Using Computers

Wasatch Academy, Mount Pleasant, Utah

Using Computers

Our society is calling for an increasingly ³computer literate² population. The U.S. educational system is responding, providing opportunities for its young people to learn how to use technology properly and effectively. Computer related technology is being used in countless ways all around us. Money transfers, buying, selling, educating, recreation, and many more types of electronic interactions are taking place in the unseen world known as cyber-space. It is becoming an increasingly common way of conducting and managing the various elements of each of our lives. Consequently, as the need for people who are comfortable and savvy using technology increases, the need for educational institutions that promote and encourage students to use technology and mentor them in its practical use grows.

At boarding schools across the U.S.A., the Internet and advanced technology are a part of daily life.

This is why the U.S.A. is an excellent place to prepare for study in a university, where computers are a key to academic success, and for an internet-based world economy.

Like most other university preparatory schools, Wasatch Academy in Utah has recently established a strong technology program to prepare students for the demands that will be placed on them at university and beyond.

Laptops for all students

At the heart of this program is the laptop computer. To give students an increased level of comfort with computer technology, the school mandated that every student have a laptop computer for personal use in each class throughout the day. With a pc in hand, the students on any given day in any class now have vastly increased educational options.

When their laptops are used in conjunction with the campus-wide wireless 802.11 g-compatible network, all the students at Wasatch essentially have personal research stations. With access to internet resources on such a large scale, every teacher supports the curriculum with the vast pool of information available on the World Wide Web.

Terms you may need to know

Teachers at St. Anne¹s-Belfield School in Virginia, are incorporating technology with traditional methods of instruction.

Students are developing reports that combine research, writing, and audio-visual presentations while learning English, history, math, and science and acquiring web-browsing and PowerPoint® presentation skills.

Fryeburg Academy in Maine offers courses for experienced students as well as basic introductory courses for those not yet familiar with computers. Each of Fryeburg¹s four dormitories offers internet access.

Washington Academy in Maine has a Technology Integration Lab with an LCD projector. Instruction includes classes in Visual Basic, C++, Graphic design/Computer-aided design, Web design, Photo imaging, Animation, Sound editing, Digital Video editing and Electronic music composition. Office Technology and Business Studies laboratories focus on skills such as PowerPoint presentation, desktop design and publishing, internet research, spreadsheets and standard business forms and formats.

Using computers in a Marine Technology program, Washington Academy students

practice aquaculture, boatbuilding, repair and restoration, computer-aided drawing (CAD), computer-aided numerical parts cutting (CNC), Internet research projects, marlinespike seamanship, and learn nautical terminology.

Teacher training

Recognizing the need for classroom teachers who could utilize technology in conjunction with the curriculum, Wasatch participated in Intel Corporation¹s Teach to the Future Program. That meant each full-time faculty member spent forty hours learning how to use of in the classroom instructional environment. Wasatch Academy has a full-time instructional technology specialist who works with teachers to support their technology needs and encourage them to expand daily technology use in their classrooms.

For students to succeed in a boarding school environment, teachers must keep them informed of their daily classroom responsibilities. At Wasatch Academy we utilize an on-line grade book that enables students to check their status in each one of their classes throughout the day.

Home Pages for Teachers

Teachers also have personal web pages to maintain informal contact with their students. For example, history teachers post lecture notes and outlines for students to access via their laptops. English, Mathematics and Science teachers are posting lecture notes as well as Powerpoint presentations that they use in class and subsequently make available for students on-line for further study and review.

U.S. boarding school teachers are continuing to find innovative ways to use these personal home pages as instructional tools. The next step will be to go from using them principally as ³information warehouses² to utilizing these websites as instructional tools where students go to actually engage in learning activities and exercises.

Like most U.S. boarding schools, Wasatch Academy has a responsibility to prepare its students for the technological demands of society in the 21st century. The students who leave Wasatch Academy and other U.S. boarding schools depart much better prepared to use technology than when they arrived.

By Mr. Bridger Varga, a Media Specialist at Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah.

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