A strong proponent of the power of technology to assist both students and educators, Portales Junior High eighth-grade teacher Ginger Golden recently spoke to HotChalk about how technology is working for her. Due to a one-to-one learning pilot project Portales is launching, 85-90 percent of seventh and eighth grade students have their own personal laptop for the year. Golden is excited about how the technology enables “teachable moments” and encourages critical thinking skills. “If something comes up, we can just get on the Internet right away and go deeper,” she says.

Golden also tells us she finds HotChalk a major boon to the digital age education she strives to give her students. Interactive learning can extend beyond classroom hours as students safely post comments and questions in the HotChalk online learning environment and their peers and Golden respond. Parents can also log on to see what the conversation is all about and get more involved in what their students are studying and asking about.

Between teaching full time and taking online courses for her Masters Degree, Golden doesn’t have many spare moments during the day. That’s one reason why being able to write a quick note to the whole class or post assignments and then just hit the Send button once, is a welcome regular time saver.

Time saved?
Two to three hours a week.

Timely feedback and self-paced instruction are two additional advantages of using the HotChalk Learning Environment in Golden’s opinion. The quiz grading feature lets students see their scores immediately online and the ability for her to create and post a document with links that students can follow on their own helps individualize learning.

Golden’s tips for those new to HotChalk?
Get into the space of the “digital native.” “Kids are entirely comfortable with online environments, and once you get the hang of it, it’s a life saver.”

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