Virtual classroom

Teachers bring the classroom to the Web

By K.J. HASCALL / Hungry Horse News

It’s hard to find a high school student these days who isn’t texting or talking on a cell phone, listening to music on an iPod or surfing the Internet on their smart phone.

Add these distractions to sports and choir practice and reaching out to students is harder than ever.

So instead of competing with the Web, Columbia Falls High School is meeting students half way.

In March, CFHS was awarded a New Slate grant from the state. The grant has helped the high school train teachers using Google Institute, which teaches teachers how to better use technology in their classrooms, and has provided laptops.

“It’s a great opportunity for teachers to get more tech training,” said high school principal Alan Robbins. “It gives teachers the tools to enhance what they’re doing in their classroom to focus on increasing Web presence.”

Administrators fear students will see their education as irrelevant. There’s no mention of blogs and Facebook in “Hamlet” after all.

Eighteen teachers — 17 from CFHS and one from the junior high — spent 25 hours in training over the summer through Google Institute. They learned about Elluminate and Moodle, which are online teaching platforms. They learned about creating websites for their classes and starting class blogs. Another round of teachers is beginning training this fall.

Nine teachers have created websites — focused on science class, government class, English class and more — easily accessed through the School District 6 website. But an important component of entering the digital world is making sure students are safe in the online environment. District 6 administrators don’t want cyber bullying or inappropriate content on the websites.

The websites are hosted through the high school’s website. All comments must be approved by an instructor before they’re posted.

“It’s a walled garden,” Robbins said. “We make sure things are secure and safe for kids.”

Robbins hopes students will enjoy the online additions to their classes.

“Because they’re in an environment they feel so comfortable with, they will engage past school hours,” he said.

Alia Hanson, who teaches teach ninth and 11th grade English, has enjoyed designing a snappy, interactive website that her students enjoy.

“We learned a ton of usable information and programs we can put to use right away in the classroom,” she said of the training.

The teachers used Google Suite to construct their websites, which offers a variety of templates and tools to make the websites colorful and interesting. The teachers learned to use photo editing tools and programs like “Wallwisher,” which allows students to post “sticky notes” about a certain topic on an online community bulletin board. Currently, Hanson has asked her students what they’re reading. One sticky note reads, “ ‘Flight’ by Sherman Alexie is the best book I’ve ever read.”

Hanson is also using Google Maps to upload pictures and links to places mentioned in the book one of her classes is studying, “Into the Wild,” by Jon Krakauer.

“As we read (the book), the main character goes all around the United States,” Hanson said. “We will be tracking where he goes using the Google map.”

Hanson hopes to reach her students in a new way through technology.

“If we want students to learn outside school, we have to be willing to meet them in the platforms they want to be in,” she said. “That’s what’s hard about literature — it’s so abstract. These tools bring it down from that abstract level and make it more understandable.”

Hanson updates her class website nearly every day. She creates class PowerPoints in Google Docs and loads them to the web. She started a blog to encourage her students to respond to literature. She hopes students who are shy to speak in front of their peers will be more comfortable making comments online.

“A lot of these tools that I have set up to use in the classroom, they have a number of safety features,” Hanson said. “(Students) won’t be exposed to outsiders. The website is unlisted; you have to know the URL to get there. Before comments are posted, I read the comments. I hope to alleviate cyber bullying. (My students) know if something inappropriate is put on there, they and I will be having a discussion.”

And though maintaining the website adds another layer of extra work to Hanson’s days, she enjoys it.

“It’s more work, but it’s worthwhile being able to extend this learning environment outside of schools,” she said. “This is the direction we’re going. I spend a lot of time using the computer and the Internet in my spare time. Updating my website can be fun for me. It’s something I’m into anyway.”

And for Hanson’s students, the website is another way to keep tabs on their class and engage with what they’re learning in a way they enjoy.

“This is totally the direction we need to be moving in,” Hanson said. “I’m 100 percent behind it. It’s really been positive for our school. I have students who check the website and print things off. They’re so used to technology, most of them, it’s something they expect to have there. For us to provide that through this grant has been fantastic.”