New projectors offer Lawrence teachers, students a digital experience

During a frog dissection, the skin and muscle is cut away and pinned back layer-by-layer, offering a look at the organs beneath.

But no scalpel is handled, and no frog is hurt.

This dissection is one that can be done digitally, and one of the interactive lessons available to teachers with a SMART projector. As part of the school bond construction Lawrence voters approved in 2013, SMART projectors are being added to classrooms throughout the district, said Joe Smysor, the district’s technology integration specialist. The projectors are currently installed in 104 classrooms.

“The hope is to add interactive projectors to as many classrooms as we can,” Smysor said, noting that they were added at Cordley and Kennedy elementary schools this school year. “We have been replacing the old projectors with the new ones as schools have been renovated.”

About half of the district’s 20 schools have bond construction projects finished, and the remainder will be done by January 2017. Ten classrooms at three schools — Langston Hughes Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary and Liberty Memorial Central Middle School — had projectors installed last spring, Smysor said. The projectors use a sensor that allows teachers and students to manipulate, highlight, write and draw directly on projected objects using a special pen.

Diane McGee, who teaches fourth grade at Langston Hughes, is one of the teachers whose classroom was updated with a SMART projector. McGee said the power is in the accompanying software, SMART notebook, which provides interactive lessons and learning games to use with the projector to engage students.

“There’s a big difference in engagement level between a worksheet versus a game, or even something that resembles a worksheet but is computerized,” McGee said, noting that most curriculum series, be they science, reading or math, now have digital components.

McGee said another benefit is that the software allows teachers to design their own lessons, offering them the ability to tailor lessons to meet the needs of small groups or even individual students.

“If this child needs to work on multiplication and another child needs to work on division, I can put together lessons where they can do that,” McGee said. “We can do the same things with paper and pencils, but our kids are 21st century learners and are highly engaged with the technology.”

The software includes learning games for various subjects, said Jerri Kemble, assistant superintendent of educational programs and technology. Kemble said she thinks having a lesson in a game form is exciting for students, and that helps them learn.

“When kids can earn points, get immediate feedback, work toward a goal — it’s a really powerful tool,” Kemble said.

Teachers with the projectors in their classrooms have found various ways to incorporate them. Nick Martinez, a third-grade teacher at Langston Hughes, likes to use the projector for group work. It offers students a chance to stand and move around instead of being on a computer with one person manipulating the mouse, Martinez explained.

“It’s a nice way to collaborate on something and use the technology in a more physical way,” Martinez said, noting students can use the pen to manipulate projections, with the ability to move them several feet. “It’s a more tactile and collaborative experience.”

Tutorials are available through a program called Atomic Learning, to help teachers learn to work with new technology and software, including SMART notebook, Kemble explained.

“Technology is changing so quickly that no one can keep up and be on the cutting edge, but this gives them a resource so they can step out and try some new things,” Kemble said.