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November 21, 2009

'Ladybug' a welcome Loyola addition

By Tanner Kent

Mankato Loyola elementary teachers are building new ways to access technology.

As part of an effort to put the school on the forefront of classroom technology, Loyola implemented a student laptop program this year where each student in grades 7-12 received their own Apple notebook.

And at the elementary level, teachers received so-called “visual presenters” that are a combination computer, projector and whiteboard.

Shaped like a reading lamp and dubbed the “Ladybug,” the visual presenter sits on any desktop, focuses itself, works automatically with lights on or off and can store images in an internal hard drive.

“It’s been a very, very fabulous tool,” said Jan Willaert, first-grade teacher.

During a unit on music, Willaert showed her students a video of famed trumpeter Louis Armstrong playing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” She helped her students make a video about the biblical creation event and used a microscope adapter that hooks onto the Ladybug itself to show her students an up-close view of a bee on a larger screen.

In Tonia Warzecha’s second-grade class, students traced the routs of Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo around the globe and regularly use the projector for spelling and math work.

“I have very few lessons where I don’t use the Ladybug,” Warzecha said.

In third grade, Rita Gerlach’s class raised beetles to study the life stages of insects. She used the projector to store images of the stages over time so students could view a slideshow of the progress.

Even in kindergarten, Diane Schwartz uses the Ladybug to guide students in math and handwriting.

Teachers say the visual presenters — which are manufactured by Lumen and retail for between $500 and $1,000, depending on the model — have changed the way they teach for the better.

“It’s made our class more efficient and effective,” Warzecha said. “And it’s so interactive.”

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