Tech Devices Drive Learning In Bentonville Schools

BENTONVILLE -- Thirty teachers learned last week they had been chosen as the latest recipients of the School District's 21st Century Technology grants, giving them each enough laptop computers or iPads for every student in their classes.

The grant program, now in its third year, has put hundreds of electronic devices in students' hands. More than 70 grants have been awarded.

The district pays for most of the devices. The Bentonville Public Schools Foundation also contributes. This week, foundation officials presented a $100,000 check earmarked for the program, enough to provide electronic devices for four classrooms.

Twenty-six technology grants were awarded last week. Four grants went to teams of two teachers each. The rest went to individual teachers. Two grants were made possible because winners of previous grants had been reassigned, so their equipment was rolled back into the technology pool, according to Judy Marquess, director of instruction.

Washington Junior High School teachers received six grants this year, the most of any building in the district.

"We're really excited about it," said Tim Sparacino, Washington's principal.

Each of the grant winners will participate in a weeklong professional development session next month to prepare for the influx of technology in their classrooms.

Examples of what students can do with those electronic devices were on display Thursday during the district's annual Technology Showcase at Fulbright Junior High School.

Teachers and students from across the district manned a few dozen booths showing off some of the projects they've done with technology.

Paulina Gomez and Caitlynn Hart, seventh-graders at Lincoln Junior High School, together completed a project based on the theme of persistence. They created a two-minute digital photo journal using Microsoft Photo Story that included photos and quotes revolving around their theme. The girls showed off their creation on a laptop computer.

Both girls said working with the technology made learning more fun.

"It kept you wanting to learn," Caitlynn said.

Jon Anderson, a fifth-grade social studies teacher at Bright Field Middle School, assigned his students a group project last fall on the American Revolution. Students had to make an argument either for or against the revolt against England.

Their projects included posters with "QR codes" that, when scanned, brought up video presentations by the students.

Anderson was one of last year's 21st Century Technology grant recipients.

"Just watching the students, their engagement has increased tenfold," Anderson said. "Just watching them grow from quarter one to quarter four has been amazing."

Blake Wolff, 11, is one of Anderson's students. The project, which students had a few weeks to complete, taught him collaboration skills and how to better partner with people, he said.

"We had to text each other and make sure everyone was pulling their own weight," Blake said.

In another corner of the room, Lyndsey Randall, Bentonville High School world history teacher, and two of her sophomore students were demonstrating how they use laptops in Randall's classroom for everything from taking notes in class to working on projects together.

"With the laptops, I've been able to shift from a teacher-centered environment to a student-centered environment," Randall said. "It's much less me being the sage on the stage and more of them being learners on their own."