High-tech table lets students go far together

Eight little hands slide across a touch-screen computer, finding their way to Africa, Europe and North America. Beneath them, the giant monitor glows with a map of the world.

They're learning about geography, but these four second-graders at Lee Elementary Magnet School also are getting a lesson that might help them later in life.

"They're working together as a team and learning to respect each others' ideas," said their teacher, Leticia Nathan.

Her class is the first in Hillsborough County - and one of the first in the state - to get its hands on a SMART Table, an interactive computer designed for students from preschool to sixth grade.

The table lets up to eight students solve problems collaboratively, the way they already interact outside the classroom, said Susan King, supervisor of magnet schools for the Hillsborough County Public Schools district.

"The days of standing in front of a classroom are gone," she said. "We have to go where the student is."

Lessons range from math to social studies to art - a favorite of 7-year-old Eion Scott, who dragged his index finger across the screen and was delighted to see squiggles of red, green and blue trailing behind.

"It's really fun," said his classmate, Olivia Carey-Jones, also 7.

Added NynLisayha Pitt, who was looking forward to her turn at the table: "It's learnable."

Lee, with about 340 students and an educational focus on technology, is the pilot site for the computer designed by the SMART Technologies of Canada.

The company also makes SMART Boards, an interactive white board that has replaced chalkboards and plain, wipe-away boards inside Lee and many other Hillsborough County schools.

"We can't teach without it," said Lee Principal Mamie Buzzetti, who expects the same level of success with the SMART Table. "It's a great tool."

The table cost $8,000 and was paid for through a federal grant for technical school equipment, King said.

"It's like having eight computers in the classroom," she said.

All of Nathan's students have a laptop to use in the classroom, but the one-on-one instruction can be time-consuming compared to the SMART Table, which requires little direction and allows young students to jump right into lessons without complicated steps, she said.

On the eighth day of classes, students were learning the basics, Nathan said.

"And I'm still learning, too."