ROWLAND — As Keisha Parker discussed and wrote geometry hexagon formulas on her touch screen computer, eighth- grade students at Rowland Middle School took notes and listened intently. Parker is the first certified math teacher to teach these students this school year.
However, Parker is a teacher at Littlefield Middle and is teaching the class from more than 30 miles away through a new digital setup, which is a pilot between the two schools.
“We are excited that these students in that specific school are exposed to a certified teacher. Already the students are excited. We are alerting the parents. When we get all the bugs worked out of this, we want to take this model to other schools where they may have a teacher shortage in math or science. We would rather have a live teacher, but this is an alternative,” said Linda Emanuel, assistant superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for the Public Schools of Robeson County.
Two teachers from Littlefield Middle School are participating in the pilot program, which is being called “PSRC Café.” The program’s goal is to bring certified teachers to classes with long-term substitutes. This year, the Public Schools of Robeson County still has more than 50 substitutes, which is a trend across North Carolina.
Lisa Thoman, a Public Schools of Robeson County instructional technology facilitator, is a member of the team who installed the system. The set-up includes a camera, microphone and a speaker in each classroom. Each class already has a smart board, projector and laptop.
“Dr. Linda Emanuel asked us in September or October what could we do to help all these classes with subs. Cole, Stephanie and myself sat down and explored different options,” Thoman said. “We decided since we are a Google Apps for Education County, Google Hangouts was the perfect platform. It took a week to get everything in place, from ordering the equipment to installing, training and being curriculum ready.”
The video is transmitted through a wired connection via Google Hangouts, which is similar to FaceTime. The video is projected onto a smart board and allows the students to see real-time video feed of the teacher and students in the other class. Students may also ask questions. There is a question-and-answer session at the end of each class. If the instructor is typing on the board, the instructor may also take a screen shot to send to the students.
Rowland Middle has 20 to 21 students in each of the seventh- and eighth-grade classes participating in the program.
School Principal Eric Sanders said he is still actively looking for teachers for these math classes, but is excited to have the partnership with Littlefield Middle.
“The exciting part of this is we have instruction provided by a certified teacher, which covers the scope and sequence of lessons which they need to be successful on the End of Grade Assessment. We still have a long-term sub or facilitator to make sure the lessons are being followed, questions and follow-up are being done and assignments are being graded,” Sanders said.
Equipment for each new unit for “PSRC Café” costs around $1,000. Educators say it is a small trade-off to have a certified teacher in these classes.
