TECHNOLOGY & EDUCATION DIGEST
Digest No. 5 -- July 3, 1997
A Moderated Mailing List
Steve Wildstrom (steve_wildstrom@businessweek.com), Moderator

Return to Technology & Education

Your recent article was rather interesting, but it touched on only one of the problems facing schools that are trying to connect to the internet. Unfortunately our problem is getting the equipment and wiring into the school. As a middle class community, we were told we do not "qualify" for the subsidies and grants that neighboring towns enjoyed on NetDay. To compound the situation our Board of Education does not feel that wiring or even supplying (computers to) our elementary school is a "good thing".
For the past several years, in an effort to keep our students on a par with those more (or less) fortunate, our organization has had to donate equipment, and subsidize the cost of computer upgrades, and software for our principal.
Your follow-up article should be about getting connected to the - Telecom Fund.

Ron Bosse, President
John E. Riley School PTSO
S. Plainfield, NJ

[I don't think a procedure has been set up yet. The FCC's order establishing the Fund is available at www.fcc.gov/ccb/universal_service/fcc97157. Chapter X contains the provision for schools and libraries.-MOD]

Thanks for your article on the direction and options for getting technology into the classrooms. You identified many of the issues and opportunities in programs that are emerging.

Schools are just beginning to gain awareness of a unique challenge: the haves and have-nots of computer literacy. Most programs currently in schools are teaching the basics of computers [saving files, 2D graphics] and internet. A growing number of kids have access to this technology from home, and have progressed well beyond these basics. I know 12 year olds that are proficient in HTML, VRML, have created web sites for personal, school and even commercial purposes. They use 3D graphics packages and chat on the Web or AOL with the computer literati of all ages. Teachers will face a growing demand for programs at all levels of skills. Forcing the advanced to "save a file" will encourage hacking and other distractions. From experience with my own 12 year old, the best cure is enlisting the advanced to teach their peers or younger students, or deliver projects that use their skills and stretch their curiosity. R/ DJ Crane

Just writing to thank you for writing about the Internet and education. You have covered the topic well in as far as it has developed. I am involved in staff development for use of the Internet in the classroom for k-5 students. My home school has been on-line for four years and many of the teachers are incorporating new resources into projects. Some of the staff have learned to write web pages and are beginning to publish student work. If you get a chance you might like to check out our page at: http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~storslee/carminati.html

I now work for the Tempe School District and serve 9 additional schools as I try to encourage the use of the net to enhance learning. Most of my time is focused on working with teachers who are interested in doing a project or those wanting to learn how to post a class page. The process is very slow, but for those educators who get excited about the resources and easy communication the benefits are great. I encourage you to look at my resource page and some of the school pages which are linked from that page.

Integrating the Internet at http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~hixson/index/

Thanks again for keeping technology in education in the minds of your readers and focusing on the fact that staff development is the only way to get these expensive machines and connections to be used for the benefit of learners.

Susan Hixson

I just read your article READIN', WRITIN', AND THE INTERNET, and I believe that you are quite right in that many schools are focused on the technology itself rather than how technology can be used as a tool in education. However, please do not judge schools' use of technology as reflected by their web pages. My name is Emily Vickery, Lead Teacher, Booker T. Washington Magnet High School, Montgomery, Alabama. I would like to offer our school as an example of how effective technology integration can take place. Over the past four years, I have been working closely with two others in creating a school which offers choice in public education by offering 24 specialty areas of study, including the performing and visual arts, mass media production, aviation, technology, law, medicine, and teaching.

This past year was our first year of operation, and it is amazing that in our first year we were awarded, among many honors, the Apple Computer Distinguished Schools Award because of how technology is being used. (Only 50 schools hold this honor as I understand it.) For example, using technology to learn (not learning to use technology) is an educational goal across grade levels and curricula. Students achieve at higher levels by participating in their own learning and problem-solving while using technology as a tool in their studies. Students will access and apply information and learn to communicate effectively while mastering basic technology skills, and creating hypermedia presentations (We won second in the state this year on multimedia production, and the students were from my English class!

This set a precedent that academic students can submit winning software programs into competitive "computer" competition. Their multimedia program was on Transcendentalism vs. Anti-Trancendentalism.); developing research reports; and producing web pages. They interchange with other students in the school and around the globe. Through the school's network, students tap into research centers, museums, and libraries worldwide. Students use various forms of technology, including scanners, digital cameras, camcorders for QuickTIme movies, Newtons, and, hopefully, eMates.Two-way video is available for classes to share with the entire student body theatre productions, recitations, art exhibits, and other special programs. Students collect their school projects over time to be recorded on a CD which will be handed to them along with their diploma. I do not know how much information this field holds; however, I will try to list other ways we have designed. If you require further information, please do not hesitate to reach me at emilyv8036@aol.com.Some of this is currently in place and some is planned to be in operation fall of `97:
--Computers, including classroom computers, are networked (Ethernet) for administrative needs, school BBS (First Class), Internet access, and library automation (Winnebago). All computers are loaded with ClarisWorks, HyperStudio, SASI (administrative), and At-Ease software.
--Teachers and students have access to digital cameras, scanners, laser disk players, TV monitors, VCR's, Newtons, StyleWriters and laser printers.
--Classroom management is optimized with the network design of student "group" workstations dispersed throughout the classroom, not in a row along the wall.
--Teachers and students project computer screens on TV monitors for "whole" class viewing.
--Using HyperStudio, students and teachers develop hypermedia presentations, including video and sound.
--Teachers use Learner Profile and Newtons for the digital collection of student performance data. Students in our Teaching Magnet also use Learner Profile and Newtons in their curriculum.
--Mobilized technology offers flexibility in classroom management. Teachers may "roll in" additional student workstations which can be connected to the network. Also, every teacher station is mobilized.
--Seven computers and other equipment in the Multi-Media Lab offer students and faculty the availability to high-end multimedia production, e.g. morphing and video editing.
--The Media Center contains Student Research Stations which are used for digital research as well as other tasks. The Media Center also houses a CD tower for network access, and, as previously mentioned, maintains an electronic card catalog accessible throughout the campus.
-- All staff, including custodians, and students have e-mail accounts.

Classrooms are equipped with two-way video.
-- As part of our Take Home Technology Program, teachers are issued PowerBooks, which are also retooled as student workstations in the classroom with large monitor and keyboard. Outside access to our BBS affords teachers and students the opportunity to collaborate on lessons and conduct research from their homes. Our vision is that every student will be issued a PowerBook or eMate.
-- The Computer Applications Lab houses 25 computers which support a broad-based technology curriculum, which includes word processing, database, spreadsheet, draw, paint programs, and multimedia production.
--Creative Writing houses a mini-lab of 8 computers used for its nationally award-winning magazine production.
--Print Journalism maintains 8 computers which are also used for Yearbook layout and design.
-- The Parent Center houses a computer and printer which is used to create newsletters, flyers, etc., and parents may learn to use the computer in a non-threatening environment. Also, the Parent Center plans to offer technology workshops for parents using labs located on the campus. And parents can access the school's BBS.
--The Post-secondary Liaison Office contains a computer and printer for use by college students working on campus; the equipment is also used to facilitate communication between campuses. Local colleges and universities conduct college-level education technology courses on our campus.
-- The Chemistry Lab's innovative design integrates the use of technology in the layout and design of its lab tables and other equipment.
--Our trailblazing Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) magnet program is responsible for the maintenance of the school's equipment and the creation/maintenance of the school's BBS and World Wide Web page.
--Administrative software (SASI) supports our philosophy of streamlining administrative tasks for teachers in order to invest time in student learning. Teachers may directly input attendance, tardies, grades, and comments, thus reducing paperwork load.
--Show Band integrates the use of a midi-interface in its curriculum.
--The Learning Center uses technology to support computer assisted tutoring, college searches, career interest inventories, and learning styles inventories.
--Student electronic portfolios are archived using cartridges. It is our vision that at graduation, students will be handed a CD of their work along with their diploma.
--The use of electronic portfolios especially lends itself to the collection of student work in the performing arts. Student progress can be recorded and stored, thus reflecting student progress over the years.
--Seniors have individual web pages which college, universities, and businesses can access for job and education placement information.
--In the award winning Mass Media magnet component students produce television shows seen on local cable networks and radio programs aired on WVAS.
--Musical Theory Lab engages students using interactive theory programs. Software addresses note recognition, ear training, music history, and individual testing.
--In Lifetime Fitness, students videotape a movement pattern or other skills; they then digitize the images and archive them on their electronic portfolios.

E-mail Address: emilyv8036@aol.com

In response to Mr. Wildstrom's request for examples of schools' efforts to integrate technology:

The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, Illinois has Been working technology into the classroom since it opened in 1986. Among the first high schools in the country with full internet access, and developing from there to the point where several classes are built on access to the 'net, they've done a lot. He can contact Dr. Mark Horrell, Ed Moyer, Thomas Jordan, or simply learn a little more about the school through its web site at http://www.imsa.edu. josh levin

[IMSA is one of the leading members of the National Coalition for Specialized Schools of Science, Mathematics & Technology. You can learn more about NCSSSMT and its member institutions at www.inmind.com/schools/NCSSSMST-MOD]

I am Project Director for an NSF-funded high school science curriculum that involves students in extensive telecollaboration around science investigations. The project is called Global Lab and you can find out more about it at: http://www.hub.terc.edu/terc/gl/GL118.html

Next year we will be in about 100 classrooms across the world. Each of these has a story about how they're handling the transition to providing technology-rich experiences for students. It will be an exciting year and I invite you to keep an eye on our community as we grow!

The organization where we are based -- TERC -- is a non-profit education R & D group that has many projects involving schools and the Internet. Again, any one of these schools would make a great story!

Thanks for the thoughtful writing. Please let me know if you'd like any more information about Global Lab or about TERC.

All the best,

Leigh Peake (leigh_peake@terc.edu)

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