School districts in Berks County have spent millions of dollars on technology to shift students from consuming content to producing content. The next decade will pivot them toward honing that content to increase their impact on their communities and the world.
As part of its 25th Anniversary Celebration, Berks County Community Foundation is producing a variety of information projects like this one at Berks Vital Signs.
Journalist Anthony Orozco created the most recent report, which is about how technology is transforming education in Berks. You can read it here:
https://berksvitalsigns.com/data-stories/?date=1560318899
Excerpt: Governor Mifflin students are peering at the screens of their phones and tablets when suddenly an image of the Great Sphinx of Giza appears for them to examine.
A few miles away in the farmland of the Tulpehocken Area School District, children wear headsets to be virtually transported among a crowd of asylum seekers gathering at the U.S.-Mexico border.
At Southern Middle School in Reading, seventh-grade student Sharelle Scott concentrates on lines of computer code – delicate building blocks of a video game she creates in real time.
“I want to create my own game, a survival game or an open world, but you have to take time to realize what all goes into it,” Sharelle said.
Students at Southern Middle School in the Reading School District spend significant time
learning computer coding and working with technology. (Photo: Reading School District)
The scenes are common in classrooms across Berks County as districts invest further in teaching and using technology to make curricula more engaging and relevant.
Districts in recent years have spent millions of dollars to provide students with the tools of a modern education. New teaching strategies, blended online/in-person learning and cutting-edge technology have created an educational system that is drastically different from what their parents experienced just a few years ago. The next decade will show what students choose to do with what they’re learning.
