INDIANOLA, Mississippi - In this small Mississippi Delta community, birthplace of blues legend B.B. King, access to technology to support learning is expanding at a rate that amazes even the most dedicated advocates. "I don't know if I can find a word to describe what's happening here," says Ralph Smith, who teaches high school computer classes in addition to leading his colleagues in finding effective ways to use technology in the classroom. "It goes beyond outstanding—what we're seeing is something that has never been done before."

When Smith first stepped into a new position as educational technology specialist for the Indianola School District, he was comfortable with the technology part of the job. He had spent the previous decade as a computer technician and consultant to schools and other clients. "But moving from the equipment to the teaching strategies was a shift," he says. "I worried a little about that part."

Teachers have time to learn new concepts during hands-on sessions.

Three years ago, Smith lobbied his superintendent to take part in Intel® Teach to the Future. The program provides hands-on professional development focusing on the effective integration of technology to support project-based learning. Indianola Schools, enrolling about 2,700 students, became one of the first districts in Mississippi to participate in the program. Smith took part in training to become a Master Teacher so that he could lead his colleagues in 40-hour, hands-on sessions in computer labs.

"One of the things I like about this program is that it gives teachers enough time," Smith explains. "Teachers have time to learn new concepts during the course, and also time to practice. They develop their own unit plan during the course," so that they can go back to their regular classrooms ready to implement new projects with their students. Smith also likes seeing the focus on teaching, rather than on computer applications. Instead of teaching how to use electronic presentation software, for example, the curriculum takes participants through the development of an effective classroom project, which incorporates a presentation. "So teachers do learn the application," Smith explains, but it's as a result of learning how to work with students and computers in the classroom.

More than 40 teachers in the Indianola district have taken part in Intel Teach to the Future by now, and Smith says the shared experience is changing the culture of teaching in the community. "Teachers come out of the training and are clamoring for more computers to use with their students. They have created this new curriculum that will help their students. Now, they need access to the computers and projectors so students can do the assignments," he explains.

Through a technology grant, the district was able to dramatically expand its technology infrastructure recently. The six-figure investment "has never been done before here," Smith says. He credits teachers' increased comfort levels with technology as a key reason for the investment. "Teachers have seen the benefits for their students," he explains.

In addition to teaching teachers how to use technology, Smith has also started teaching technology classes for students at Gentry High School. Working with used computers that have been donated, he has students take apart and repair hard drives as part of learning how technology works. For students who have never opened up a computer before, the hands-on experience can be a little unnerving at first. "But I assure them I can fix whatever they break," Smith says. As students gain understanding and new skills, they apply what they are learning to repair and troubleshoot computers on their own campus. "They can walk into the counselor's office and see people using the same computer they fixed. They get a kick out of that," Smith says, "and it motivates them to keep learning."

To learn more about the Intel(R) Teach Program, go to www.intel.com/education/teach.