By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 Board of Education met at 6:30 p.m. Monday for its regular meeting with a focus on technology utilization in the Hays school district.
Two instructors gave presentations to the board, first thanking them for investing in new technology and then giving examples of how technology is used within their classrooms.
“I get excited about what we are doing,” said Johnny Matlock, choral director at Hays High School.
He uses technology to assist in musical productions in various ways in his course, and is excited about what new technologies are allowing for his students.
“It’s really ramped up what we do on stage,” Matlock said, noting shows use digital light and sound boards.
“We can program 400 cues per show,” he said. “We program every song, every cue.”
Technology gets used in the show planning and logistical support as well.
“It’s amazing what technology has done,” Matlock said, showing the website that works as a central hub for productions. “This is their connection to what is going on.”
Implemented technology has also allowed extended practices.
Every song in a show is available to students anytime, with individual music cues that will allow the students to practice any time.
“They can learn their parts outside of rehearsal,” Matlock said. “It triples our time.”
Almost on the other end of the academic spectrum, technology is helping teach a very old, traditional subject – Latin.
Audio especially is vital in learning language, and Melanie Folkerts, language arts and foreign language instructor, enlightened the board on some ways she uses technology in her courses.
“My kids can listen to something,” she said, and repeat it at their leisure.
They then can record and listen to their recordings she said, getting immediate and proper audio feedback, something that otherwise would be unavailable.
The system that makes this possible is called blended learning and combines high-tech educational systems with in-class learning.
The lessons in Latin, in particular, are “accessible anywhere they can get online,” Folkerts said. The Latin program is growing, reaching up to 20 students this year.
The systems give students flexibility in learning, and also allows more class options as they often wouldn’t be able to fit a class like Latin into their schedule without sacrificing another elective.
“They don’t have to make a choice here,” Folkerts said.
The online course component is also very flexible giving students many different ways to learn.
The course combines elements of reading, writing, audio, games, and culture, including “full cultural activities with an explanation behind it,” Folkerts said.
With the online structure, the students must also learn other life skills that are not a direct part of the course work.
“They have to manage organization,” Folkerts said. “It’s self motivated and independent learning,” allowing students to learn at their own pace.
The course is organized more like a college course, where students can see the entire schedule and can work ahead if the students desire. She used an example of two students already at mid-term levels and they can move on at the end of the semester if they want.
The program is active learning, with “no place to hid,” Folkerts said, and they have to master a skill at 80 percent or higher before moving on.
Folkerts told the board that without the one-to-one technology with this year’s implementation of Microsoft Surface tablets, this type of course would not be available.