Internet enhances learning at Academy of Notre Dame in Tyngsborough

TYNGSBOROUGH, Mass. – Students at the Academy of Notre Dame are learning skills through the Internet. Classrooms at the academy have been enhanced by the addition of interactive whiteboards for elementary and high school classrooms. A visit to any of the teachers using them reveals the benefits the boards bring to traditional teaching. “Lessons have now become more visual,” said Sue Turkovich, high school science instructor. “When teaching the digestive system, for example, I can bring an illustration up on the screen, add the element of peanut butter being ingested, then show it moving through the digestive tract by tracing the process in colors as the peanut butter hits each point in the system. “I can also make notations on it, then post it to my Web site.” This adds a multimedia dimension to the lesson. Plus, it lets students revisit the classroom by replaying it, something she said is helpful for visual learners and international students who may have more success by replaying the lectures. For high school history teacher Kristine Forsgard, developing students’ critical reading, thinking and writing skills are key components of her approach to teaching. She finds the boards helpful in enabling her to tap into the vast array of Internet resources. To demonstrate, she pulls up primary historical documents and has students find information within those documents, then analyze it. She also uses it in preparing students for We The People and Model U.N.