Logging on to learn
Douglas
, Lusk schools pilot online math, science program
By RENA DELBRIDGE
Star-Tribune correspondent
“Mr. Gamble! I got a 91!” one student
exclaimed.
DOUGLAS -- Two Wyoming high schools are
among the first in the nation to test an online
learning program
designed in England to increase
standardized test scores.
Teachers at the Douglas and Lusk schools say
teens are embracing the computer-based
delivery, are improving in their regular classes
logging in outside of school hours.
and are even
It’s too soon to say if the program is increasing
scores on the
state’s Proficiency Assessment for
Wyoming Students exam, administered each year
in April. The Web-based
SAM Learning program uses a
series of modules covering different topics in
several subjects.
Students must read simply
stated questions and select answers. They use a
mouse pad to click and drag the answer into the
question. Research by the company indicates
who log 10 hours on SAM Learning
that students
can realize a 4 to 5 percent increase on
test scores.
standardized
The program
is used in about 60 percent of
English high schools and in about 1,000 primary
schools, U.S.
consultant and former Guernsey
school administrator Bruce Heimbuck said.
Heimbuck said a California alternative high
school is also a pilot, and he’s recruiting schools
in Florida and Washington, D.C.
U.S. pilot sites including Douglas and Niobrara
County high schools are keeping track of student
hours and will evaluate the program’s success
after the next round of PAWS testing. At the
same time, they’re communicating with the
company ways to tailor the program to meet
needs in the United States.
In place since October at Douglas High School,
SAM Learning is helping students
After a few groans, his students settled into the
routine, clicking and dragging answers to
problems, pausing as needed to consult a
calculator or scribble a few notations on a dryerase board at their desks.
“Good job,” Gamble encouraged.
That instant feedback keeps students motivated
and encourages initiative, he said. And, the
online format -- almost like a video game, with
the clicking and dragging -- is just what these
students like.
“I see kids nowadays kind of needing more
powerful things,” Gamble said. “They’re more
video-oriented. They always need something to
kind of trip a trigger. That’s how kids are wired - they want entertainment.”
SAM Learning offers that, engaging students and
allowing them to set an individual pace.
“If you want to reach and grab them, you’ve got
to give a little to their technique,” Gamble said.
“This is doing that.”
cement the basics in math, Principal John Weigel said. Every
student is enrolled in the online math system. Teachers are
using the program in regular classrooms and in special
intervention circles, a daily 20-minute period set aside for
math
Instant feedback
As the fourth-hour bell rang at Douglas High, students filtered
into math teacher Wes Gamble’s classroom. Depositing bags
and coats at their desks, they headed straight for a cabinet
packed with laptops. Booting up the systems, they logged onto
SAM Learning, only to find their scores for the unit had been
wiped out.
Gamble did this on purpose. Students can bring their averages
up by repeating the online modules. This time, he wanted a
real score of 80 percent or better -- no averaging the passing
with the failing.
'Working like crazy'
So far, 110 of 128 sophomores are using SAM
Learning, averaging 10.5 hours each online. In
all, the math department has logged 2,033
students hours, which Weigel hopes will boost
PAWS results after the test is administered in
April. The main target is students who didn’t
quite earn a “proficient” rating on the PAWS test
as sophomores -- and those are the students who
benefit most from the intervention circles.
“We don’t want to teach to a test, but we do
want to maximize students’ potential,” said
Gamble, who has taken the lead on
implementing SAM Learning.
He added that the intervention circles allow
teens to focus intently on one subject every day. “We’re finding if the kids can sit down and just work,
they’re putting in the hours. They’re working like crazy -they’re doing a lot more than we ever expected,” he
said.
Most surprising to teachers is that students are logging on
outside of school, racking up hours on the program. That
could be in part due to incentives. Teens who complete a
set number of online modules with an 80 percent or
better score can use that work to replace a poor
homework grade. Incentives go so far as exemptions from
semester final exams.
A new generation
While Douglas is testing the program for math, Niobrara
County High School in Lusk is using it to improve science
skills.
Principal Joe Tully said every student in a science class is
now enrolled online. He hopes the results will identify
gaps in achievement where teachers can adapt
curriculum.
“It shows us our strengths, and it shows us our
weaknesses,” he said. “We’re confident it will prepare us
with some things like the PAWS test, and the ACT test.”
Science instructor Virginia Wright uses SAM Learning as a
pretest, for review and for exams. Students are presented
with concepts in a nontraditional format, online, which
seems to be the missing link between instruction and
comprehension.
“It’s a very powerful instrumental program for raising
scores and initiative,” Wright said. “I can see changes in
class.”
Gamble agreed the program is a great way to span the
gap between traditional teaching methods and a new
generation of students.
"The way we teach kids is in a structured environment,
and kids aren't used to a structured environment,” he
said. “We have to adapt our style of teaching to do that,
and technology is one way. If we’re open and willing to
keep the foundation things, but to integrate them
another way, the way kids think now, we can reach a lot
of kids.”