Project REAL adds cutting-edge
technology to Rockford classrooms

by Mark McGowan

Project REAL – the federally funded partnership between NIU, Rock Valley College and the Rockford Public Schools to enhance teacher quality – has donated 141 “mimios” to help students become better gatherers of information.

Mimios are portable computers that turn any whiteboard into a “smart board” that instantly transmits handwriting, symbols, graphs and lecture notes to a computer.

The units are at Jefferson High School, Rockford Environmental Science Academy and Rolling Green and Nelson elementary schools. The donor is a community partner in Project REAL – or Rockford Education Alliance – funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant of $4.875 million to NIU, Rock Valley College and District 205.

Project REAL stems from NIU’s significant interest in improving Rockford’s public schools through enhancing teacher quality. Mimios further this mission by bringing Rockford classrooms into the 21st century while preparing students and teachers to use learning technologies.

“The idea is to get the teachers to look at ways the technology can facilitate student learning,” said Sharon Smaldino, Project REAL director and NIU’s LD and Ruth G. Morgridge Chair in Teacher Education and Preparation in the College of Education.

“The ability to capture and retrieve notes, drawings and other class materials creates a better learning environment. Teachers are much more easily able to incorporate learning material into reviews and homework, and students benefit because mimios help with information retrieval.”

Ann Rundall, director of professional development in District 205, said teachers are completing training on the machines and “should be in full swing by summer.”

Jefferson High School teachers just began using the mimios, Smaldino said, and early reports indicate they are “thrilled.”

“The mimio machines are another wonderful tool to help with instruction,” Rundall said. “Anything we can do to make learning more engaging and interactive is great. There’s no reason why these four schools can’t become models of excellence for us all.”

“I have seen that the teachers are very excited about what this equipment can do. Even just to take notes and capture them is wonderful, or if a student is absent, that student could get missed notes much easier,” added Mary Lai, business education teacher at Jefferson and coordinator of installation and training for the mimios.

“For kids who have trouble or need additional tutoring, this is an excellent way to give them typed notes. The mimios will have a positive impact especially for learning-disabled students, whose caseworkers often request that classroom materials be presented in typed note form.”

Steve Builta, information systems manager in the NIU College of Education, said he hopes Rockford teachers latch on to the technology.

Mimios easily transfer a teacher’s prepared materials and spontaneous notes jotted on the white board during class to floppy disks or Web sites.

“The mimios do an excellent job of recording things written to a white board and make it easier for classroom discussion to take place. Students don’t have to fixate on writing all the notes down. They can participate in the brainstorming activity,” Builta said.

“It will do a real good job of helping to reinforce those images and those pictures and those things that were written down on the board, and provide students with an instructor’s version of what went on in the classroom that they can add to their notes and compare to their notes.”

That comparison also makes students “more likely to pay attention to critical facts and less likely to get caught up in the less relevant and not listen to what the teacher is saying,” said Smaldino, whose career in educational technology began when she noticed how her Apple IIe captured the attention of children.

Teachers also can refresh students on previous lessons while presenting new ideas and drawing connections between topics.

“It’s an interesting way to keep kids focused on learning, which is the goal of the project,” Smaldino said.

Much depends on the teachers, however, who Builta said will gain immeasurably if they’re willing to embrace the technology.

“It’s simple to operate and doesn’t require all that much training,” Builta said. “Most people can pick it up in a few minutes and be working it productively that quickly.”

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