LIBERTY, NC - Education in the 21st century requires both state of the art technology tools and adequate and appropriate teacher preparation. The North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) and the faculty of Liberty Elementary School in Randolph County proved that as part of a Technology Demonstration Project.

NCTA and Congressman Howard Coble administered a $250,000 federal earmarked grant to provide state of the art technology and professional development for the faculty. The impact on Liberty Elementary, according to an external evaluator’s report, “has been significant and is growing every day.”

As part of the NCTA Technology Demonstration Project the school received equipment included such items as: a wireless mobile lab, 13 projectors, 90 portable computing units, numerous printers, digital cameras, visual presenters, scores of software titles and laptops for each of the school’s pre-K through 5th grade teachers. As a requirement of the NCTA Technology Demonstration Project, all teachers and staff at Liberty Elementary must undergo the Center for Quality Teaching and Learning’s QTL professional development program.

“NCTA views this effort from an economic standpoint as much as from a technology one, realizing for anyone to be successful in the 21st century, he or she must be exposed to technology early,” said NCTA President, Joan Myers.

The results were powerful, according to teacher reactions.

“We teachers need to continue learning, changing and growing. Who appreciates a stale teacher? And more importantly, who learns from a stale teacher,” wrote one participant.

An independent evaluation of the NCTA Technology Demonstration Project found “The teachers’ impact has been tremendous.”

“I witnessed a transformation that I was hesitant to even believe,” wrote another faculty member.

Participants wrote that because of the NCTA Technology Demonstration Project and the QTL professional development, “I feel more comfortable attempting new things. I have changed greatly. I did not see any use for technology and change in instruction before the grant. Now I am open to trying new things and have great ideas… This Technology Demonstration Project has changed my teaching career.”

While the impact on teachers was strong, the teachers say the impact on students was even more profound. The project evaluation found that students engaged in more active participatory learning and showed a greater increase in interest levels.

One example cited in the evaluation involved a little boy who had an academic challenge but tried very hard without success. During a classroom technology project to create an alphabet book, this young boy was assigned the letter ‘R’. He not only was extremely successful, but the items he found beginning with ‘R’ were great. He even located a rose that opened up on the screen. He was delighted with himself and furthermore he learned the sound and recognition of ‘R’.”

The report also noted “An EC (exceptional children) student whose academics are extremely low was shown one time how to do a somewhat complex task on the PC. Within 5 minutes she had mastered the activity and the student began to teach the other students immediately using the computer. The teacher described the event as very powerful.”

Teachers wrote that “[technology] will most definitely impact student academic performance in the classroom. It will allow more challenging activities for my high learners as well as providing a different comfort level for some of the lower academic achieving students. It is a great intervention which can meet the needs of each child individually.”

Liberty Elementary School’s principal, Billy Tanner described technology as “a tool to enhance student learning.”

He said that because of the NCTA Technology Demonstration Project, the culture at Liberty Elementary has been changed and the transformation is very much underway.

NCTA President and CEO, Joan Myers, stated “These projects are very powerful and it is good days when you hear teachers tell how they can change and make a significant difference with all the resoursces. It is great to see the teachers using what they have effectively.

Read the entire Final Evaluation report on the NCTA-Liberty Elementary Technology Demonstration Project.