The following exemplify the many schools across Alaska where EETT is making a positive difference in teaching, learning, and closing the digital divide.
The Fairbanks School District Write On! Project sought to improve the writing ability of elementary students through the use of technology. Two hundred of the lowest performing 3rd- through 6th-grade students in the five lowest performing elementary schools in the district were to use AlphaSmart technology (small laptops) to increase their writing ability. Target schools and students were selected, lesson plans created, and teachers trained through a combination of group workshops, in-classroom model lesson demonstrations, and one-on-one instruction. The Write On! students who used AlphaSmarts posted significantly higher gains in language arts than those who did not use AlphaSmarts. While 5th graders using AlphaSmarts showed more positive results in Writing, 6th graders showed more positive results in Reading.
