Students put knowledge of technology on display

BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer

MARLBORO – Members of the Marlboro Board of Education were recently given a lesson on how technology is enhancing the learning process for students.

Ten students from a fourth-grade class at the Frank Defino Central School were on hand with their teachers and principal at the board’s Feb. 19 meeting to show a series of inquiry based science projects that incorporate technology and allow the young people to be active participants.

Aidan Benavides, Nicole Nadler, Sarah Mirza, Samuel Lasker, Devon Doherty, Madison Corman, Madeleine Davis, Daniella Frias, Michael Dorval and one student whose name cannot be published took turns engaging the board members and allowing them to participate in example lessons.

Teacher Sara Hill explained that it is essential to integrate technology into the classroom.

Hill and co-teacher John Acampora lead a demonstration showing the different forms of technology students participate in on a daily basis. The students went through their academic blog (Internet journal) where they can post questions related to class assignments or find an Internet link to videos that help them to visualize classroom lessons, such as a volcanic eruption.

Board members were able to try their hand at the Active-vote, a feature working alongside the Activeboards that have been installed in several classrooms.

A controller is handed to each student, or in this case the board members, and a multiple-choice question is displayed on the board. On the controller are the corresponding letters to the answers on the screen. Once everyone has entered his or her choice a graph can be displayed to show how many people selected each answer.

A slideshow was presented with photographs of the class members testing buoyancy. Students from the class narrated the process of each experiment.

Educational games teaching the adaptations of animals and about friction were also demonstrated that evening.

One mother who was present told the board members she has seen both of her children become more involved since these technologies have entered the classroom. It is great to see that kind of enthusiasm, she told the board members.

Acampora explained that some aspects displayed were made possible by a grant that was provided by the Marlboro Educational Foundation.