From the Summer/Fall 2007 Norwood Magazine

Sixth grade students use tablets to complete a writing assignment.

Innovation in the Classroom 

Nowhere at Norwood is innovation more apparent than in the ways technology is used to enhance teaching methods and to enrich learning experiences. In fact, Norwood has been a recognized leader in the area of educational technology since the Board of Trustees made it a strategic priority in the mid 1990s. Since then, the world has become firmly entrenched in the Information Age and Norwood has kept pace every step of the way with a student-centered approach to educational technology that places the School in a class of its own when it comes to technology innovations in the classroom.

At first glance, one might think the innovations are all about the “cool stuff.” It can’t be denied that Norwood has an enviable array of impressive hardware — laptops, tablets, digital cameras, digital microscopes, scanners, networked projectors, and wireless everything — as well as the most current and results-driven educational software applications available. But the innovations are not so much about the equipment, but how our educators use these technologies to create a more meaningful, motivating, and memorable learning experience. It is about how we empower our faculty with a technology-infused teaching environment that enables cutting-edge instructional capabilities. And Norwood has been leading the field for almost 10 years.

A Decade of Experience

“Norwood has been doing one-on-one computing for students since 1998, giving us nearly a decade of ed tech experience,” explains Head of School Dick Ewing. “We are fully immersed and experienced in using technology to enhance the way we teach and the way students learn. Our technology program has become one of our most valuable strategic assets.”

It has also become a model of success for other area independent schools. It is not uncommon for teachers and tech specialists from schools all over the country to visit Norwood to learn more about how to effectively incorporate technology into all aspects of the curriculum to best support student learning. Norwood technology staff often presents at regional and national conferences. “The word is definitely out that we are doing good things with technology,” says Dick.

Trustee and past parent Gary Greenfield agrees. Gary, who was chair of the Technology Committee during the late 1990s and early 2000s, says, “It is remarkable what has occurred at Norwood. From the ‘let’s taste it’ phase in the early nineties to ‘anytime/anywhere learning’ in the late nineties, Norwood was always at the leading edge. To Dick’s great credit, the educational technology program puts Norwood in a class of its own, creating a truly exceptional learning environment.” Gary notes that the Technology Committee no longer exists “because it would be like having a ‘Pencil Committee.’ It’s all about integration, about being part of the School.”

And that, in turn, is a big plus when it comes to marketing the School. “The fact that technology isn’t just for show, that it is actually used and seen in use is a big admission statement,” says Director of Admission and Enrollment Management Mimi Mulligan. “Many schools have isolated computer labs that are more for show, and they don’t bring technology into the classrooms. Computers are regularly used in Norwood classrooms,plus we have very accessible tech labs that are an integral part of our students’ activities. Prospective parents are very interested in and impressed with our technology program.”

It’s the People Who Count

It all begins in the Technology Department where a team of professionals is dedicated to managing a highly sophisticated infrastructure that supports academic and administrative users of technology both on and off campus. Director of Technology Susan Stadnik and her team make it a priority to provide a seamless integration of technology into the classroom. Their vision for an integrated student- and results-centered technology program has been a driving force behind technology at Norwood since 1997. “We wanted to create an environment in which teachers and students are excited about technology, about how it can make learning more fun and engaging,” Susan explains. “And, I think we have succeeded. Technology has become a powerful means of enhancing teaching and learning at Norwood.” Susan’s leadership and determination have been instrumental in making Norwood’s program one of the most successful in the country.

Demetri Orlando, Norwood’s Educational Technology Specialist from 2000 to June 2007, can claim a good deal of credit for the success of the ed tech program, but is quick to note that Norwood’s success is a community effort. “It’s incredible how this faculty has wholeheartedly embraced the ed tech developments.They are the ones that make it all happen.” Norwood faculty hold regular tablet sharing sessions in which teachers engage in a show-and-tell of sorts, educating each other about the benefits of various technology tools and educational software. According to Demetri, “This decentralization of professional development is empowering to teachers and a great benefit to the School.”

Norwood’s new Educational Technology Coordinator, Sandy Rosenbaum, who recently moved from Nebraska, is excited about the opportunities and challenges at Norwood. “You walk into Norwood and immediately sense what an important part of the School’s culture technology plays, and how it helps create more confident, engaged learners,” she says. “People use mountain climbing as a metaphor for the development of educational technology programs — with a base camp at low altitudes and the occasional adventurer up at the summit. At Norwood, base camp is already way above the clouds!” Long-time Lower School teacher, Nate Gordon, who has recently played an expanded role as peer leader, is a part-time Educational Technology Support Specialist. “I’ve been using technology in my classroom for years, and it was a natural evolution for me to work with my colleagues in a more formal way,” he says. “It’s such a pleasure to work with teachers who are so enthusiastic about the powers of technology.”

The entire technology team — including David Rossell, Administrator of Network Services and Planning; Elena Fournier, Network and Technical Specialist; Chuck Andres, Help Desk and Production Manager; and Dom Perez, Database and Applications Support Specialist — is committed to running a technology program that extends, enriches, and illuminates learning for all Norwood students.

Powering Up the Classroom…and Beyond

Norwood believes that students who have access to powerful technology tools become more efficient, productive, and resourceful learners. Rather than isolating technology use into a separate course of study held in a remote computer lab, technology is designed to go directly into every classroom making it a part of everything we do. A science class, for example, can bring tablets into the field and record data directly. It is not unusual to see a group of sixth grade science students collecting data from various outdoor locations on the Norwood campus and entering the information directly into their tablets.

Norwood technology is also available at home. Students (and parents) rely on Homework Central to check homework assignments. Some math classes access their textbook on a CD or the web, allowing students to function without the necessity of carrying their book everywhere. Students working on research projects are able to search online subscription databases from the library, the classroom, and from home.

The Tablet Advantage

Certainly the most exciting recent advance in educational technology is the tablet computer. Norwood has been piloting the use of tablets among teachers since 2004 with extremely positive results. The 2006–2007 school year marked the beginning of a roll-out of tablets to students, beginning with Sixth Grade. This new channel for teacher-student interactivity demonstrated that tablet computing presents important educational advantages for teaching and learning. Beginning this year, tablets are being used by all sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. What is a tablet computer? A tablet has all the capabilities of a regular laptop computer but with unique hardware and applications that allow the user to write on the screen in order to take notes, sketch, and control the computer. The screen swivels around and locks down on top of the keyboard. Handwritten notes can be stored as-is or can be converted into editable text.

Essentially, the tablet combines the features of a laptop and a three-ring binder. Tablets have clear advantages over laptops:

• Smaller, less obtrusive
• Removes physical barriers of laptop screens
• Allows comfortable use anywhere, anytime
• More natural interaction with screen
• Students feel more connected with their work
• Provides organizational benefits
• Streamlines research and writing process
• Supports multiple learning styles
• Enables powerful projecting
• Promotes collaborative learning
• Teaches effective note-taking
• Converts handwriting to editable text
• Facilitates teacher monitoring of all screens

The Education Transformation

Norwood’s technology resources have transformed the teaching process. Both lower and middle school teachers use technology in a wide variety of ways to enhance and extend learning in all grades and courses, and certainly the tablet PC with its unique capabilities has played a major role in the transformation.

“It’s hard to imagine our Middle School without the technology program. It’s such an integral part of everything we do,” says Middle School Principal Susie Rosenbaum. “Aside from streamlining the communications process, technology has become an incredibly powerful teaching tool, particularly when working with tablets. It’s not just icing on the cake, it’s the magic ingredient that holds the cake together.”

Lower School Principal Armistead Webster feels that tablets and projectors are revolutionizing the way teachers teach. “Teachers no longer need to turn their backs on students to write on black or whiteboards,” he explains. “Instead, they can face their students while writing and, as a result, are able to observe their students’ reactions to what they are teaching.”

Second Grade Homeroom Teacher Andrea Grossman uses a special program called “Audacity” to help beginning readers read with expression. Students practice reading while watching a graph react to the pitch of their voice. “The visual aspect makes a huge difference,” Andrea explains. World Language teachers also use Audacity to reinforce learning.

Middle School Math Teacher Stan Smith uses technology as much as he can. He appreciates having the capability to draw graphs, write equations, and create diagrams free-hand for projection during class, as well as the option to save his notes for later access by students via the web. “Tablets also provide a great way to teach note-taking,” he reports. With the flexibility to write or draw “on the fly,” make use of teacher templates, use multiple pen colors, and move objects around, students often become more comfortable with the process of taking notes, and therefore may do so more frequently. “In general,” Stan concludes, “while new applications may initially seem complex, these are students in the digital age who routinely adapt to new technologies and who understand they may provide significant opportunities to enhance their academic accomplishments.”

Debbie Pakaluk shares that her initial impetus for using the tablet and wireless projector was for sharing data. “In the old days, all of two years ago, I would make a class data table on the board and students would record their data on it and copy it into their notebooks. I then erased the board to get ready for the next class. With the tablet, I simply open a table I made for that particular experiment and students record their data directly onto my projected tablet. I can also easily save the table to share with the classes, and now that all students have tablets, I am able to send it to students who are absent.”

Fellow science teacher Annette Matzner encouraged Debbie to take another step. “She suggested I use the tablet for writing notes instead of putting them on the board,” explains Debbie. “I initially resisted this idea because I didn’t see the advantage, but after some continued encouragement I gave it a try. After one day, I never looked back. Writing notes on the board puts distance between the students and me, but when I’m using the tablet, I can sit among the students and face them. This simple set-up has dramatically changed the climate of the classroom.”

Technology also flourishes in the art rooms. Using tablets, students can create and manipulate digital images easily, naturally, and precisely. “They can use the tablet as they would a sketchbook and create mixed-media compositions incorporating original drawings, photographs, or scanned images,” says Middle School Art Teacher Eneida Somarriba. Drama teacher Virginia Andres enjoys teaching her students how to film short movies, and then cut and edit their shots using Windows MovieMaker.

These are just a few examples of how teachers are empowered with new forms of interactivity provided by the tablet computer. The list keeps growing and Norwood teachers enjoy sharing ideas with each other at tablet sharing sessions.

Supporting Different Learning Styles

Technology-assisted instruction supports differentiated learning styles and allows for a variety of teaching methods. For example, the ability to draw and write notes on a tablet supports and engages visual and kinesthetic learners. When connected to wireless projectors, the tablet becomes an interactive display device, allowing the teacher to write on any image being projected for the class, thus supporting visual learning and encouraging student engagement. Audio capabilities support aural learners.

In addition, students can work as they choose — with digital pen and ink or a keyboard and mouse. Tablets can be particularly helpful to students who are organizationally- challenged. “So much of what we used to put on paper and would have to organize and carry around can now be done on the tablet and stored in one place,” says Learning Specialist Lynda Saelens. “It’s like an electronic three-ring binder and provides one-stop shopping to all notes from all classes.”

Equipping Students with 21st Century Skills Technology allows teachers to bring the world into the classroom. Students need skills to navigate through this labyrinth of information. A priority in Norwood’s technology curriculum is teaching students how to find, decode, evaluate, and organize the vast amount of information available through what has become a global electronic library. According to Dick Ewing, “Information literacy has become a cornerstone of teaching at Norwood. Not only does it facilitate a student’s pursuit of knowledge, but it teaches him or her how to be a smart, ethical, and productive citizen in a digital and networked world.”

“It used to be a challenge to find enough information on a particular topic,” says Sue Gail Spring, Norwood’s Head Librarian. “Now the challenge is not to be overwhelmed by the vast amount of information available online and to learn how to quickly and efficiently identify credible sources.” “But you can’t teach research skills in a vacuum,” she continues. “If the instruction isn’t tied to an actual assignment, it doesn’t stay. I love collaborating with teachers to support what’s going on in the classroom and at the same time teaching overall research skills.” Sue Gail compiles a research tip sheet for each assignment and always checks the research availability of paper topics. “I want our students to feel successful when doing research.” “We have great books in our libraries. We will always have great books. But more and more research is being done online,” Sue Gail explains. Norwood has done its homework and made sure students and their families have access to premiere, award-winning educational databases like Grolier Online, which has won the best educational database award from the American Library Association for the past two years, EBSCO Host,ELibrary Elementary, and Oxford African American Studies Center.

Norwood also subscribes to unitedstreaming, eliminating the need for a collection of videos and movies, providing access to hundreds of teacher-rated video clips, and allowing teachers to assign video clips for homework. Beginning in Lower School, students are taught, in an ageappropriate way, how to efficiently navigate a website. Second graders may learn how to conduct very basic research for their arctic animal project by using EBSCO’s Animals and Grolier’s Amazing Animals of the World, while seventh and eighth graders can handle very detailed and complex research projects, skillfully navigating many online sources. And one of the greatest benefits of having access to these educational databases, says Sue Gail, is that “students no longer have to rush to the library to check out the best books on an assigned topic — everyone has access to the same great information at the same time. It’s a whole new world out there and it’s all sitting right here for our students to use.”

Norwood’s educational technology program and the faculty members who use it deserve much of the credit for turning out graduates who are thinkers and analyzers, and not memorizers of facts and figures. “The skills that students learn through using technology at Norwood are not just technology skills — they’re life skills,” says Susan Stadnik. “The abilities to think critically, solve problems, and collaborate with remote colleagues are all skills that will serve them well when they leave our halls. Norwood graduates move on to high school, college, to their careers and to life in general knowing how to assess, question, and interpret.”

In an arena where many schools are still lagging behind intechnology and its use as an effective learning tool, Norwood has sprinted forward and is enjoying the fruits of its foresight and commitment to enhancing education for both teachers and students alike.

Elena Fournier and Chuck Andres assist students throughout the day.

David Rossell enjoys helping out in the classroom.