'Everything else is boring'
eMINTS program helps make learning fun
With buildings hundreds of miles apart, schools in the Australian outback must bridge the distance through technology.
An Australian education official is combing the globe, searching for the right system. Last week, her travels brought her to the Francis Howell School District where she toured schools utilizing the eMINTS program."The technology is just the tool. The pedagogy of teaching is paramount. It is very rare, the approach this district has taken toward professional development for its staff," said Carole McDiarmid, western regional director for the New South Wales Department of Education and Training.
At Fairmount Elementary, McDiarmid toured third-grade classes taught by Melissa Kirchoff and Katie Nikodem. She witnessed children using computers to research lesson topics, then discussing their findings.
"We promote inquiry-based learning," Kirchoff said. "We base research and study on students' questions and use technology as a tool to find the answers."
Jacob Harrison, 9, said he used the computer for math, spelling and reading. While McDiarmid watched, he researched emperor penguins and the water cycle of evaporation and precipitation.
In Nikodem's class, 8-year-olds Alyssa Jones and Marissa Kaufman said they have more fun using computers than any other activity.
"Last year we did not have computers and it was boring. Now its very fun," Alyssa said.
"Everything else is boring," Marissa said. "Like playing on the playground. It gets boring."
The eMINTS program trains educators to implement an instructional model emphasizing technology and student research. Its name is an acronym for "enhancing Missouri's Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies." The program began in 1999 at the University of Missouri-Columbia, then spread to Illinois, Utah, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada and Ohio. Its headquarters is the eMINTS National Center in Columbia.
Francis Howell began using eMINTS two years ago, using a combination of grants and district funding to implement the program in five elementary schools and three middle schools.
"Francis Howell district is one of the best examples of eMINTS implementation," said Monica Beglau, director of the eMINTS National Center. "It is impressive for a district to make this level of commitment to learning with technology."
Ray Eernisse, Francis Howell chief information officer, administers the district's eMINTS program. Educational technology specialists Tracie Amad and Gina Hartman train and mentor teachers on integrating technology in the classroom.
"It is not rare to have lots of technology in school, but it is rare to successfully combine that technology with the curriculum," Eernisse said.
"We have to train teachers to prepare kids for jobs that don't exist yet," Amad said.
McDiarmid said she became interested in eMINTS when she heard Beglau speak at a conference in London. She wants to use the program to link classrooms and teachers online.
"With this technology, if kids are learning about Russia, there is nothing stopping them from going right into a classroom in Russia and getting to know those kids," McDiarmid said. "It is a paradigm shift. Teachers today are technology immigrants, but they are teaching students who are technology natives."
Raymond Castile can be contacted at rcastile@yourjournal.com
