By Jennifer Mrozowski
Enquirer staff writer

Sixth grade student Markera Wardlow, left, looks over a Smart Board with fellow classmates during Andrew Boy's science class at the W.E.B. DuBois academy in Over-the-Rhine. The Smart Boards act not only as a video/digital projector, but a giant touch screen and writing board all in one. The school received two of these through a grant. The Enquirer/CR. (Craig Ruttle/The Enquirer)

Picture a private-school classroom in Indian Hill where kindergarten students have a two-way video conference with the Cleveland Museum of Art and discuss the use of color in Renoir's paintings.

Try to visualize a parent in Bridgetown accessing the Internet at home and checking weekly updates on her child's test grades, assignment grades and missed homework assignments.

Or a charter school classroom in Over-the-Rhine where students take temperature readings for a science experiment and watch the changes plotted out electronically on a computerized projection screen.

Well, imagine no more.

All that and more is happening in classrooms in Greater Cincinnati.

While schools vary broadly in their capabilities, more in Greater Cincinnati are entering the tech age to change how teachers teach and students learn.

"Technology makes it possible for kids to be active in a new way and a way in which they are comfortable," said Joseph Hofmeister, Cincinnati County Day School's director of technology.

Country Day, a private school in Indian Hill, requires parents to buy laptops for students in grades 5-12. Hofmeister said the wireless laptops make teaching and learning more creative and interactive.

TECH TIP

Tech tip for parents: Tell kids turn 'em off or turn 'em in About four of 10 children in the United States owns some kind of wireless electronic device, according to a study of children ages 4-18 in June 2002 by marketing firms Circle 1 Network and SpectraCom. Jennifer Mrozowski

No more scheduling visits to computer labs so students can do research or work on papers. When students have questions in class that can't easily be answered, they can immediately use the Internet from the wireless laptops.

Students are also encouraged to use e-mail or instant-messaging to contact professors and experts for their input on classroom topics, Hofmeister said.

They take notes on the laptops, type and edit papers on them, e-mail drafts to teachers, receive them back with comments, correct them and send the final version - all electronically.

More teachers also are using technology to assess students and tailor lessons to individual needs.

About 30 administrators, principals and special-education teachers use tablet PCs in Kenton County Schools. The tablets are like laptops but have a swivel screen that can be laid flat and written on with an electronic pen.

They are great for students in special-education classes because the tablet can read aloud E-books, or electronic versions of books, which can be found free on the Internet, said Vicki Fields, the district's technology coordinator.

Students can highlight passages being read, make notes on the screen and store the electronic notes in the tablet's memory.

Other districts are trying to improve teaching by using technology to track student progress and produce individualized reports for teachers.

Cincinnati Public Schools is implementing a computerized system that allows teachers to track how well each student does on required state standards.

Teachers can use the system to create reports detailing whether their entire class has mastered a topic or series of topics. Then the teacher can group students who need more help.

Mason City Schools is implementing a similar system. The district will provide teachers with class reports that assess how their students perform academically and cognitively on local and state tests. Eventually, the district will provide teachers with a computerized profile for each student, detailing strengths and needs.

More districts are also using programs that allow teachers to post students' grades, attendance, homework assignments and discipline problems on a secure, password-protected Internet site that can be accessed by parents and students.

E-mail jmrozowski@enquirer.com