SUMMERCORE SENTINELSIZZLING SECOND SESSION
Meade, Olsen, Stillman Volume II July 21, 1999
SUMMERCORE SENTINEL
SIZZLING SECOND SESSION
Stellar Participants
Arriving on Sunday, July 18, the day after the disappearance of John F. Kennedy’s plane, members of the second session tune out the media of the world and create their own history. It doesn’t take long for the fearless leaders to note the extraordinary distinguishing characteristics of this group.
BITS ON BYTES IN OUR SCHOOLS
St Timothy’s Lower School uses c–È
omputers in many different ways. We currently have two computer labs. The computer teachers instruct the children two times a week in the labs. Our students also receive computer math once a week. This year we will have one computer in each classroom.
Computer instruction for the faculty has been offered many times by the computer teacher., We are encouraged to create integrated units with science, social studies or language arts topics. The computer instructor gives us useful tips on how to integrate technology into our units. Hopefully we will continue to move toward the day in which regular classroom t
eachers will handle all the computer
instruction.
The Center for Education began to be really serious about computer usage about five years ago. We have a computer lab with about 12 computers with a specialist computer teacher, which most students visit once or twice a week. Our third graders go once a week, and they are learning some word processing and graphics skills. In the lower elementary grades, computers are sometimes used in the classroom for research projects, and in first grade they have on-line pen pals. Upper elementary students have use of a E-mates which are kept on a cart. Usually they conduct a major research project at least once a year using the Internet. I am not aware of any teachers using the computer and educational software as whole class learning aids. As far as I know the school only owns one “Lightware” projector, and this is always kept in the computer lab. I personally have a TV in my classroom that is hooked up to a computer. We have used it to access some sites on the Internet to show students, but I would really like to use this technology more.
The administration and faculty have a fairly sophisticated networking system with a PC in every classroom, which we use to send attendance, and E-mail, and which some administrators use to keep track of student’s discipline problems etc. We seem to be committed to using computers more although funds sometimes seem to be fairly limited.
This summer SAS is completing its network including student rooms, faculty residencies, offices, classrooms,etc. Also two new computer labs are being constructed and two classrooms (American history and chemistry) will be laptop equipped. In terms of moving forward with faculty training,etc. we have developed proficiency standards that each member of the faculty must master over the next two years;a variety of training opportunities will be provided to assist the faculty with this expectation. It is hoped that the two faculty members in the laptop classrooms will serve as models for other teachers, i.e. others will begin to more readily see possibilities and begin to increase use of computers in all disciplines.
Additionally,during the year a Board AdHoc Technology Committee and the Faculty Technology Committee, facilitated by the headmaster, will develop a three-five year plan for computers at SAS.
At The Chapin School, the Lower School has been followed by the Middle and Upper Schools in initiating creative integration of the computer into the curriculum. In the Lower School, students learn to type and to write and illustrate their own stories. Drawing programs have been linked to math class via geometric shapes, and student patterns have been transferred to tee shirts. Student research on Victorian women has been presented in Hyperstudio format. Software has added to the study of the Mayan culture, and the Science teacher regularly uses the Internet to do such things as connect to NASA. In the Middle School the Math department has taught programming in BASIC and has used Geometers Sketchpad with its students. Further experience is gained in Computer class using Hyperstudio and digital photography and these multimedia techniques have been made into presentations of stories and Science project reports. The Science department also does a unit of Lego-Logo during fifth grade. In the Upper School, the Math department again uses Geometers Sketchpad, and the Science Department has developed some units that are computer based. Many courses and students depend on the Internet for research for papers. The Music Department has offered composition on the computer, and the Dance department will be offering a course using software called "Life Forms." Students are learning to do Multimedia presentations, which will ultimately have an effect on all their research papers. This summer English and History teachers in both the Middle and Upper Schools are taking computer courses so that they may better integrate the computer into their classes.
Word processing, e-mail, administrative links, an e-library catalog, and a LS/MS/Us web page are currently the primary ways that computers are used at St. John's (pictured above) a traditional K-12 independent prep school in Texas. Each of the above three divisions has 2 computer labs, and every instructor has a PC desktop in his or her classroom or office. The School appears to be moving away from what Larry Rosen describes in Technostress as "technology resisters" and "hesitant prove-its" to "eager adopters." Our Board and new headmaster are expediting that growth by allocating more 1999-2000 funds to make how we teach as important as what we teach.
Phoenix Country Day School (www.pcds.com) has an internal network. Each faculty and staff member has their own personal computer with an email account and internet access. The faculty does integrate computers and technology into their subjects where they feel comfortable. This is not a mandatory requirement. Students also take computer classes in grades Pre-K -sixth grade and in the upper grades. Individual student projects vary greatly from internet research and communication, to hyperstudio, word processing and more. PCDS has a technology head that provides faculty training with regular classes, and rescues us if we are experiencing any difficulties during the course of our day. He is also available for one on one work and in helping to design projects with us. We have three computer labs containing G3's for our lower, middle, and upper school students to use. Each student in the middle and upper school has his/her own personal network account for saving work.
Until Recently, faculty and students at Indian Mountain School used computers for little more than word processing. We have made a concerted effort in recent years to broaden the role of technology in the curriculum, and with that, increase the use of computers as educational tools. The entire school is networked, and there is dedicated access to the Internet in all of our classrooms. Consultants have presented workshops designed to help teachers find ways to integrate the internet and educational software into their lesson plans. We have improved the teachers' and students' access to computers for writing, research and exploring by purchasing more workstations. Computer education is being integrated into the core curriculum, and teachers are being encouraged to use the Technology Coordinator. Our task now is to tackle the biggest challenge of all: time.
The most exciting technological happening at
Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s School right now is a project for “Distinction at Graduation” by an incoming senior. Jonathan Ragan-Kelley has been involved for a year in writing grant proposals to acquire extremely sophisticated 3-D graphics software, of the sort used in movies. After he has finished creating his project, the software he has obtained will be his legacy to the school. The work he is doing is astounding!