News
Teachers love to receive apples. But some lucky teachers got more than a perfect red, round piece of fruit. On Saturday, UTSA gave free Apple iPod Touches to 24 new San Antonio math and science teachers.
The new technology will be used to enhance their classroom lessons. It's part of UTSA's Generating Educational Excellence in Math And Science program.
The teachers will be able to use the hand-held equipment to integrate video from field trips. It's a huge iPod that pretty much does everything from Internet to basic calculator functions.
It's also a huge cost savings compared to buying a classroom set of computers.
Think about it.
Each iPod Touch costs $190, but the program is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. UTSA's GE2MS program works in close partnership with local school districts. Teachers also attended a special training session on Saturday, April 3rd.
It's a way for the district to engage students while using a technology that many students may already use. For those students who have not, they can become familiar with the donated iPods in class.
Teachers are all NOYCE scholars and are in their third through fifth year of teaching. It's one way UTSA. is helping to supplement what school districts are already doing to help retain remarkable teachers. "These are teachers that received a very large scholarship," said Lazor. "They were awarded $10,000 a year but they had to commit to teaching math or science."
"They are literally a small computer you can hold in your hand," said Joseph Lazor, the director of UTSA's GE2MS program. "In a sense, this is experimental."
"This is technology that students can even take outside the classroom," said Lazor. "You have immediate access to the Internet and students can look up answers to questions at their fingertips. For example, how deep is the ocean," said Lazor.
"The shortage of teachers in San Antonio is so critical, " said Lazor. He helped to illustrate that shortage by saying that "if all of the universities and alternative certification centers at Region 20 and San Antonio College doubled their output of teachers we still would not meet the needs of the local 15 school districts."
The teachers who recieved the iPods are from various school districts and attended universities across the city including St. Mary's University, Our Lady of the Lake University and Trinity University.
"Teachers will have this technology to help answer when students ask, "When will I ever need this?" Lazor said. "That's really the core of it."
The new technology will be used to enhance their classroom lessons. It's part of UTSA's Generating Educational Excellence in Math And Science program.
The teachers will be able to use the hand-held equipment to integrate video from field trips. It's a huge iPod that pretty much does everything from Internet to basic calculator functions.
It's also a huge cost savings compared to buying a classroom set of computers.
Think about it.
Each iPod Touch costs $190, but the program is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. UTSA's GE2MS program works in close partnership with local school districts. Teachers also attended a special training session on Saturday, April 3rd.
It's a way for the district to engage students while using a technology that many students may already use. For those students who have not, they can become familiar with the donated iPods in class.
Teachers are all NOYCE scholars and are in their third through fifth year of teaching. It's one way UTSA. is helping to supplement what school districts are already doing to help retain remarkable teachers. "These are teachers that received a very large scholarship," said Lazor. "They were awarded $10,000 a year but they had to commit to teaching math or science."
"They are literally a small computer you can hold in your hand," said Joseph Lazor, the director of UTSA's GE2MS program. "In a sense, this is experimental."
"This is technology that students can even take outside the classroom," said Lazor. "You have immediate access to the Internet and students can look up answers to questions at their fingertips. For example, how deep is the ocean," said Lazor.
"The shortage of teachers in San Antonio is so critical, " said Lazor. He helped to illustrate that shortage by saying that "if all of the universities and alternative certification centers at Region 20 and San Antonio College doubled their output of teachers we still would not meet the needs of the local 15 school districts."
The teachers who recieved the iPods are from various school districts and attended universities across the city including St. Mary's University, Our Lady of the Lake University and Trinity University.
"Teachers will have this technology to help answer when students ask, "When will I ever need this?" Lazor said. "That's really the core of it."
