The face of education around the world has changed tremendously since teachers taught reading, writing, and arithmetic to a small group of children in a community schoolhouse.

The Lauderdale County School System has made great strides over the past few years to provide both its students and teachers with cutting-edge technology and introduce new learning practices into the classroom.

Each teacher and certified employee in the system has been provided a laptop computer, with the system continuing to provide the training necessary to allow its educators to rise to the challenge of teaching a digital generation.

Schools in the Lauderdale County district have also been provided with a digital camera, video camera, microscope, and a cart of 15 laptop computers that can be checked out to create instant computer labs in each classroom and provide a hands-on approach to learning.

At Halls Junior High School, social studies teacher John Terry used the school's computer microscope to give his students an up-close view of rare antique coins. "I was just uneasy about passing those (the coins) around the room," said Terry, who projected the enlarged image onto his classroom wall. "It really allowed them to see the detail, without damaging the coins." Terry also joined with HJH math teacher Andrea Gibson to create a real-time link between their classrooms using iCameras, exposing their students to this new form of communication, one that is becoming more commonplace every
day.

At Ripley Elementary School, Librarian Teresa Henderson used her lesson plans to create a Power-Point presentation on the life cycles of butterflies at a recent training session. "I see all the kids. All the classes in our school come to library once a week," said Henderson. "The life cycle of the butterfly is something every student learns for T-Cap, so I'll use this as a review."

Also at Ripley Elementary School, Gina Hendren used the school's new cart of laptops and the county's subscription to WebQuest to take her students on an on-line scavenger hunt that taught them about the Civil War and how to navigate and find information on the Internet.

Many online subscriptions to curriculum-enhancing programs have allowed teachers to incorporate the microscopes, projectors, and video and digital cameras into lesson plans throughout the system, with classroom applications growing as the teachers gain training and become accustomed to the technology.

"The ultimate goal is to use the cameras to connect to other people around
the world," said LCS Technology Coordinator Kate Grammer. "How fun is that? To
know that tomorrow in class, we are not going to open the textbook and write
off our words 50 times, but we are going to talk to a scientist in the
Amazon Jungle."
 

Copyright 2008 Lauderdale County Department of Education
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