Texas District Expanding Use of Online Teaching Platform

A school district in Texas is broadening its use of a Web-based platform for managing math and English instruction. It tested the platform,Time To Know, last year as part of a 1:1 computing experiment in four elementary school classrooms.

Grand Prairie Independent School District launched its 1:1 initiative in the 2009-2010 school year in two classes at Austin Elementary School and two classes in Whitt Elementary School. Beginning this year, the district is expanding the program to all fourth- and fifth-grade classes at those two schools for use in math and language arts.

Time To Know is a digital teaching platform that provides an interactive core curriculum targeted toward grades 4 and 5, as well as collaborative tools designed to support group activities and discussions; various summative and formative assessment capabilities; interactive lesson planning with content previews; and a range of real-time classroom management utilities.

"Placing curriculum software in the classroom or even a computer in the hands of every student is only one step toward truly changing teaching and learning," said Susan Simpson, Grand Prairie ISD superintendent, in a written statement released earlier this month. "What's unique about the Time To Know digital teaching platform is that it enhances the teachers' role as mentor and coach by allowing them to spend less time presenting basic content and more time guiding and advising students. The teacher controls each lesson with real-time tools to manage all classroom activities and deliver an individualized curriculum to each student. By combining the teacher's expertise with the power of 21st century technology tools, we are addressing each student's unique needs and improve the quality of learning for all, as evidenced by students' remarkable gains."

Grand Prairie ISD serves 26,000 students in a 58-square mile area in Dallas County. The district has 25 elementary schools, seven middle schools, two ninth grade schools, and three high schools, as well as other centers and programs.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


Featured

  •  laptop on a clean desk with digital padlock icon on the screen

    Data Privacy a Top Concern as Orgs Scale Up AI Agents

    As organizations race to integrate AI agents into their cloud operations and workflows, they face a crucial reality: while enthusiasm is high, major adoption barriers remain, according to a new Cloudera report. Chief among them is the challenge of safeguarding sensitive data.

  • chart with ascending bars and two silhouetted figures observing it, set against a light background with blue and purple tones

    Report: Enterprises Are Embracing Agentic AI

    According to a new report from SnapLogic, 50% of enterprises are already deploying AI agents, and another 32% plan to do so within the next 12 months..

  • stacks of glowing digital documents with circuit patterns and data streams

    Mistral AI Intros Advanced AI-Powered OCR

    French AI startup Mistral AI has announced Mistral OCR, an advanced optical character recognition (OCR) API designed to convert printed and scanned documents into digital files with "unprecedented accuracy."

  • student using a tablet with math symbols dissolving into a glowing AI

    Survey: Students Say AI Use Can Reduce Math Anxiety

    In a recent survey, 56% of high school students said that the use of artificial intelligence can go a long way toward reducing math anxiety.