Mathematics Instruction at a Distance
Location: Western Heights Public School District, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Description
The Western Heights School District is a suburban district having a student
population of about 3200. It has four elementary schools, and a high school and
middle school located on the same campus about 300 yards apart.
The district's two-way, interactive videoconferencing system is viewed as a major component of a district-wide, integrated technology system which also includes computers, a data network, a digital video resource library, Internet access, and will eventually include the external and internal telephone system. Industry standards such as H.323 are implemented.
The high school and middle school each have a distance learning classroom. A first-year algebra course is taught from the high school to students from both the high school and middle school. A non-certified adult is present in the middle school classroom as an assistant. The system is planned for course delivery, and to allow teachers to incorporate participation from experts outside the district to enrich course material and to draw on the video library automatically, for both distance education and in regular classes. It will allow students at home or in a nearby hospital to participate in classes because the major external fiber lines will extend to the hospital and homes.
Staff involved in these interviews:
Superintendent Joe Kitchens and Mathematics Teacher Deborah Beeman.
Advice from experience...
Impact on teaching
Beeman, Teacher:
"I also teach in a regular classroom two classes a day and in
this classroom one class. Since we are on the block schedule, each class is one
hour and a half long. Planning for this [distance education] class has taken a
lot of time on a daily basis but the next class also gets that benefit as well.
The extra preparation time that I had for the Algebra One class was something
that was not just a benefit to the high school students and the middle school
students in the videoconferencing situation, but also for students in my other
classes."
Teacher/Student Ratio
Beeman, Teacher:
"This year, we had two Algebra One classes that were in
videoconferencing situation. The class that I had, had 22 in the high school
and 12 at the middle school, a total of 34 students at one time. It does
increase grading things, it does increase some of that paper work kind of
thing. But again, you are reaching more people at the same time."
Classroom Staffing
Beeman, Teacher:
"What is true about our middle school is that some of our math
teachers are not certified to teach at the high school, only certified through
the eighth grade. The video conferencing has provided our district with the
opportunity to offer upper- level classes to eighth grade students---high
school level classes, without jeopardizing the professional staff at either
location. Districts definitely don't save money doing this
videoconferencing, but they increase the benefits for the students. The
equipment is very expensive. Certified teachers are still irreplaceable, but
you need a person to go around and talk to kids. They still are teenagers that
need a figure to talk to. We aren't risking certified positions for this,
we are enhancing them. We still need people to be in those
classrooms."
Costs
Kitchens, Superintendent:"At Western Heights High School we're able to offer high school credit to middle school students through the use of distance learning programs. That allows us to save approximately 50% of a teacher's salary on every distance learning program that we promote and utilize between our high school and our middle school. This is where we gain cost savings. We can't replace the total cost of a teacher through distance learning, but we certainly can recoup as much as 50% of the cost of a teacher. We elect to place an adult monitor in every distance learning classroom that we have so that we can maintain security and that sort of thing, but certainly we are saving a significant amount of money by offering distance learning classrooms every day. We're saving money over 320 systems because we are using 323 applications, we are saving line charges that you would normally see in a 320 situation, and we are saving personnel charges because we are offering distance learning programs. So it is a win-win from both the personnel saving issue and for the students. It is improving our flexibility and allowing students to take instruction at the middle school level from high school teachers. And that will proceed well into higher ed, where we will see concurrent enrollment with high school students in college classes over the IP network."
Classroom Structure and Process
Beeman, Teacher:
"A typical day pretty much starts off hectic like in any other
high school. Things are going crazy, everybody is trying to get where they need
to be, when they need to be there. Walking into this classroom is always
interesting ...kids are waiting at the door.
"Every day we use a graphing calculator and I think that is kind of a neat thing because most Algebra One kids don't get to do that. They're not allowed to have those high-dollar things. We use a graphing calculator in here, and that's just a lot of fun. I figure if they are using this stuff, they can use a calculator, that kind of works for me. They are also a part of greeting the other class, so not only in my regular classes they greet me, in this classroom they greet the other class.
"There has been a lot of back and forth talk, and I do want to say something about that. We have kids that play on the softball team here as freshman, who have played on the softball team at the middle school as eighth graders. They have played together previously, so in the morning they will push their button and ask, for example, if Leslie is there. 'Yeah I'm here, how did you guys do last night?' They share their sports stories before class gets started while I'm doing attendance and things like that and that is always a neat thing that they still care about the middle school students and they [middle-schoolers] care about what is happening up here. It is a real neat experience and a relationship thing that we have kind of built in there.
"We use calculators, we use the computers from time to time, and I do e-mail them some information I want them to look up on the internet or just some information I want them to do or today they need to send me back a quote of the day. They are little things just to get some interest going with the kids and get them to learn how to use the computers. The first part of the year we spent some time [on computer skills], because we do have a lot of kids who do not have a home computer: this is how you turn it on, this is how you log in. As far as homework goes, I have an hour and a half [total class session]. I probably spend about 20 minutes so that they can get a start on it. Some of it has to do with the computer, so those who don't have one need to use that right away. They have access to the computers in the library, too."
Vision and Direction
Kitchens, Superintendent:
"We believe very strongly that IP-based videoconferencing will be
a very important component for us because it will also be driven by the
computer. The computer in the classroom that is serving as a telephone can also
serve as a video transmission device, and through the IP network can be
flexible enough to be in contact with any spot in the world in true video/audio
communication. That interactive capability really has the power to enhance
classroom instruction. We are really enthused about the ability to have our
students involved in interactive cooperative learning experiences with students
from other lands. It's very motivating to students when they can
communicate with students in other schools within the state, out of state and
around the world.
"The great thing about technology and where we are headed is that through video streaming we can have teachers demonstrate learning objectives. Through videoconferencing and distance learning and distributed education we can actually have the ability to interact. Where technology is taking us is that we'll see text, graphics and one way video and simultaneously we will be able to do two way video so that we can support almost all the needs that a student would have. Remarkably, we'll be able to do it not only from one classroom to another, but from our classroom to the home or anywhere else in the world. I think that's a very exciting paradigm because it extends the school from just being a 6 to 8 hour institution to potentially being a 24 hour service institution. Our teachers will be empowered through technology. They won't be replaced, they'll be valued more for what they can do to make the educational experience more productive and extend it and make it more flexible."
Contacts
District Web Site: http://www.westernheights.k12.ok.us
District Phone Number: 405.745-6300