Ocean Elementary School Teachers Will All Receive Laptop Computers
By TOM SHORTELL
 Ocean Township teacher Jenn Walk examines the screen of her new Hewlett-Packard laptop at Tuesday’s training session. |
Tom Pagano, the Superintendent of the Ocean Township School District, calls them Digital Native Americans, and they’re changing the way teachers do their jobs.
They’re the latest generation of Americans who are now in the elementary schools of America. These children have always had computers in the home, never knew cell phones as a novelty and might have a hard time identifying a cassette tape.
To better teach these young students, all educators in Ocean Township elementary schools are getting Hewlett-Packard laptops so they can make their lessons multimedia experiences.
“Years ago, most lessons were chalk and talk”, Pagano said, meaning classes were mostly lectures (talk) along with whatever teachers could draw or write on a blackboard. Those methods don’t work as well anymore because students, used to the faster pace of the Internet, lack the attention spans for it.
“Multi-media is more compatible with the way kids learn. It allows us to better meet the individual needs of the students,” said John Lysko, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “It’s a natural way for them to learn.”
The laptops will allow teachers to the customize their lessons on programs like Microsoft PowerPoint, Lysko said.
“The application is limited only by the creativity of the teachers,” he said. “Computers will never replace good teachers, but teachers who use computers will replace those who don’t.”
They’ll also have mobile access to the Internet, which can provide up to the minute information on classroom subjects.
Pagano and Lysko both said teachers who finished graduate school within the last few years are already efficient with the laptop setup. To help veteran teachers become familiar with the program, the district has had training seminars. Educators at Wayside Elementary School had a session Tuesday at the Dow Avenue Intermediate School.
Wanamassa Elementary School has changed it’s bus loop at the school. Instead of having the buses drop off and pick up students on Bendermere Avenue, the buses will go onto pavement added to the side of the building. The changes were made to improve safety conditions and to make the front of the school more visible for parents who are picking up their children, said Justine Salvo, school principal.
The wooden entry way to the school is also being refurbished. The wood had been rotting. While working on entry, the workers discovered the entry had a copper trim that had been painted over at some point. The new entry will have show the trim.
Wanamassa Elementary School was built in 1930, but Salvo did not know when the entry way went up. “I’m not sure the front entrance has always been there, but I wouldn’t be surprised,” she said. “I’m just thrilled we were able to refurbish it instead of having to replace it.”
The district is welcoming about 30 new teachers this year.
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