Interview with Tom McKenna, Tech Guru

            Mr. Tom McKenna is a strong believer in the integration of technology in his fourth grade class at Harborview Elementary.  He has been integrating technology since 1991, when he started teaching.  McKenna said he thinks that technology is an important way to connect students to outside sources. “I was teaching in rural Alaska and I wanted an audience for my kids beyond the Aleutians," he said while remembering his initial reasons for integrating technology.  "It (technology) gives kids an audience for their work beyond me.”

            This year McKenna’s fourth graders are corresponding with another fourth grade class in Barrow, Alaska.  Fourth graders in Alaska learn about Alaska’s regions and ecosystems.  By communicating with students in Barrow they are learning about another Alaskan environment.  Their letters included information about themselves, Juneau, and questions about what it is like to live in Barrow.  After scanning and emailing the letters, the students put together a Voice Thread.  They posted it on the Internet for their pen pals to see.  The VoiceThread is slide show of the students, their school, and a field-trip they took for water monitoring.   The slide show has audio clips from the students explaining the photos and interactive drawings highlighting significant features.  Using technology allowed the students to share information in a way not possible without using technology to communicate.
            McKenna said the first time he used technology for his students in Unalaska to communicate, they were inspired by the responses they received.  “They felt like they had a voice by having these people respond to them,” he said.

            McKenna uses technology in his instruction and his students use it in completing their work most every day. McKenna uses his Elmo to present visual information to the students.  The students are also encouraged to share their work with each other via the document camera.  Three computers are permanently in the classroom.  Alphasmarts are also available for students to type their work.  A laptop cart lives in his classroom (available to the whole school) and students type all their final writing.  McKenna also publishes student’s writing by recording their oral reading of their pieces and posting the MP3 files to the class website.  He assigns Study Island as weekly math homework, which is accessible on the Internet.  Students also have an online reading log, accessible on the class website.

            This year McKenna received six I Touches for a mini-grant he wrote.  The I Touches are primarily being introduced to the class to increase reading fluency (I Touches can record student’s voices and allow them to listen to stories on MP3 files).  However, when they are available to the students, they will be used to take photos, play Words With Friends, and be another classroom resource for students.

            Integrating technology is a motivating factor for his students learning, however, McKenna said it is important to keep the learning goals clear.  If the objectives are not solid for students they have the potential to get off task.  He said, “the trick is to keep the quality high (curriculum) while the motivation of the new tools draws them (students) in.”  McKenna said, that when used correctly, students can increase their problem solving and independence opportunities with technology. 

            Another important way McKenna uses technology is for communication with parents.  Parents are encouraged to participate in their student’s education by seeing what the class is doing on the website.  There is a weekly slide show illustrating what the class has been doing each week.  Brief photos with captions communicate to parents the highlights of the week.  Important documents, information, newsletters, and calendar dates are also posted to the site.  McKenna encourages parent volunteers on the site, with a survey asking parents to contribute their talents or help with classroom tasks.  Parents help grade spelling tests and multiplication quizzes and can simply “share” the Google Document to keep all records safe.  In this way, technology encourages the parent’s involvement in the class.

            Students that don’t have Internet access at home are encouraged to finish their online homework during class time.  McKenna does still make some paper copies of the weekly newsletter, but he said it is getting to be fewer each year.

Approximate Technology Inventory at Harborview:

Building level purchases:

- 32 G4 Apple desktops in computer lab

- 8 G4 Apple desktops in library

- 2 laptop carts with 20 Apple laptops (roving)

- 4-3 Apple desktops or laptops in each classroom (teacher’s choice)

- Software—Study Island (available on internet), Reading Eggs, Pages, Mavis Beacon,             Inspiration, Safari, Microsoft Office, Powerschool 

- Wireless Internet

- Elmo/Document Camera/Projector—In every classroom

- Front Row Microphone—Available to every teacher

- Interactive Smart Board—Available to every classroom (not in use due to lack of tech             support)

- Smart board—In computer lab (donation for teacher of the year)

- TV—In half of the classrooms (available on demand)

- Printers—one B&W in each class, one color printer in staff lounge, office printers             (wireless printing)

- Copy Machines—2 in school

- Headphones— 4 sets for each class

- Video Cameras—2 in library available to checkout

Individual Classroom’s Technology:

- 4 I-Pads (Steve Byers mini-grant)

- 6 I-Touches (Tom McKenna mini-grant)

- 30 Alphasmarts (technology grant dollars) in classrooms

- Projector, Large screen, Stereo with surround sound (gym)