HEADLINES
W. Va. School Districts Take eReading to the School Bus
By Sylvia Arroyo During the 2012-2013 school year, six
schools in three West Virginia counties will test a pilot reading program launched during the summer that provides iPod Touch devices
loaded with electronic
books to students who have long bus rides to and from school. “Books on the Bus will address not only
the issue of long bus rides for students but also will engage them in personalized learning through the use of technology,” said West Virginia School Superintendent Jorea Marple, who collaborated with State Director of Transportation Ben Shew and officials from five different divisions under the state Department of Education last fall to launch this school-based program. Shew said he had been looking for a
project like this for quite some time. “For students who are on the school
bus for more than 35 to 40 minutes, this program gives them an opportunity to improve their reading skills,” he added. Te Books on the Bus pilot program
began this summer at Randolph County’s Elkins High School; Hampshire County’s Hampshire Senior High, Capon Bridge Middle and Elementary schools; and Preston County’s Preston High and Tun- nelton-Denver Elementary schools. Te schools were selected based on their long bus routes. Currently, no decisions have been made
about expanding the program, said Julia Benincosa Legg, an instructional technol- ogy coordinator at the West Virginia Department of Education who helped de- velop the program. Books on the Bus is held in conjunction
with Read WV, a statewide reading cam- paign designed to encourage children and the adults in their lives to make reading a priority early in life, and to ensure that children read every day.
Each county used funds to purchase
40 iPod Touches for their respective schools. Te devices — essentially iPhones without the capability to make phone calls — are significantly smaller and lighter than a laptop computer. Because of their size, they offer better portability as they can be carried in a shirt or pants pocket versus carrying a laptop in a backpack. During the summer, the devices were
given to teachers following technol- ogy training and will be used within their special education, career technical education and Title 1 federal education- funded classrooms. Ten, after school, students on specific bus routes will be able to check out those devices for read- ing and bring them back to school the next day. Tis setup will begin as part of the fall pilot program. Legg worked with OverDrive, a Cleve-
land-based, full-service digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks and other digi- tal content, which is providing the digital library portal for the iPod Touch- es. Trough this portal, students log in to download and read approved book selections as well as more than 30,000 free, approved out-of-copyright books. Each county school district will have a custom- ized website where students can browse and download titles to read. “Tis is very 21st century instruction,” said
Benincosa Legg. “Te whole process will al- low students to read instantaneously.” School districts in other states have
installed Wi-Fi routers on some of their school buses with long routes to provide students with filtered wireless Internet access for their classroom assignments. However, this was not considered an op- tion in West Virginia. “Te geography of West Virginia doesn’t
28 School Transportation News Magazine September 2012
lend itself to have consistent wireless ser- vice [on school buses],” Legg said. While teachers
received professional
development in literacy, she noted that some bus drivers also received training to support the project. Tat training mostly involved stressing the importance of en- gaging students to read while on the bus. “For technology training, we can’t get
drivers due to their schedule,” Legg said, but added that she’d like to see as many bus drivers familiarize themselves with the devices. “We’re hoping that student behavior will
be focused on reading and will improve be- havior on the school bus as well.” ■
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