Using Technology to Deal with Absenteeism

I have been a computer teacher in the Philadelphia School District since September 2009.  One of the major issues I have had to deal with as a teacher in Philadelphia is to problem of absenteeism among my students.  On a good day the student attendance rate only reaches about 75%.  As you can imagine, the high rate of absenteeism makes it tough for teachers to help students learn when they are not in the classroom.  Along with the high rate of absenteeism, there is a great amount of pressure from administration to ensure that all students are successfully learning the material that is presented in class.  With these two opposing forces, I often found myself running around my classroom like a chicken with its head cut off attempting to teach four lessons at one time as students returned from being absent.  I felt like I would teach the same material 100 to ensure that every student learned the material and was able to complete the classroom projects.  My normal method of teaching the material would be to create example on paper with directions for students as well as completing tasks in a group format using a SMART Board or projector.  As I entered my third year in Philadelphia, I thought there had to be a better way to deal with the issue of absenteeism while ensuring that all students achieved.  I decided I wanted to implement the use of screencasting as a way for my students to watch lectures when they were absent.

After running around my classroom for two years repeating directions for students like a broken record, I figured there had to be a better way for students to make up missing assignments.  I asked other teachers in my department about the availability to headphones for student computers, screencasting software, and methods to make my screencasts available to all students.  After consulting with the teachers, I found that my computer lab had a set of class headphones for students, the computers were equipped with Apple Quicktime which could record screencasts and I could deposit videos on student desktops through the use of Apple Remote Desktop.  With this information, I decided to record my first screencast and present the information to students.  At first, students were hesitant with listening to the recordings and thought my voice sounded funny on the screencasts.  However, I found that many students were engaged with the recordings and most students were open to using the technology.  I still performed lectures for the class at the beginning of a unit, but now I was able to deal with deeper questions from students as I was not as busy repeating directions for students that may have been absent on the day of a lesson.

After continuing to hone my skills in creating screencasts, I was very happy with the results of my efforts in my classes.  Students often told me how the screencasts were helpful and they were happy to have the ability to pause the videos to try things out before they had to move on.  My school has a high population of ESL students and these students found the screencasts to be very helpful.  The ESL students may have had a hard time understanding my lectures or keeping up with me as I presented, but the videos gave them the opportunity to slow things down go at their own pace.  I had a lot more time to accomplish the things I needed to in the classroom as I was not continually reteaching material to students that were absent when I presented the material the first time.  In the end, I found that the students in my classroom were much more engaged with the screencasts and the students achieved at higher levels.