Getting high school students excited about the laws of thermodynamics has never been easy.
But physics class has become a lot more interesting lately for Grade 11 students at Riverside secondary school in Port Coquitlam. Debra Nordheimer’s physics class has gone digital – and largely paperless.
As part of a pilot project involving Samsung, the class has been given 31 Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablets, and instead of a whiteboard, the teacher has a 65-inch digital touch screen.
“It’s way more interactive, [and] they can be way more creative on a different level,” said Nordheimer. “When they’re doing labs for me, they can import little video clips of them doing a lab. Because it’s more interesting and they can be more creative, they can be more engaged.”
The tablets and e-Board are connected via WiFi through the Samsung Smart School platform and allows for interactivity. The teacher can pull up any of the screens of the students’ tablets so the whole class can see their work. Conversely, students can see what’s on the teacher’s e-Board or her tablet on their own.
Nordheimer can see thumbnails of each student’s screen on her own tablet, which allows her to tell at a glance if all students are on the right page. She can also pull up their screens onto the e-Board so others can see the student’s work.
“I can interact with my students from across the room,” she said.
Because the syllabus for Nordheimer’s class is digitized, the tablets replace notebooks and textbooks. Students use a stylus that allows them to write on the tablets without having to type. Snap-on keyboards can also be used for typing.
One of the benefits of the digi tal classroom is that it allows the teacher to pull current events into her curriculum. For example, Nordheimer might pull up video of meteors exploding over Russia as part of a discussion on sound waves and sonic booms.
Students have to be signed in to Samsung Smart School in class for her to see what’s on their tablet, so teachers can’t see what the students are doing on their tablets outside of class. The tablets must be given back at the end of the school year, and if they’re lost, students are responsible for replacing them. Each tablet retails for about $500.
Riverside is one of 20 schools around the world involved in the Samsung Smart School pilot project, but the first in Canada.
“We want to learn from those pilots, tweak the solution and the intention is to be in the education space for some time,” said Philippe Lozier, director of business solutions for Samsung Canada. “The feedback has been absolutely positive at all levels.”
Once the pilot project is done, the school can keep the tablets and e-Board. It’s then up to the school whether it wants to broaden the Samsung Smart School throughout the school. •
