More
recently, educators in Missouri issued their findings on a study of
the impact the statewide eMints program had on academic achievement.
This program is designed as a comprehensive approach to assist teachers
to integrate technology. Participating teachers receive classroom
equipment, and over two hundred hours of professional development
over a two-year period. In addition to traditional workshops, eMints
training includes peer coaching for individual teachers. The training
is designed to help teachers integrate technology so that they can
use inquiry-based teaching and emphasize critical-thinking and problem-solving
skills. As one of the program leaders noted, "We find that when
you put the two, (inquiry based learning and true technology integration)
together there's a synergy created that really boosts students' learning"
(Brannigan, 2002). The power of pairing technology with inquiry learning
was directly reflected in the test scores of more than 6,000 third
and fourth grade students who recently took the Missouri Assessment
Program (MAP) test. "Results show that a higher percent of students
in eMINTS classrooms scored in the 'Proficient' or 'Advanced' categories…when
compared with other students who took the MAP tests…" (Brannigan,
2002; Evaluation Team Policy Brief, 2002).