E-learning sends grades sky rocketing

Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

Five years after the launch of the e-learning project, two St Catherine institutions have concurred that the departure from chalk and talk has been a step in the right direction.

The project provides participating institutions with desktops, multimedia projectors, CDs, DVDs, and other information communication technologies as essential components of the learning environment in classrooms.

Several teachers at the Charlemont and Bog Walk high schools have been trained to effectively apply the technology to their presentations.

This integration, said Maulton Campbell, head of the School's e-Learning Implementation Management Committee at Charlemont High in St Catherine has boosted results in several areas.

"Science grades - in terms of biology, chemistry, and physics - have improved tremendously because these students use the e-learning equipment more than anybody else, apart from the IT department," Campbell said, pointing out that all year groups were included.

Kaydener Douglas-Morgan, English language teacher, attests to the usefulness of the equipment.

"For example, I was teaching advertisements. I had what is advertising, example of an advertisement ... . I had work that students did from last year, advertisements that they designed ... . They saw first hand different ads, and so they could relate to it," Douglas-Morgan explained.

The grades in that subject have also improved, according to Campbell. "The English grades have improved in terms of CXC. The math is getting there ... . Math persons have been using the document machine to teach things like graphs, ratio, and proportion to get the children more excited," he told The Gleaner.

Grade 10 students David McLean and Shakelia Beharrie are among those at Charlemont High excited about the revolutionary teaching/learning method.

"It gives us a better view. For example, in chemistry, joining the different atoms, they show it on the projector so you see the real thing instead of just telling us what is happening. Biology shows you how the heart functions," said McLean.

Beharrie said: "Writing on the board and teachers dictating are so boring. When they use the technology, we are able to interact more. It's a good learning programme."

All forms integrated

When the project was implemented at Bog Walk High in 2007, it was geared towards grades 10 and 11. However, Sophia Hartley-Smith, e-learning coordinator/systems administrator, said it has since been integrated into all the forms.

Marlene Lawrence, assistant coordinator, told The Gleaner that since it was introduced, more students get the opportunity to access the computers to complete their school-based assessments for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate.

Hartley-Smith added that with the advent of the project, data-operations sessions had also been boosted.

"Because they brought other technology - we have the Internet - students are able to go online, create an email address, use the camcorders in a particular topic, capturing pictures, images, etc," said Hartley-Smith.

High praises

Kevin Smith, head of the Business Department and IT and mathematics teacher, lauds the project.

"For the IT classes, it's pretty good because the classes are sized for the lab so we don't have students sharing, but the math class is somewhat different," he said. "I have to take the projectors to the math class, but there are times when there is software that I would love the students to use on the computers, but we don't have enough space for that. All of them cannot hold in the lab at once," Smith said.

Leighton Gyles, theatre arts instructor, points out that while his area is not among the 11 core subjects, integration of the technology has enhanced his presentations.

Simon Sylvester, industrial techniques teacher, utilises PowerPoint presentations to a great extent.

"It enhances learning because I am not just writing on the board anymore, but I'm able to incorporate pictures, animation, and videos, and things like that in my lessons," said Sylvester.

Grade 11 student Chavane Mullings applauds this move.

"Teaching/learning has improved greatly, and things like PowerPoint presentations give us the chance to learn much faster. It's more interesting, and the lessons are better appreciated," said Mullings.

Alecia White, of grade 7, said: "I am now able see actual diagrams and understand definitions and meanings much better. When the board was being used, it took more time, and sometimes there weren't any accompanying diagrams for examples."