Boston Tech Conference Spurs on Ridgewood Classroom Integration

Ridgewood teacher John Altieri said his yearlong foray into technology education has not only improved his students' knowledge of the world in a global sense but also in their own backyard.

"Yes, it's contributed to their classroom  learning, but we've been able to integrate and make connections in the town to share what we are all doing individually and as a class," the Willard Elementary School teacher said.

With three of his Ridgewood school district peers, Altieri recently attended the Building Learning Communities Conference in Boston, hosted by technology education consultant Alan November. And, taxpayers, don't be alarmed—the transportation and conference fees were funded through scholarships and grants.

In 2009, Ridgewood teachers took November's fall seminar and then created innovative classroom projects utilizing the Internet, district spokesperson Debra Anderson said. November then gave a lecture to the community on the benefits of digital learning.

Ridgewood's Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Regina Botsford said November's course empowers teachers to use technology, not force them to.

"It's about good, rigorous learning in the 21st century. [November's] taught us how to use the tools we have," Botsford said. "He's saying, 'Don't use the $2,000 pencil just because,' but instead it's about teachers taking his ideas and making them their own."

The full-registration scholarships, each valued at $750, were received through the district's participation with the Virtual Learning Communities in-service course through Kean University this past year, Anderson said. The Ridgewood Education Foundation helped provide transportation funding for the trip to Massachusetts.

"[W]e have some funds that are meant for teacher development that had not been committed, and when Regina approached us with a request, we felt that it would be worth taking advantage of..." foundation President Liz Gordon said, adding often the development funding comes from alumni gifts to celebrate reunion years.

Altieri attended the July 14 to 16 conference with Ridge librarian Margaret Best, Willard technology associate Ann Garrett, and Ridgewood High School social studies teacher Sean Kase. The four presented to their peers how they incorporated technology into their Ridgewood classrooms and learned how others did the same.

"I learned so much about the technology that now I can see which ones have the capabilities for us to use and experience," Altieri said.

At Willard, Altieri has incorporated the social networking website Ning into the school's "Go Green" initiative, helped the Photo Club share and critique work, and stayed in touch with the community for the school's wellness campaign.

However, all the technology exposure has made Altieri keenly aware that people "can get sucked into technology...

"We're humans, and we should interact with the world around us, not interact with machines. We need to teach kids that there's a balance, as I think there's an imbalance with the world around us. Let's get them out into our towns," he said.

Altieri has had local historians interact with his students. For another example, Botsford said high school anatomy and physiology students took videos from the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook and posted data online.

Additionally, the four conference attendees will share their experiences during in-service workshops with Ridgewood faculty in September. 

"We'll sit down and debrief on it," Botsford said. "As a result, we'll go through and see what our teachers can work with."