Technology in the classroom

The Lindbergh Academy 1-to-1 program is all about technology. Each student is assigned a laptop that they are responsible for throughout the school day. So far it’s safe to say that the students love it, but we’ve decided that we needed a teacher to voice their opinion on the subject, too. We sat down and talked to Bryan Hilton, a teacher of many different things here at the Academy. When asked what the advantages of having laptops in class were, he told us, “It gives students better access to resources online so they can have the opportunity to do more dynamic assignments.”
So far this year, Mr. Hilton’s classes have used things like Microsoft Publisher, Photo Story, Audacity, Moodle and Voicethread to help get things going inside the classroom.
“Basically, if it can fit in the class somehow, we’ll see how it works", said Hilton.
Some people might take a look at all of this technology and think that it would just make things more confusing, when in fact it does the exact opposite. When asked about the productivity in his classrooms, Mr. Hilton explained to us why all this technology really does help: “I think students are much more willing to do assignments that are interactive, say web-based and things of that nature, rather than just worksheet after worksheet after worksheet.”
Moodle is one of the most widespread programs that is used at the Academy. Every student and every teacher has an account on Moodle so they can interact with each other in a more efficient manner. Moodle is what students use to download their assignments and then turn them in when they’ve been completed.
“I think it’s great for the teachers and the students. I can honestly say that we have not had one lost assignment since we’ve gone to the Moodle, which is great.”
As we progress through the school year, we’ll be interviewing even more students and teachers just to get a broader look at how things are done at the Academy. We thank everybody we’ve interviewed so far for their time. Stay tuned to stay updated!