Register Staff
9-8-2009

During this past school year the Foundation for Excellence donated nearly $60,000 to Bishop Union High School to upgrade classroom technology.
The funds will be put to use upgrading the school with some of the most up to date technology available and increase efficiency in these tough economic times. The technology will speed up the old time hogs of attendance and kids raising hands to answer questions – now its all electronic.
“I am deeply grateful to the Foundation,” said Bishop High principal Kristine Kulow, “for providing us an opportunity to bring twenty-first century education to twenty-first century kids.”
Beginning with the classroom of Jeff Pratt, BUHS Social Studies and Foreign Language teacher, classrooms are going electronic. The electronic classroom integrates support material from new textbooks through the computer and onto an interactive overhead projector.
Since it is attached to a computer with Internet access teachers can pull up the most up-to-date maps or breaking news, both photographs and stories from digital newspapers, and display it to the entire class. As a foreign language advantage students can simultaneously and instantaneously see both words and hear pronunciation in surround sound.
For science classes, the “document camera,” which is tied into the computer and projector is one of the biggest advantages because a specimen can be placed under the camera and is at once magnified on the classroom screen. This feature can also be used to project documents, much like an overhead projector with transparencies but with the advantage of working with the lights on.
The most important feature is the built-in “Student Response System” also called “Clickers.” Each student is assigned a “clicker” or small remote control that enables him or her to respond electronically. This means near instantaneous and simultaneous answers – the old days of a single student answering a question are over.