ITE joins forces with Upward Bound summer program

July 25, 2014

Upward Bound is a college preparatory program committed to helping high school students pursue post-secondary education by exposing them to educational, cultural and social experiences. During the UB sumer enrichment program, high school students from Bradford County and Newberry travel to Santa Fe College to engage in an intense curriculum in mathematics , science, English, Spanish and career development.

The ITE department stepped in this year to support the UB summer program by providing their Algebra 1 class with a computer lab and brand new iPad Minis. UB student's success in Algebra 1 is critical in order for the students to remain on a rigorous course of study throughout their high school careers and passing end-of-course (EOC) examinations.

The UB program and ITE department joined forces to create a blended learning environment for Algebra 1 students. This environment consists of students watching lectures offered through Khan Academy, a learning management system, and receiving supplemental instruction from the math teacher. Students also use computer applications to engage in interactive math competitions and to reinforce the students' math skills. By doing so, students are able to quickly conceptualize and answer basic math and steps in Algebra 1 questions without using their fingers, calculators or scratch paper.

With more colleges implementing online courses students participating in this course will be more comfortable learning with computers and computer applications while  giving them more confidence in the classroom and STEM curriculum.