Sharing ideas is goal of pilot program involving local teachers

By BILL RYAN
Staff Writer
Sentinel-Tribune of Bowling Green, Ohio

Billy Ladd instructs local teachers on the use of computer
software and technology being provided in a pilot program.
(J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune)

Sharing ideas is goal of pilot program involving local teachers Eight different groups of local teachers are recipients of software through a new program being coordinated by the Wood County Educational Service Center.

The ESC has joined forces with Comotiv Systems for a pilot program to connect the teachers with communication units. WCESC has been developing Professional Learning Communities throughout Wood County, which are groups of teachers who work together to share best teaching practices, common assessments and instructional strategies.

The pilot program provides 160 communication units to facilitate the members of the various PLCs to have group and individual communication. The total value of the package is $64,000.

"I was excited to receive this equipment," said Lucy Gernot, assistant superintendent of the WCESC.

Each unit has a camera, headphones, and a microphone, along with the software to allow the teachers to see and talk with each other as needed.

"This is a monumental project for my company," said Ken Majors, chief executive officer of Comotiv. Majors was in attendance last week when the first teachers to receive the communication units received their training at the ESC. "The feedback from these teachers will provide case studies and valuable information to include new features and enhancements in the program," Majors said. Though Comotiv, based in Portland, Ore., has been involved with similar programs at an administrative level, this is the pilot program for classroom teachers. "We will be going national with this. Our goal is to have every student, teacher and administrator in the country connected," Majors said.

"This really is a valuable tool for teachers," Gernot added. "This helps the teachers to effectively communicate with each other as they share best practices and assessments."

The learning communities include teachers who teach the same subject matters. Each school district might have only one or a few math teachers, for example, at any specific grade level. The learning community will join all those teachers together so they can individually and collectively provide better education for their students. Teachers involved in this pilot program come from Bowling Green, Eastwood, Elmwood, Lake, North Baltimore, Northwood, Otsego, Perrysburg and Rossford. Penta Career Center teachers also are involved.

Among the first groups to receive and be trained on their units are math and science teachers. Social studies teachers are also becoming involved. The classes they teach range from fifth through 10th grades.

During the first six weeks of the program, each learning community is planning one group meeting online. Each teacher has been asked to upload at least one program, lesson or assessment. The sharing of ideas has been shown to be the best tool to help students.

"Teachers working together improves student achievement more than smaller class sizes or even one-on-one training," Gernot shared of a recent study.

This program is based on the Internet, with teachers using their own computers enhanced by the communication units. Eventually, the ESC would like to develop more learning communities, especially at the elementary level.

Diane Burtchin, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at Rossford, was among the first teachers to receive the unit. " This is a great program for coming together with other districts," Burtchin said. " It is hard for us to meet together and this gives us another opportunity." She added that often an idea or assessment that is useful for one teacher can be used by another teacher in their classroom or with a particular student. "We' re always looking for new assessments and ideas to use for state testing and lessons," Burtchin added.

Doug Garman, superintendent of the ESC called it a unique program. "This gives us another opportunity for Wood County to be a leader in value-added professional development to better serve the students and teachers."

Majors, Gernot and Garman all indicated this is a launching pad for similar programs across the nation.

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