TurningPoint® Case Study

Hillsdale Local Schools

BACKGROUND

Krista Fitch is a District Technology Coordinator for Hillsdale Local Schools in Ashland County, Ohio. She is a certified 1-8 grade teacher and obtained her master's degree from Ashland University in Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Technology. Hillsdale Local Schools is in a rural area of the state with less than 1,200 students in the district. Krista supports the technology in 60 classrooms in 3 schools. She had exposure to audience response systems in the past, but found Turning Technologies to be the right choice for her district's needs.

THE CHALLENGE

The district previously looked at another audience response system called Discourse, but by the time the district had enough money to possibly purchase the technology, it had disappeared from the market. It was also extremely price prohibitive since it required a lab of computers. Because of the small size of rural school districts, technology funding is always an issue. The Hillsdale District is dedicated to innovative ways to elevate educational methods, but must be cognizant of tight budgets and utilization of technology that can be shared across the district. Krista stated that TurningPoint was chosen for many reasons, but its affordability and portability were critical selling points. She bought 10 sets with the ACCESS grant for the district to share. So far, teachers in all three buildings: the elementary, middle and high school, have implemented TurningPoint. Some of the disciplines that already make use of TurningPoint are 4th grade science, 3rd grade language arts, middle school Family and Consumer Science, 6th grade science, and high school Math, Algebra and Biology. Other teachers are scheduled to be trained and hoping to be integrate TurningPoint by this spring.

THE SOLUTION

Krista is a seasoned educator who loves to share stories about students – especially when it illustrates enthusiasm about learning. When discussing how Turning Technologies' student response system has made an impact, one story comes to her mind immediately.

In a fourth grade science class, a teacher was struggling terribly with a student. He refused to participate in group activities, was reluctant all year and his average test scores were 40-50%. One day the teacher decided to implement TurningPoint during test review. The whole class was engaged while using the ResponseCard keypads to interact with the teacher's interactive questions, but the troubled student was the most vocal. He eagerly exclaimed, "I love this—it's so much fun! Can we do it again?"

The next day, during a traditional pencil and paper test, the young boy scored a 95%. As the teacher graded the paper, she was overwhelmed with emotion. For a student who had been so melancholy about learning, she was thrilled that she found a solution that worked for him. The teacher continues to use this method with success.

Krista has been pleased with the teachers' positive feedback. "We are all so excited to have TurningPoint in our schools. It is the ultimate answer for gauging immediate whole class response to concepts."

Teachers enjoy using TurningPoint for test reviews and learning assessments following lectures to ensure "no child is left behind."

TurningPoint also allows teachers to capitalize on its reporting features and center in on the responses of particular students; defining who is "getting it." With complete PowerPoint® integration and detailed reporting via Word® and Excel®, TurningPoint generates a variety of response reports. When teachers are ready, they can simply launch the Reports Wizard from the TurningPoint toolbar and chose from a variety of report types including: Results by Question, Results by Participant, Graded Participant Results and more! The reports wizard guides teachers through a step-by-step process to create extremely detailed reports. The functionality and formatting are consistent with Word and Excel, making report generation a simple, efficient task. To learn more, please visit http://turningtechnologies.com/site/products/msexcel.cfm .

CONCLUSION

"Research shows in most classrooms only 5% of students actually interact – raising hands, answering all the questions. Kids fall through these cracks in the system," said Krista. "Fortunately, TurningPoint makes it so that can't happen. We can be sure we are reaching all of them."

Krista said with complete certainty she'd be thrilled to invest in more systems for the district when grants allow. It has been a breakthrough for teachers and students alike.

For more information about purchasing Turning Technologies' audience response systems for your school district, contact us at 866-746-3015.