Integrating Technology

Editors Note: “Given the burgeoning resources and heightened interest in the utilization and maximization of educational technology, NCSC News is featuring an article prepared by the CFO of our “parent company”. The International Institute of the Americas (IIA) operates two charter high school campuses in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area (one in Phoenix and the other in Mesa) and has received approximately $125,000 through the State of Arizona’s educational technology funding allocation. We feature this article for the information and edification for other schools interested in similar projects.”

Through the conclusion of the 2002-03 Academic Year, RCB High School was the grateful recipient of significant funding through the Arizona Department of Education to enhance, expand and improve an already solid base of technology for secondary school students.

When our first campus opened in 2001, we were committed to acquiring, maintaining and upgrading a one-to-one ratio between students and personal computers. This objective was met, largely as a result of 3-year funding support that each of our two campuses received from the United States Department of Education through a stimulus grant from the Public Charter School Program (PCSP). Nonetheless, needs and opportunities change quickly in this field and RCB, during the past school year, decided to upgrade and add technology to an already robust curriculum.

Our first year experiences and beyond strongly indicated the need for both preliminary and ongoing staff development and professional training to support all technology objectives. Similarly, we also now better understand that parents and students, while familiar with the technology in general, lack much understanding concerning its use and application in the educational environment. Students come well equipped to play games or surf the Internet, but lack fundamental research skills and often have never used email or conducted simple web searches. Given the disadvantaged make-up of our student body, it is also not surprising that the digital divide, which often separates middle class users from disadvantaged populations, was evident in the parents of our students are far more unfamiliar with modern day informational technology than might be expected. Therefore our objectives not only included the acquisition of equipment, software, peripherals and related materials but also a sound and healthy budget to accomplish the training we knew would be necessary.

Thus our specific and overall program objectives involve the acquisition of software upgrades for our Plato Learning and ALS curriculum; the purchase of additional licenses and the capacity to integrate the full Microsoft Office Suite into all classrooms and for all student use; the ability to link both campuses (these are approximately 25 miles apart in the respective cities of Phoenix and Mesa ); the development of Internet field trips to enable students to explore and pursue career education objectives in a virtual fashion; the acquisition of laptop units so that students can borrow and integrate research and homework with parental and other familial support; and overall, ongoing training and education support for faculty and staff, students, parents and their families.

By the conclusion of the 2002/2003 school year, both campuses are now fully equipped with video conferencing equipment, smart boards, and other upgraded and cutting-edge technology to enable virtual access literally around the world. Additionally, the educational software which is the heart of our curriculum (Plato and ALS) has been upgraded to include the most current software updates and additions and our student base management and information systems are fully integrated within a system of state support so that attendance and all other mandatory reporting is now seamlessly and electronically coordinated with the Arizona Department of Education.

To help ensure, on an ongoing basis, that the RCB faculty and staff are properly and fully integrating technology in all possible settings, there are a series of strategies in place that include: ongoing workshops for both pre-service and in-service consideration addressing such issues as hardware knowledge, software evaluation and implementation, webpage fundamentals, specific utilization of the Microsoft Office products; the integration of lesson plans with instructional technology and the implementation of student electronic portfolios. Annually, instructors are assessed in their knowledge and use of new and existing technology and then post-tested at the conclusion of each semester. Weekly faculty meetings are always geared towards the development of interclass curricula and projects using the Internet along with all other software applications. Of course, there is the ongoing and underlying training for faculty and staff in the utilization of Plato, ALS and the integration of these cir resources with all other technology.

CONCLUSIONS:
We have learned that students work with computers, using them as tutors as well as learning from computers as a communication, collaboration and research tool to facilitate the learning process. Our experience corroborates national findings that demonstrate, on average, students learn nearly 30% faster in a computer assisted environment than in a traditional school; that integrated information technology is an integral assessment tool in computer assisted learning; that computer based testing is an effective assessment tool; and perhaps most important that the integration of technology is a critical component of virtually all academic disciplines. Thus today’s RCB High School students are learning to use computer assisted technology, utilizing video conferencing, smart boards and other school based technologies and actually preparing and presenting work with the Microsoft Office Suite and many other mechanisms. It is a fun, rewarding and constructive learning environment that maximizes individualization, yet integrates much of the curriculum across conventional disciplines.

Submitted by Marion Jewell, CFO International Institute of the Americas