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Pasco Students Tested On New Gadget

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 13, 2008

DADE CITY - About 20 Pasco Elementary students experimented this week with a new way of taking tests, a method that could provide a peek into the classroom of the future.

The children used a hand-held device called a student responder to plug in their answers on a third-grade math assessment that serves as a benchmark for measuring how much they know and what they need to learn.

The responders, which are roughly the size of a television remote control, feed the students' answers into a computer, enabling teachers and district administrators to know within minutes how well the students performed and what areas require further instruction. They quickly provide educators with a wealth of data that otherwise might take days or weeks to compile.

"It will make my job easier," said teacher Marilyn Sampson, whose students were the first at their school to work with the responders.

The Pasco County School District also has tried out the devices at Chasco Elementary, Land O' Lakes High and Wesley Chapel High.

Right now, the district has just 60 responders, not enough to put one in each school, must less one in the hands of all 63,000 students.

Ronnie Blair

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