Dist. 75 teachers get a technological boost

While students in Mundelein Elementary District 75 enjoy the last days of summer vacation, their teachers have been in the classroom getting schooled for a technological revolution.

And when kids in the four-school district report to class Tuesday, they'll find educational opportunities have been kicked up a few notches.

"It's very exciting. I can't wait to try it out in the classroom and get the kids involved," said Julie Silverberg, who teaches kindergarten at Washington School.

Silverberg estimates she spent about 24 hours in various training sessions since June 15 - the day after school let out.

Teachers have been attending technology boot camps to learn how to use interactive white boards and personal laptop computers for daily learning.

"It's basically using our same curriculum, just teaching it in a different way," Silverberg said. "It's right at their level, colorful - it's perfect for them."

Through a variety of grants and other sources, District 75 was able to buy 370 MacBook laptops and software, 84 interactive white boards (one for each classroom), 57 LCD projectors and other equipment and supplies.

This burst of technology has provided a welcome and exciting diversion to last spring's budget cuts of about $860,000 that resulted in 13 teachers being released and another 10 having their time reduced.

"Even though the purse strings have been tightened, their commitment hasn't changed," said Susan Miller, the district's director of teaching and learning. "It is a big learning curve for teachers, but they've been here signing up for everything."

Every teacher (about 150) will receive a laptop to power the white boards and create digital lessons, among other uses. Laptops will be available for entire classrooms instead of having students go to a separate lab.

"Our students have had access to computers, but not as good of computers and not in a mobile setting," Miller said. In January, the district will unveil an internal website and an improved public website.

The goal of the improvements is to more personally involve students in the learning process, rather than listening to a talking head at the front of the room.

"They can just come up (to the whiteboard) and move things around," Silverberg said. "It will help them to read and write."

With the new technology, students will be able to access textbooks online, collaborate on videos and research or provide instant answers to a quiz via text, for example.

"This is a much bigger endeavor and change in terms of the ability to precisely interact with students and engage them in activities," said school board president Wells Frice. "There is a reasonable amount of evidence that says if students are engaged more, they'll learn more."