Technology takes hold in Temecula classroom

By: JENNIFER KABBANY - Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 28, 2005 9:39 PM PST ∞

TEMECULA ---- The days of Scantrons and No. 2 pencils are not over yet, but as technology continues to expand, so does their use in the classroom.

One Temecula teacher has scrapped pen and paper for the Internet to administer homework and test his students. For these tasks, Temecula Valley High School history teacher B.K. Thomas uses the Web site www.quia.com and swears by its usefulness.

"I am a big believer," he said.

The benefits of using quia.com, Thomas said, include helping students become more computer-literate and enabling students who are traveling to keep up with homework and tests. The site calculates and organizes test results, freeing up time to prepare for classroom lectures.

But by far the best benefit, Thomas said, is that it enhances student achievement.

"It gives my students a chance to focus on what I think is important," Thomas said. "They are able to prepare. My test averages are through the roof."

Quia.com aims to make educators' jobs easier and more streamlined by allowing teachers to create customized educational software online, built around their own course materials, so that the material can made available to students over the Internet, according to the Web site.

Thomas' students can log onto the site each night to complete voluntary homework consisting of 15 to 20 questions based on their reading assignment or a lecture or film from the classroom that day. And every day, Thomas gives a 10-question quiz based on questions from the night before.

"They are getting a peek at what the quiz questions would be the next day," Thomas said.

On test days, Thomas takes his class to the computer lab, and the Web site randomly selects 100 questions from those provided in quizzes. Student are given different versions of the test to ensure test security, Thomas said.

Thomas said he shouldn't be asking his students something he hasn't covered, and that they have access to a pool of the more than 200 quiz questions leading up to the test that they can review prior to the exam. They can also take the test more than once during their testing period and turn in their highest score, Thomas said.

"We allow them to take their SATs multiple times," Thomas said of why he allows students to take the test more than once. "Also, since I am extracting questions from a pool, this increases the odds they are going to get a test balanced between hard and easy questions."

Underscoring those points, Thomas said he supports the concept of portfolio work, in which students are allowed to present their best work, just like artists or models.

Despite access to the questions before quizzes and test, Thomas said he still has students failing his class. And every year, there are one or two students who tell him they don't have computer access at home. Thomas said those students can use the campus library or computer lab and are sometimes provided class time to access the Web site.

Students in Thomas' class said they like using the Web site, as it decreases their amount of study time because they know exactly what to study. Some students said they were somewhat mixed on the testing method, however.

"It's a lot easier and it goes a lot faster," junior Eric Williams, 16, said of testing on quia.com. "It's a lot more organized, and if I don't do really well the first time, I can take it again."

Junior Stephanie Empey, 16, said that while she likes having access to the question pool prior to the test, she believes letting students take the test more than once is a bit much.

"I think it's a little too easy," she said. "I have a 102 percent in the class."

Thomas said he isn't easy on his students, citing a quiz every day and lots of reading homework every night, so he said he thinks his methods are balanced.

"I expect a lot out of them," Thomas said.

Thomas has used quia.com for five years and in that time has created a bank of more than 15,000 questions based on books and materials he presents in class. He said he pays for the annual $50 subscription out of his own pocket.

A handful of other teachers at the campus also are using quia.com, mainly foreign language teachers who find the Web site useful, Thomas said. He said he thinks the site and others like it will catch on more over time.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.

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