is looking at continuing to use PLATO or a similar service offered by another company. But Warwick is the only school district in the state currently using the program for all 7-12 programming, with hope of boosting academic performance.
It's too soon to say whether the program will help improve standardized test scores at Warwick, which is among the schools on the state's "program improvement" list, but Fredrickson and Guthrie have high hopes.
However, Guthrie said introducing PLATO is only one of the steps the school district has taken this year to improve the environment at the school. Guthrie brought in four new teachers this year from outside the district, including Bennefield, and instituted a new disciplinary policy. The district remodeled the old school gymnasium into a new construction technology classroom. New teacher Wayne Hooey said he's introducing his students to the scroll saw and they are making boards with names on them. The science program was completely revamped and the classroom has been updated. The new science teacher has students doing a lot of experiments. Kids seem to be loving the change, said Guthrie.
Attendance is also up this year, as is enrollment. Guthrie thinks student numbers will probably pick up further as parents hear more about the PLATO program and other changes at Warwick.
Disciplinary problems that were all too common last year have declined dramatically, said Guthrie, who pointed out the quiet, well-disciplined students in a school hallway and noted that last year it would have been utterly chaotic.
"I was ready to pull my hair out last year," said Guthrie.
This year Guthrie was comfortable enough with the new environment at the high school to enroll his own daughter, who had been attending school in New Rockford, at Warwick High School.
