At Sunnyside Elementary School in McKenney, first-graders who are using clay and cookie-cutter figures aren't just playing. They're learning math and computer technology.

Students at the Dinwiddie County school took photos of their clay figures to be downloaded into a computer, made a video, wrote a math word problem in a story form and narrated the video.

"They're incorporating math, writing, oral language, technology, all into one activity," said Betty Spiers, the school's instructional technology resource teacher. "It's pulling together cooperative learning."

The Dinwiddie school system recently won the division leadership award from the Southside Virginia Regional Technology Consortium for its classroom technology integration.

The Longwood University-based consortium, composed of 25 school systems, coordinates acquisition and effective integration of technology in schools to enhance learning and encourage economic development in Southside Virginia.

Dinwiddie tied for the division leadership award with Patrick County.

The consortium committee looked at how Dinwiddie school administrators and the School Board support a rich learning environment, the school system's technology plan and the technology impact in the classroom, said Manorama Talaiver, director for the Institute for Teaching Through Technology and Innovative Practices at Longwood.

"Every teacher [in the system] has a laptop," she said.

School administrators have offered 100 different workshops for teacher training, Talaiver added. They were trying to motivate teachers to do things in a different way. Teachers are doing more on project-based learning, rather than lecturing.

Talaiver also noted that Dinwiddie keeps in contact with parents through a Web-based system through which parents can view school and class information, assignments and grades.

Christie Clarke, the Dinwiddie school system's coordinator of instructional technology, said every school in the county has an instructional technology resource teacher.

"They work with teachers to plan to integrate technology in their lessons," she said. "They usually plan a week or two weeks ahead. Some plan for the whole year.

"We're trying to have technology that's seamless, not something that's extra for them to do," she said.

Technology training has been key for teachers to become savvy enough to stay a step ahead of the students or just to keep up, Clarke said.

At Sunnyside Elementary, the former principal was a major supporter of technology, and that makes a big different, she said.

In addition to the division award, high school geometry teacher Ann Flynn received the technology teacher award for integrating technology into the curriculum.

She created a Moodle Web site for her class, then her school and the system. Moodle is free software that's designed to help educators create online courses.

"This has been extremely helpful for those students who take more than one time to learn the material."

The Web site also allows suspended students to keep up with the class, Flynn said.

When she is sick, she can upload lesson plans, which is important to keep the curriculum pace for the Standards of Learning, Flynn said.

"It's amazing what this thing can do."
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or jlizama@timesdispatch.com.