Math Classes Over the Phone
By Amanda Hickey, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.
Feb. 5–Southwest High School freshman Michael Simmons says he has struggled with math for years. But a new technology, recently put into use in two Onslow County schools, is already making a difference for him.
Students in algebra I classes at Southwest and Dixon high schools have received SmartPhones, which allow the students to learn hands-on.
“It’s a great opportunity to learn about math,” Simmons, 15, said.
More than 200 people gathered at Southwest High School on Monday morning to celebrate Project K-Nect, which is bringing education and technology together through the use of SmartPhones as a supplementary educational tool.
Algebra problems, with a multimedia introduction, can be sent over the phones to students, who will have a set amount of time to solve them. Unlike doing homework alone, however, these students can collaborate using text and instant messaging, blogs and phone calls to work with others who are involved in Project K-Nect.
Only four schools were chosen for Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach Initiative grants: Carter Vocational High School in Winston-Salem, the Southern School of Engineering in Durham and the two from Onslow County.
For Damon Jones, a student at Durham’s Southern School of Engineering, Project K-Nect allowed him to keep up with his Algebra class despite being homebound because of a medical condition.
“I truly feel that using the SmartPhone device can make a difference in my life,” Jones said, noting that the phone has allowed him to keep social ties and helped him stay on track with his class.
“Because of this system, I will not fall behind in my class,” Jones told the audience.
Southwest High School math teacher Suzette Kliewer has also seen a difference.
“It’s a great motivation. These kids now want to learn,” Kliewer said.
Kliewer is confident in the project, particularly one that ties a popular piece of technology — the cell phone — to education.
“It’s a great way to take a technology piece that these kids are versed in and use it in education. It’s very exciting,” she said, noting that the students are learning how to do the work and how to help others. “When you help somebody else, when you can explain it — that’s when you really know it.”
The $1.75 million project is the first in the United States under Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach Initiative, which has 29 projects in place throughout the world. North Carolina was one of the first states to require Algebra I for high school graduates, which was part of why the state’s high schools were the only schools eligible for the grant.
The North Carolina schools received their phones through the Qualcomm grant on Jan. 24.
The concept for Project K-Nect came together two years ago, project manager Shawn Gross said.
Project K-Nect provides a safe online environment and the opportunity to learn how to be responsible digital citizens while using a familiar set of technologies, Gross said. The program allows teachers to help their students learn through technology they understand while being able to access what the students are doing at all times.
“We’re not only using it as a purpose of monitoring the students but also as a means of supporting the students,” Gross said, noting that if students break the acceptable-use policy, their phone can be shut down immediately.
The project consists of a K-Nect teacher portal — which allows teachers to distribute problem sets, find resources, make resources available for the students and monitor the students — and a student system, which allows students to receive the sets, access resources and receive help.
Dixon and Southwest high schools became involved in Project K-Nect after Judy Copeland, instructor of media and instructional technology for Onslow County Schools, heard about the grant.
While students use the problems received over the SmartPhone as a supplementary tool to their Algebra I instruction, the correct answer isn’t even the issue, Copeland said.
“The goal is increase student thinking, to make math more personal,” she said, noting that part of the goal is also to increase the number of students who pursue math and science as fields of study or careers.
Contact Jacksonville and Onslow County reporter Amanda Hickey at ahickey@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8463. You can also visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.
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