In today’s world, children are exposed to computerized technology from the day they are born. They don’t learn to use technology; it is the ocean in which they swim.

For adults born in yesterday’s world of corded telephones, typewriters and transistor radios, becoming skilled with computers is like learning to swim as an adult. It simply requires a desire to take the plunge and some instruction.

"The students we have in our classrooms today are part of Generation Y – the technology-infused generation," says Cory Boggs, AIT program coordinator and curriculum integration specialist for Putnam City Schools. "They feel completely comfortable using technology and incorporate it in all aspects of their lives. For some of our teachers, using and incorporating technology can be more difficult because they did not grow up texting on a cell phone while listening to an ipod, sitting in iHop, wirelessly finding research online for their term paper."

Boggs says that the technology-rich world is why the AIT course is so important for teachers.

"A majority of our teachers did not have any courses in college on using and teaching with technology," Boggs said. "What we’re doing is getting teachers up to speed with the world around them."

AIT instructors Marj Ivens and Cathy Woolery strive to teach the class in a manner that teachers of varying computer backgrounds can learn more about technology to benefit students in their classrooms.

"Each class has participants from every discipline, every grade level and every level of technological ability," says Ivens. "What we have discovered is amazing. All of them learn!"

Ivens and Woolery teach each technological aspect in a step-by-step process and provide time for each participant to develop projects. The instructors offer suggestions, answer questions, provide additional research and resources and guide participants until the participants feel confident.

Kindergarten teacher Tina Lewis looks on as her students show the Power Point program they created on the computer about caterpillars and butterflies. Lewis teaches at Ralph Downs Elementary School.

Boggs feels technology integration is key when it comes to engaging students.

"Putnam City is fortunate to have dedicated teachers who are eager to learn how to successfully integrate technology into their daily lessons and curriculum" he says.

Boggs remembers a teacher who found that technology revitalized her teaching.

"I remember speaking with a seasoned teacher who was ready to try some new things. She took AIT, started using what she learned, and her students immediately became excited and engaged. Students wanted more and more, and the teacher was thrilled and looking forward to each new lesson," Boggs says.

As part of the program, each teacher who completes AIT is checked out a laptop computer for their professional use as long as he or she is in Putnam City Schools.

"Since there is only one of me and so many of the students, this is a way they can get one-on-one assistance," said Lewis. "My students are able to do so much more because the third-graders are there to help."

A Ralph Downs third-grade student(standing) assists his kindergarten Computer Pal as the younger student learns about the alphabet.

Lewis said the older students get excited to work with her kindergarteners, and they broaden their knowledge about technology while helping their Computer Pals.

"AIT has helped me provide an inviting approach to the computer, which has brought my children to a higher level of skills and comprehension," says Lewis.

Her class began the year as scientists. They researched the Black Swallow Tail and Monarch butterfly eggs through observation, the Internet and literature. In small groups the class worked together to create a PowerPoint presentation of the four stages of the butterfly. The students learned skills in color, movement, music, font and more. Pictures were then taken of the four life stages and printed for the students to sequence the stages.

"The students’ simple PowerPoint is a masterpiece to them," Lewis says.

Western Oaks Middle School teacher Thea Lanier has taught grades kindergarten through grade 8 and found that every grade level benefits from the hands-on learning a computer provides.

"In today’s world for a student to be competitive in a global market, we can no longer rely on traditional educational strategies," Lanier says. "Computer usage teaches the children how to manage information and allows for opportunities to develop higher level thinking skills. Creative uses of technology can reach all students, regardless of their learning style or strategies for acquiring information."

Lanier says that AIT focused on skills needed in the workforce today and provided teachers with many ideas to educate themselves and others.

"Not only does technology engage the student’s interest level better than traditional methods like lecture and discussion, but it also stimulates original thought," says Lanier.

Two kindergarteners at Ralph Downs Elementary work together on a project sequencing the four stages of a butterfly's life. Students researched life stages of a butterfly and printed out resources on a school computer.

Lanier says that special needs students are excited with the basic discoveries they create, and gifted and talented students dive deep into unlimited details of a project. Her students often comment how fast the time flies when they are working on computer assignments, and they always want to add more, do more and learn more!

Putnam City West teacher Tracey Johnson agrees.

"It is really rewarding to see the students’ eyes light up, and I have to tear my students away from the computers," Johnson says.

Johnson explained that she and other teachers who have taken AIT realize that computer technology is needed on most jobs except perhaps for mowing lawns and folding laundry.

"Technology is good for every student, and it levels the playing field for students with learning disabilities or students who are not academically gifted," Johnson says. "They can achieve success just like other students. Marginal students may be familiar with playing video games and have some background with computers, so working with technology is great for them."

The high school students in Johnson’s classes learn to research, write and prepare a term paper so that when they get to senior level English classes, the process is not so daunting. After learning all the steps of doing a term paper, her students create a PowerPoint and timeline of the paper by computer.

"We are helping kids by getting them out of the classroom and into the computer lab, and I encourage other teachers to do this as well," says Johnson.

Johnson says she thought AIT was going to be hard, but that the way it was set up made the time fly quickly. She says that it was so enjoyable and helpful she began to look forward to it.

"Everything I learned, I got excited to bring it back to the classroom," says Johnson.

The benefits of technology to learning are immense, Lanier says, and make the investment of time worth it.

"Instructors can expand the four walls of the traditional classroom in ways before never imagined for their students. "How wonderful it is to interact with the world at the touch of a mouse and to gather information and present it in any number of creative multi-media presentations," Lanier says.