Lake County Schools is hoping two $750,000 federal grants for innovative and hands-on technology will excite students to explore careers in the field of science while assisting them in crossing the digital divide.
This summer Lake County Schools was awarded the Enhancing Education Through Technology grants (E2T2). The maximum amount awarded to any one grant proposal is $750,000. To maximize its potential of receiving the grant, District staff wrote three grants, one for each learning zone in the school system. While only two of Lake County’s grant received funding, Lake County Schools was fortunate to be awarded more E2T2 grant funding than any other school district in the state.
“The primary focus of the grant was middle school science classes, but our goal was to get as much technology as we could in all of our schools,” said Kathy Halbig, Manager of the Innovative Learning Department.
While the grant focuses on a number of initiatives, there is no doubt which new technology has the caught the eye of students and teachers. More than 500 of Apple’s iPad were purchased for middle school science classes. Teachers used the iPads for a month to test them out and envision how they could use them in the classroom. Beginning this month, teachers began introducing the iPads to their students. The tablets are armed with 25 educational apps, including a graphing calculator, virtual frog dissection, roller coaster physics and 3D displays of elements from the periodic table.
While the Innovative Learning Department is helping to suggest ways teachers can use the apps to support their curriculum Halbig says, “It’s usually just putting a few ideas out there and the teachers are running with it because they are so good at that.” To ease the transition for other school districts to use these new technologies the Department of Innovative Learning is working closely with the Florida Center for Instructional Technology at the University of South Florida.
“We’re at the forefront of producing the curriculum that other districts may use, and the University is helping to capture the information we gather through testing, development and implementation,” she said.
In addition to the iPads, other new technologies being funded through the E2T2 grant include:
- Probeware for sixth through 11th grade science classes — The “SPARK” probe developed by PASCO features a variety of sensors that students can use during experiments to measure, for example, voltage or temperature. “It allows students to get real-time results,” Halbig said. “It really makes science engaging and that was the real focus.”
- Digital microscopes for fifth grade science classes — The QX5 microscope by Digital Blue allows teachers and students to connect microscope to a computer and then capture and record images and video.
- Research database for all students — The database by EBSCO gives students the ability to conduct research using up-to-date information from journals, magazines, books, monographs, reports and various other publication types.