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Schools host technology camp for teachers

Photo by James Nix

Cindy Deal, a technology facilitator from C.E. Boger Elementary, explains features of the Smart Board to teachers from different schools during a technology camp at Hickory Ridge High School Tuesday morning.

By Jessica Groover | Independent Tribune

Published: August 12, 2009

HARRISBURG — The teachers became the students this week for Cabarrus County Schools' second annual Summer Technology Camp at Hickory Ridge High School.

The camp, which began Tuesday and ends today, provides two days of free workshops run by the school system's technology department.

"It's something we've all wrapped our hands around," said Steve Alexander, chief technology officer for the school system. "If we are doing 21st-century technology, we've got to train our teachers. It's hard to take teachers out and train them."

Last year, about 600 teachers attended, Alexander said. This year, approximately 450 registered prior to the camp, but more were expected.

At the camp, workshops provided information about topics such as Twitter, keyboard shortcuts, online resources and SMART Boards, a brand of interactive whiteboards. On Tuesday, 13 teachers attended a session on SMART Board tricks, presented by Yvonne Coley and Cindy Deal.

Besides learning how to navigate through the tools on SMART Boards, the teachers also learned tips for troubleshooting. For example, Deal told teachers that if a student accidentally uses a permanent marker on the SMART Board, using a dry erase marker to write over everything the student wrote will fix it.

Many of the teachers who learned about the SMART Board tricks were interested in that topic for all of the sessions they planned on attending.

"It's the technology of the future," said Sharon Koch, an English and social studies teacher for seventh-graders at J.N. Fries Middle School.

Koch said she came to the camp, because there is not always time to learn about technology during the school year.

"Our technology people are busy, and it takes time to get back to us with our questions," Koch said. "Here, I can ask questions."

While some teachers were more focused on learning about SMART Boards, others had several topics in mind.

Azalea Howie, a business teacher at Central Cabarrus High School, said she was interested in learning about Twitter and Google applications to eventually have a paperless classroom.

"With Google Apps, you can share information on the Internet," Howie said. "Students can make corrections, add and delete on one document (online)."

Whether teachers were interested in SMART Boards, Twitter or other types of technology, one feature of the camp many of them enjoyed was meeting each other and forming relationships.

"It's nice to see teachers from across the board," said Krista Eason, a kindergarten teacher for Harrisburg Elementary School. "You kind of build a camaraderie."