Classroom technology reaching high levels in Carbon

By Sun Advocate

A row of students laugh as they learn a new way to do things on a computer.
Another student sits in back with an instructor and gets exposed to new ideas about using and maintaining a web site.
It looks like any other computer lab, with students doing what they should in Carbon School District. The difference here is that the students are teachers and staff, and so are the instructors in the classroom.
The Tech. Café held every Monday and Wednesday afternoon at Carbon School District’s Technology Center has succeeded in getting employees up to speed on new ways to use computer technology, and with Chromebooks now being introduced into many levels of the school system, it is more important than ever.
“Learning is the same for all ages,” said Rob Bradley, one of the instructors at the Tech. Cafe and a teacher at Carbon High School. “Students are students.”
Bradley, along with Scott Fincher and Paulie Vogrinic are charged with bringing staff who attend up to speed on various aspects of technology.
For the two hours the students were in the classroom it was all hands-on learning. As Fincher, who led the discussion from a smart board, and Vogrinic, who sat with the students to help with problems proceeded, little and large epiphanies came to those working on the computers. Just like the kids they teach, smiles, little yelps of happiness.
“This week we are teaching Google Classroom,” said Fincher, who in regular hours is a teacher at Mont Harmon Middle School. “But with the three of us here, we can be teaching something and we can accept drop ins who need instruction on other issues at the same time. We can work with them individually.”
That’s where the word Tech. Café comes from. Staff can order up what they need and the need can be filled, just like a food order would be taken and provided in a restaurant. In other words the Tech. Café is an open ended, “get help as you need it”, opportunity. Any school district staff member desiring to “upgrade” themselves in any area of educational technology can drop in anytime during the set hours and get help and training.
The technology training is important because presently every 6th -12th grade student in the district has access to a Chromebook for use in school and at home.
This year every 5th grade classroom has a Chromebook lab. Many elementary classrooms also have I-pads available for student use. The vast majority of classrooms in the district have SmartBoards. The Tech. Café is intended to elevate student learning and performance by training those that instruct.