Schools adjust to the touchscreen classroom

EVERETT — Ryan Means' thumbs fly across his touchscreen cell phone, trying to beat his classmates in answering a trigonometry question in pre-calculus.

Fingers, don't fail him now.

The Henry M. Jackson High School junior hits ‘‘send'' moments later. The answer shoots from his cell phone to a free website that teacher Jason Gadek has opened up on a flat-screen computer. The website compiles the students' answers. They are displayed for everyone to see using a ceiling-mounted digital projector.

Ryan's answer pops up, and the teacher looks over it approvingly. In this class, that is how students learn math.

“I'm pretty sure in a couple years this is probably what everyone's going to do,” said Ryan, 17.

Blackboards and erasers? Those are clearly a thing of the past. Computers? Simply commonplace.

Technology's hold on the classroom is continuing to expand at a hectic rate, putting new tools in the hands of students and teachers — even as it poses greater challenges for school operations.


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School administrators across Snohomish County — and the country — say that technology has become a vital part of everyday education. Teachers need to meet students on their level, and also make sure students become comfortable with the type of devices they'll use in the workplace.

“It's not just about standing there and delivering a message,” said Jeanne Willard, curriculum and instructional technology specialist for Everett schools. “It's about getting students engaged.”

Technology also has given rise to new and complex problems.

Many districts are tackling the issue of cyberbullying — harassment that happens via cell phones and social networking sites. The Oak Harbor School District attracted the attention earlier this year of the state American Civil Liberties Union over a proposed plan to search student cell phones.

Districts also have to keep a tight inventory on the expensive gear they put in classrooms. Laptops in Everett schools are kept under lock and key to prevent theft.

New tools can widen the gulf between the haves and have-nots. Low-income households can be stretched thinner as families try to provide up-to-date school supplies, like thumb drives.

Despite those issues, technology's grip on the classroom has tightened, a fact that's clear in the Snohomish School District. Standard-issue items include interactive whiteboards, document cameras and even microphones for teachers.

“Students have changed,” said Eran Gourarie, director of technology for Snohomish schools. “That's what drives what we're doing.”

The interactive whiteboards are particularly popular in his district. They take the place of past generations' blackboards.

The devices work like a giant touchscreen computer. Teachers pull up assignments with the tap of a finger, write notes with a special pen and save all content, either for review sessions or an absent student.

Document cameras improve upon the old classroom projector.

The camera is just that: A small camera that sits a few inches above a flat surface the size of a sheet of paper. Teachers put whatever they want below the camera, and the object is relayed to a digital projector. One use for the device: Teachers put books below the camera, so their students can follow along.

The district also provides many teachers with handheld gadgets called “clickers.” A teacher hands out the devices to an entire class. Then, the teacher poses a multiple-choice question. Students click an answer, and the teacher sees the compiled results. If they see lots of wrong answers, the teacher knows they need to spend more time on a problem.

Teachers in Snohomish also wear teardrop microphones, projecting their voices through ceiling-mounted Panasonic speakers.

A speaker system may sound like a novel upgrade, and perhaps unnecessary. Research suggests otherwise, said Steve Kerr, an associate dean for academic programs in the College of Education at the University of Washington.

Sound systems help students who are having trouble hearing their teacher due to a disability, a soft-spoken educator or a noisy classroom. The sound systems also help students with attention problems hold their focus, Kerr said.

“It's one of those (advances) that isn't at all in the realm of traditional computers or whiteboards, and yet it's something that can have a pretty dramatic effect,” he said.


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None of these upgrades are free. Snohomish's sound systems run about $1,300 per classroom. Maintaining technology also is pricey. Replacing at once all the light bulbs in Snohomish's digital projectors and document cameras would cost about $100,000, Gourarie said.

Paying for the gear has been a challenge since the mid-1990s, when the U.S. Department of Education told districts across the country they needed to create technology plans for their classrooms.

In those early years, districts nationwide devoted about 2 percent of their overall budget to technology, said John Musso, executive director of the Association of School Business Officials International.

That amount has ballooned. It's now closer to 12 percent of the entire budget, Musso said.

“Technology is a way of life now,” he said. “It's how we do business. It's just a tool that we use that we don't even think about not having.”

Covering those costs is tough. Federal and state funding has been scarce for years, and grants don't provide a steady source of money.

“Districts have two options,” said Dennis Small, educational technology director for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. “Divert funds that might be used for other things to help support technology, or, as a fair number of districts have done, have a bond or levy.”

Most go for the second option. In Snohomish, for example, the district uses a slice of money from a $261 million bond voters approved in 2008.

Levies and bonds aren't a sure thing. Look at what happened in the Monroe School District.

The district hoped to raise $3.6 million over the course of four years to spend on technology. The money would have paid for more computers, interactive whiteboards and document cameras.

Voters last week rejected the plan by a margin of about 20 percent. The district's budget review committee will need to look at ways to cope with the loss.

“We'll have to do the best we can,” Superintendent Ken Hoover said. “Sometimes it's about juggling resources.”


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Everett has been luckier than Monroe. Voters have regularly approved the district's technology requests since 1992. In February, they signed off on a six-year levy that will raise $8 million a year to pay for both building maintenance and technology.

That money will benefit Jason Gadek's math classes at Jackson High.

Gadek tries to reach students on their level. He puts up quotes on his board from the comedian Mitch Hedberg, and, yes, uses technology whenever possible.

He had to take his plan for cell phone use before the high school's administrators for approval. He recalled his pitch with a smile.

“If you hear Mr. Gadek's class is using cell phones in its class, it's true,” he told his supervisors. “But just know that I'm using it for an educational purpose, and my intentions are good.”

Virtually all of his students have cell phones; the ones that don't can share with a classmate.

Like with the clickers in Snohomish, the cell phones help him tell instantly if his entire class understands a concept. He lets them use their cell phones a few times each semester.

They wouldn't have it any other way.

“We're used to texting all the time,” sophomore Jackie Becker said. “Instead of just sitting their staring at a piece of paper, you can do something you're more comfortable with.”



Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455; arathbun@heraldnet.com