USA:Georgia
From WAET
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Georgia, a state in the southeastern section of the United States (see Figure 1), began taking steps in the late 1990s that would assist in increasing the availability of technology in the public schools. As part of a state sponsored lottery program, funds were distributed to the public school districts to purchase computers for the classroom. Even though this program was paying large dividends, beginning in the 2002-2003 school year, this program was discontinued because of a deepening state budget crisis (R.S. Whatley, personal communication, September 2004).
In addition, in 2001, Georgia passed legislation that required all teachers to have a technology endorsement as part of their teacher certification renewal by June 2006 (Shattuck, 2004). This was a visionary approach to the integration of technology into the curriculum. Unfortunately, this provision, along with other provisions of this legislation, caused a backlash with the educational community in Georgia. In mid 2004, the Professional Standards Commission (PSC), the agency responsible for teacher certification, weakened their interpretation of this law by creating a less stringent alternative method to meet the requirements. This alternative method emphasized technology literacy for the teacher while it de-emphasized technology integration that would benefit the student (B. Sullivan, personal communication, September 20, 2004). As a result, Georgia has lessened its commitment to technology integration even while the Georgia Department of Education's new curriculum standards promote the integration of technology (Hall, 2004).
Newton County School District
In the last three years, Georgia has reduced the per-student-funding it sent to each public school district by 25% (R.S. Whatley, personal communication, September 15, 2004). This reduction in Georgia's per-student-funding has had a trickle down affect at the local level. For example, in the Newton County School System, which is located 30 miles east of Atlanta (see Figure 2), the student-to-computer ratio has increased for three of the last four years, thereby decreasing the students' access to computer technology. The student-to-computer ratio has gone from 4.36 in 2001 to 5.31 in 2003 (Shattuck, 2004). This decrease in access has been partly caused by the decrease in state funding. The Newton County School System Technology Department's budget for the last three years has not included any funds for replacement computers; nor has this budget during these same years included any funds for new computers to accommodate a student population growth rate of approximately 1,000 additional students per year for the past three years. Fortunately, in the 2002-2003 school year, there were various funds that were used for technology needs. With funds from the last year of the Lottery's Computers in the Classroom Program, with funds from a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum, with funds from Title 1, and with funds from Title 2D, the Newton County School System was able to replace 609 obsolete computers with new computers. Then, in the 2003-2004 school year, by using only Title 1 funds, the school system was able to replace slightly over 400 obsolete computers, and was able to add an additional 200 new computers. According to the Georgia State Department of Education in 2003 (Shattuck, 2004), obsolete computers are considered to be Pentium 2 and below. Unfortunately, Title 1 funds are very restrictive, and they have to be spent only in high poverty schools. This has caused a disparity in computer access for students among the 18 schools within the Newton County School System (Shattuck, 2004).
The Newton County School System has made an effort to provide technology-related Staff Development for their teachers. An InTech program was started in the Newton County School System in 2001 under the auspices of the Educational Technology Training Center, Macon State College, Macon, Georgia. The focus of this program is to teach teachers how to effectively integrate technology into their curriculum. The InTech instructor, who was hired by Newton County School System, began teaching InTech classes in the summer of 2001. However laudable this effort has been, it has had only limited success because it is understaffed and because it does not provide for an effective follow-up program to support the teachers once they graduate from the InTech Program. No additional instructors were hired; and, thus, there was only one instructor to serve a school system with 18 schools and with over 1,000 teachers. By comparison, many other metro Atlanta counties, among which Newton County is included, hired one technology integration instructor for every school (Shattuck, 2004).
From disparity to diversity, Georgia is becoming a more diverse state every year; and is, now, one of the most diverse populations in the United States; and the Newton County School System is no different (US Census Bureau, 2004; Office of Student Achievement, 2004). In the 2002-2003 school year, Georgia had 52% White students, 33% Black students, 6% Hispanic students, 2% Asian, and 2% Multiracial. In the same year, the Newton County School System reported 59% White students, 35 % Black students, 3% Hispanic students, 1% Asian students, 1% Native American students, and 1% Multiracial students (Office of Student Achievement, 2004).
Likewise, during the 2002-2003 school year, the Newton County School System mimicked Georgia in other categories of public student subgroups. For example, Georgia had 12% students with disabilities while Newton County School System had 14 %. Georgia had 45% students who qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch (poverty rate) while the school system had 43%. However, there was one subgroup in which there was a greater disparity; it was among those students with Limited English Proficiency. Georgia had 4% while the Newton County School System had only 1% (Office of Student Achievement).
Ficquett Elementary School
There are eleven public elementary schools in the Newton County School System. Ficquett Elementary School (Ficquett) is one of the oldest public elementary schools in the Newton County School System. At the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year, there was a total 670 students at Ficquett. All of Newton County's elementary schools have Special Education Programs to a certain degree; and, there are three elementary schools that have Students with Limited English Proficiency. However, the Newton County School System has designated Ficquett to be a cluster school for Students with Disabilities and has designated Ficquett to be a cluster school for Students with Limited English Proficiency. A Students with Disabilities cluster school is a school which accepts more students with disabilities than the other elementary schools and which accepts more students with more serious disabilities than the other elementary schools. Furthermore, an ESOL cluster school is a school which accepts those students who do not speak English or those students who have very limited English speaking skills. As a result, when compared to Georgia's 12% and to Newton's 14%, the student population at Ficquett has 23% Students with Disabilities. When compared to Georgia's 4% and to Newton's 1%, the student population at Ficquett has 11% students with Limited English Proficiency (Office of Student Achievement, 2004). Furthermore, Ficquett is a Title 1 school with 66% of its students enrolled in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program (Georgia Public Policy Foundation, 2002). When compared to Georgia's 45% and to Newton's 43% Free and Reduced Lunch, Ficquett is much higher. Thus, with the cluster school designation and with the high poverty rate, Ficquett Elementary School faces many more challenges than all of the other elementary schools face in Newton County (Office of Student Achievement, 2004; Georgia Public Policy Foundation, 2002).
 Figure 3. the buses line up in the afternoon waiting to pick up the students and take them home |  Figure 4. Ficquette is a cluster school for students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency |
Mrs. Pelton's 4th grade class
“Handle like a baby,” the class responded when Mrs. Cindy Pelton ask them how the students were suppose to handle the laptop computers. “What do you not do with a baby?” Mrs. Pelton prompted the students. In unison, the class again responded, “You do not drop the baby.” This was, to the students, a familiar routine that had begun at the beginning of the school year. Mrs. Pelton had gone through a training exercise at the beginning of the year to prepare this year's students to use the wireless laptop computers. This routine included how to carefully carry the laptop, how to open and turn on the laptop, and how to use the touch pad in place of the mouse. The handling and the caring of these precious commodities is as important a learning objective as is learning to type and to format text. Mrs. Pelton carefully handed a laptop to each of her students making sure that each student used both hands to carry the laptop back to that student's desk.
Technology appeals to ALL students in some shape or fashion. Children are much more comfortable with technology than that of many of their adult teachers. Many students who feel inadequate in the classroom blossom in front of the computer. I have seen children who are completely lost in the traditional learning environment come alive and excited about learning with the use of a computer or laptop.
The issue of classroom management is made much easier when technology is being used, as well. Mrs. Pelton stated that, “The students are much more engaged in their learning and rarely off task. They also help each other thus making my life easier.” As a result of this, Mrs. Pelton uses technology as often as she can because, “Technology has become a large part of [her] teaching.” On the average, Mrs. Pelton claims to use technology two to three times per week (C. Pelton, personal communication, November 10, 2004).
When Mrs. Pelton reached the Media Center on November 16, 2004, she introduced me to Julianna Laseter and to Ryan Norrington. Mrs. Pelton had selected Julianna and Ryan for this case study for two very different reasons. Julianna because she was one of her best students; and Ryan because he was Special Education and technology has enhanced his educational experience. It was easy to see why Mrs. Pelton selected Julianna. Julianna is classified as a gifted student; and this was quite evident when this precocious 4th grader explained why she loves to read and loves to write and play on the computer. She articulated her passion – Harry Potter books. Julianna goes to the Harry Potter website almost every day to read articles about the author and to read articles about the series of books. She, also, has posted several stories onto the Harry Potter website, and is waiting to see if they get published. In fact, this engaging 4th grader was very excited because a few days earlier she had discovered on the official Harry Potter website what the names of a few of the chapters were on the soon to be released Harry Potter book. Julianna talked excitedly about Harry Potter even as her fingers jumped across the keyboard trying to complete the work assigned for that day – to type the final draft of a story that each student had typed in a rough draft the day before. Then, Julianna, as usual, shared her writing with her friend to get a peer review. Play the video Where you Meet Julianna - This video is of Julianna. She talks about her love of Harry Potter and other things.
Julianna's story was a first person account of a class field trip that she had taken three years earlier to the Atlanta History Center:
In December, 2001, everyone in the [Gifted] program of the 2001-2002 school years, (Well, at least the ones who brought money and had their permission slips signed!) were going to the Atlanta History Center to go on a walking tour on the Colonial Times. Then, all of a sudden, just as we were passing McDonald's, Morgan began singing ‘99 Bottles of Coke on the Wall'! Everyone joined in. Everyone, that is, except for Wesley, Kathryn, George, and myself. When we got to the I20 exit to Wesley Chapel Road, everyone was on 17 bottles. Then a small car just stopped! Well, the bus driver didn't see the car, so she crashed into it! The driver panicked! So, everyone waited about 3 ½ hours when Mrs. Donna came in her bus and saved the day! The good thing was nobody got hurt. The rest of the trip was normal, except for the lunch, of course, and everyone now could say, “I've been in a bus crash.” It was such a fund trip! (J. Laseter, personal communication, November 16, 2004).
Even though Julianna had trouble logging onto the network when she first started her computer, this did not frustrate her. She very patiently tried multiple times before raising her hand for help. Finally, the teacher came by and told Julianna to try restarting her computer to see if that would solve the problem. It did. Once everyone was logged on, Mrs. Pelton reviewed some formatting techniques with the class, and then she turned them loose on their assignment for that activity. By using the word processor application, the students were able to easily correct their work, thus making the writing process a much more enjoyable exercise. They were motivated and focused because they had looked forward to this activity. It was obvious that using the computers was an activity that they all enjoyed. One of the things that I noticed as I was watching Julianna type was that, even though she typed very fast and accurately, she used only her two index fingers. When asked how she learned to type, Julianna replied that she just picked it up. When she was asked when she first started working on a computer, she replied that she had always played on a computer. When I pressed this issue trying to narrow down how long she had used a computer, Julianna said that she had been playing on a computer for as long as she could remember. This is probably why she learned to type using the two-finger method. Perhaps she had not received formal training on finger placement because her fingers were too small to be placed properly onto the keys when she first started working on computers.
Julianna comes from a family of six. Her father is a stock broker and her mother is basically a stay-at-home mom, even though the mother occasionally works as a substitute teacher at Ficquett. Julianna has one older brother who is attending the University of Georgia, an older sister, who is a 10th grader in high school, and a younger sister in the 2nd grade. Julianna says, very matter of factly, that she communicates with her older brother regularly using Instant Messenger while he is away at college. She says she likes technology because it helps her from getting bored, “Most kids watch TV, but I love to play on the computer.” Julianna is not the typical computer nerd, however. She plays on the YMCA soccer team and sings in a local choral group. When asked what Julianna wanted to do when she grew up, she responded, not surprisingly, that she wanted to be a writer.
At the end of this hour period, Julianna and her classmates carefully carried their laptops back to the wireless laptop cart where, first, Mrs. Pelton plugged the power adaptor into these laptops, and, then, where she placed them into the slot in the wireless computer cart. There was only one student, Ryan, who did not use two hands to carry his laptop back to Mrs. Pelton. This was because Ryan was carrying his personal technology aid, AlphaSmart, in one hand. Mrs. Pelton gently reminded Ryan that the proper way of carrying the laptop computer was with both hands. All in all, these students were engaged, on task, and were well behaved.
On December 6, 2004, I was able to spend time with Ryan. This was a much more difficult task than the day I spent with Julianna. Ryan has been identified with autism. Even though he has been classified as high functioning, I still found it difficult communicating with him. His speech was slightly slurred, and he spoke in a very low volume. I found myself leaning over and turning my ear towards him. Mrs. Pelton, on the other hand, had adapted to Ryan's disability and had learned how to communicate with him. One adaptation that Mrs. Pelton used when communicating with Ryan was to always stoop down to be on his level and to always look directly into his face causing him to focus his attention on her. Twice, Mrs. Pelton told Ryan to stop whining, to deepen his voice, and to speak as a big boy. It was obvious that Mrs. Pelton enjoyed Ryan in her class. She commented on his “wonderful sense of humor” and on Ryan being a “great kid,” (C. Pelton, personal communication, December 7, 2004). All the other students seemed to like Ryan; and these students were willing to help him at any time.
 Figure 8. Ryan's face lit up when I took this picture |  Figure 9. Ryan carries his laptop back to the wireless cart |
Even though Ryan is doing very well academically, as illustrated by his being assigned to the top group in both Language Arts and in Math, Mrs. Pelton stated that Ryan, “has a difficult time staying focused,” (C. Pelton, personal communication, December 7, 2004). When I observed Ryan it became very obvious that this is one of Ryan's greatest challenges. On that day the class was assigned an Internet scavenger hunt. All the students were told to research, on predefined websites, three countries and to find three facts about Christmas from each country that differed from the Christmas traditions of these Ficquett students. As a reward when each student finished, that student was directed to go to a fun and an engaging Santa Claus website. Ryan worked diligently on his assignment until the student next to him finished and went to the Santa Claus site. Then, Ryan turned and watched the interactive and entertaining computer screen next to him. I tried to redirect his attention back to his assignment, but to no avail. Finally, Mrs. Pelton came over and helped Ryan finish his assignment so he could go see Santa on his own computer.
When I asked Ryan if he liked computers, he responded positively. He comes from a family of five: his mother, a sister who is in the Air Force, and two brothers. He has a computer at home which he uses regularly (R. Norrington, personal communication, December 6, 2004). He has been assigned by the Special Education Department to use an AlphaSmart to assist in him in writing assignments. AlphaSmart is a computerized keyboard that contains a small LCD display and stores typed messages to be transferred later into a regular computer. Mrs. Pelton stated that Ryan “has a difficult time writing, so [he] uses an Alpha Smart to type longer assignments.” One of the greatest difficulties that Ryan faces is that he cannot tolerate a misspelled word. When the red underline comes up onto the computer screen indicating that the word is misspelled, Ryan freezes. He will not correct the word, nor will he go on without correcting the word. Mrs. Pelton said that she has to reboot the computer and then she has to ask Ryan to start over. Mrs. Pelton finally turned off the automatic spell check to prevent that obstacle from interfering with Ryan's learning. Overall, Mrs. Pelton credits technology with greatly assisting Ryan in his progress, “I have found that using the computer to type assignments (without spell check) and to do other work, helps Ryan to focus more and to stay on task longer.” (C. Pelton, personal communication, December 7, 2004).
Generally, all the students were well behaved on both days that I observed. They all seemed to enjoy working on the computers and stayed focused on their tasks. They had no problems with the touch pad and treated the laptop computers with respect. There were a few technical glitches, but Mrs. Pelton handled those with calmness and professionalism; this, from a teacher who claims to have arrived at technology, “kicking and screaming.” She admits that technology scared and intimidated her until she took InTech, the Professional Development program that teaches teachers how to integrate technology (C. Pelton, personal communication, November 10, 2004). Luckily, Mrs. Pelton works in a school where the administrators are very supportive of technology. Mrs. Beverly Copeland, the principal, enthusiastically endorses the use of technology. She uses technology to communicate with her faculty daily and uses PowerPoint to make presentations at faculty meetings and at PTO meetings (B. Copeland, personal communication, November 18, 2004). Therefore, it can be said that in Ficquett, in general, and in Mrs. Pelton's class, specifically, technology is being used effectively. It engages the students, it enhances the students' learning opportunities, and it motivates the students to stay on task.
References
Georgia Public Policy Foundation (Spring 2002). Spring 2002 Georgia report card for parents. Retrieved October 2, 2004, from http://reportcard.gppf.org
Hall, M. (2004). Technology in Georgia: It's a new day! Retrieved October 2, 2004, from http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/_documents/technology/it_technology_georgia.pdf
Office of Student Achievement (2004). 2002-2003 annual report card on k-12 public schools. Retrieved October 2, 2004, from http://reportcard.gaosa.org
Shattuck, G. (Feb. 2004). Annual report: Newton County School System's technology needs assessment: 2003-2004 school year and beyond. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.newtoncountyschools.org/technology/default.htm
US Census Bureau (2004). Diversity. Retrieved September 14, 2004, from http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/atlas/censr01-104.pdf
Related chapters
United States
This is a case study of the state of Georgia, located within the USA.
About the Authors
| Gary Shattuck is technology coorindator the Newton County School District in Georgia. He earned his EdS degree in Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia, and at the time this article was written he was pursuing a doctoral degree in Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia |  |
Citation
APA Citation: Shattuck, G. (2005). USA:Georgia. In M. Orey, T. Amiel, & J. McClendon (Eds.), The web almanac of educational technologies. Retrieved <insert date>, from http://www.waet.uga.edu/
