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Computerized learning device put to use in education center
The superintendent said adults had to catch up with the children.
COLUMBIANA — Leaving an assignment on the chalk board is becoming a thing of the past.
Columbiana school officials showcased the new Dixon Early Learning Center on Monday and its new SMART Board.
Schools Superintendent Ron Iarussi said the district is excited about having the new learning device.
The district had to form the learning center in Joshua Dixon Elementary School in order to get a $450,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Education that will pay for the equipment. The funding will run for three years.
The learning center combines kindergarten pupils and, for the first time, preschoolers age 3 to 5.
The school has 85 kindergarten pupils. Seven preschoolers have special needs, and seven others do not.
The SMART Boards are computerized chalk boards.
The teacher can draw or write on the screen with a marker or even a finger. Pupils also will see the information on their own computer terminals.
Ill for a day? Pupils in the computer lab can look up the lessons they missed.
If a teacher wants to change the information on the screen, it will be automatically saved, said Jason Martin, the school’s director of technology.
The teachers can ask pupils a question about a lesson and the pupils can respond electronically.
Those responses, Martin said, will let the teacher, “know right now which of the students are getting it.” He added, “The possibilities are endless.”
With the state’s emphasis on test results, Iarussi said the new equipment will give the district a better handle on how pupils are doing. Teachers, he added, “can come in with a lot more expectations.”
Children today are used to using the Internet and will go to Web sites during classes using the new system. Iarussi said that in a sense, the adults are technologically catching up with the youths.
Columbiana has a long tradition of scholastic excellence.
State Sen. Jason Wilson of Columbiana, D-30th, said of the program, “This is personal to me.”
After becoming the state representative, he said he and his wife, Leah, discussed where they should move in the district.
He said he began to look at Columbiana when he returned to his then home and found a photo of the elementary school, a photo of the Columbiana Public Library across the street from the school and a photo of a house in Columbiana.
His wife is one of the learning center’s directors.
Iarussi said there is a waiting list already for the preschool.
The district has placed a bond issue this fall to build or renovate schools. The superintendent said that some of that money, if the issue is approved, could help add the new technology to the district’s other schools.
wilkinson@vindy.com