CEI recently posed questions to learn more about how Mantua Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia, is integrating technology into its academic programs.  

CEI: Your school is known as a technology school.  Can you tell us about some of the exciting technologies that are being used in your school?

Mantua: We use many different kinds of technology at our school. Here is a list: 

Mantua: One of our first grade teachers is involved in a research project where he uses smart pens with his students to improve their reading and writing skills.

• Recently, our fourth graders created biography boxes that included research, document creation, and QR code generation using Google Apps.

• Every day fifth and sixth graders participate in the production of a live TV show (Good Morning Mantua) that is broadcast through a closed circuit system. The sixth grade anchors write the daily script and read it from a teleprompter. The fifth graders control the cameras, audio, special effects and teleprompter with minimal supervision. 
• In fifth grade, students research cultures as part of a Global Awareness Project in which groups of students make use of Google Apps, Power Point, Photo Story, movie software and other media to formally present their research.  
• Grades 1-6 use Turning Point response systems to engage students in formal and informal assessment of content. During drama productions students learn how to operate lighting and sound boards as part of the production crew.
• This year we are participating in a neuroscience program to improve memory and attention. The program, Activate, was developed by Dr. Bruce Wexler, a neuroscientist from Yale University with whom CEI is collaborating. Activate focuses on developing students' executive functioning skills by working on specific cognitive strategies during computer games and through physical activities in PE.   

Mantua: Fortunately, since we are such a large school system, there is a group of central office technology specialists who look at new technology and determine acceptable apps. The list is dynamic as teachers research apps they think might be useful and submit them to the school system for approval. Teachers implement apps within their classroom instruction that align with specific curriculum or standards and that increase their student's level of engagement.  

Mantua: The list changes each year as teachers attend professional development workshops and learn new applications and new ways to use familiar programs. This year our school is expanding its use of Google Apps for Education in all subject areas to empower students to be more creative and collaborative in their work. We are using the iPads across more grades this year to offer teachers and students a different tool to teach with, learn with, and show what they understand. We are also excited to be using newer versions of video editing and music software to allow our students to be more creative.  

Mantua: We feel that whenever you can teach information using a multimodality, interactive approach you have a much better chance of capturing student interest and engagement. We are in an age where facts and statistics are readily available at our fingertips and can easily be looked up online. Because of this, teachers need to help students to understand the stories behind these facts, which will help build connections and give content meaning.  When technology is used thoughtfully and creatively, it becomes invisible to the student and is simply a tool being used to help them learn and then demonstrate their understanding. (In the picture below, a Mantua student pauses while working on the Activate program.)

Mantua:We know that the ability to provide visual literacy using a multimodality approach makes a difference for many students. It improves understanding of content and increases the possibility of remembering what was taught. We also know that once a student has reached a minimum skill level with keyboarding, students' written output increases when using writing software versus pen and paper. Exposure to a myriad of new technologies provides our students with 21st century skills.  

Mantua: Teachers are only able to thoughtfully integrate technology into their teaching when they feel comfortable with the tool and they see that it increases student engagement and/or improves their teaching. But once a teacher discovers the magic of a particular piece of technology, it is critical that you, as the principal, figure out how to make sure that the teacher will have access to this tool in their classroom, because it is now a part of how they teach. It is also important that they build a community of learners who are early adopters, who then are able and willing to share their knowledge, expertise, and passion with others to extend its use.

It is also helpful to budget with technology in mind throughout the school year, participate in pilots or grants, and keep your eyes open for donations or free equipment/exchanges.