Information Technology can Uniquely Serve the School's Mission
Information Technology at The Park School exists to serve the mission of the school. The core of this mission is academic excellence and the encouragement of each child to strive to reach his or her potential. Excellence cannot exist without a strong and nurturing community. Information technology can uniquely serve both of these areas.
As a learning tool, computers facilitate the construction of knowledge. Students can hold elusive concepts "in their hands", receiving feedback which would otherwise be impossible or impractical, as they discuss and investigate these concepts. They can use computers to represent their knowledge in ways that encourage thoughtful revision. Computers can lower the threshold for students who would otherwise stumble over certain mechanical details and learning disabilities. By helping students show what they know, teachers gain insight into their students' learning, which helps them serve their students better.
As a teaching tool, computers can be a classroom partner, allowing teachers to amplify their message, and to display concepts and ideas in dynamic and more concrete ways. In the same way that computers encourage students to show what they know, they also encourage teachers to represent their message to students. Computers can also help level the playing field among students with learning differences, allowing teachers to better serve their needs. And of course, they can take some of the drudgery out of the more mundane aspects of teaching, allowing teachers to spend more time "teaching".
As a communication tool, computers facilitate the exchange of ideas and information among every member of the community (students, faculty, school administration, parents, school staff, trustees, alumni) both within and without the school buildings. They also allow us to participate in the global community, as we communicate with fellow students and teachers throughout the world.
As an information resource, computers extend the school library and classroom bookshelves. Large amounts of information can be quickly and conveniently retrieved. The information doesn't necessarily have to be housed within the school, as the world's information repositories open their doors to us.
As an administrative tool, computers facilitate the myriads of tasks that are necessary as we serve the needs of students, teachers, parents, and trustees. We continually "raise the bar" of expectations for service to our community, whether it be managing the information "bee hive" of the school secretary's office, facilitating communication between school and home, navigating the complex financial operation in the business office, facilitating our growing dependence upon fund raising, managing the many hundreds of prospective students who apply to our school each year, or serving the needs of an active and inventive faculty.
The Nature of Teaching and Learning is Changing
Education in the 21st century is moving from private acts of information gathering and memorization, to collaborative acts of information evaluation and problem solving. It is not possible to know everything, even within a very narrow field. The amount of information is vast and growing by the minute. Knowing how to filter out irrelevant or poor information, and how to appropriately combine relevant information with original thinking is increasingly important.
The world in which our children will live, work and play will require them to continually learn new skills for the rest of their lives. To teach well, we adults must be model lifelong learners. Certainly, the ever-changing nature of our computer tools gives us ample opportunity to practice our learning skills.
In an increasingly inter-connected and information-rich world, our children will have to be skilled collaborators, able to combine multiple disciplines. Technology-rich classrooms tend to encourage collaboration, inclusion and participation. Teacher-centered lessons tend to give way to student-centered, interdisciplinary projects, with teachers occasionally participating as model learners along with the children.
The Nature of Teaching and Learning Remains the Same
Teaching will always be an intimate human endeavor. Amidst the changing nature of our tools, and the world for which we prepare our children, teaching still involves the personal relationship between teacher and student. We perform a complex balancing act involving intellect, feelings, motivation, human differences, and personalities. The ability to communicate with, and to listen deeply to our students, and to truly understand them, will always be at the center of successful teaching.
Information devices themselves cannot teach. Computers are terrible teachers. However, placed in the hands of talented teachers, they can be important teaching tools, with special qualities that make them an excellent match with the requirements of twenty first century education.
Outward Signs of a Successful Technology Program
Our technology program will be successful when all students, teachers, administrators, and parents:
understand information technology and its role as a teaching and learning tool
have the confidence and enthusiasm to try (or even to invent) new technology-rich activities
have the ability to learn the new skills which these activities require
have the wisdom to reject technology which does not serve them, or the mission of the school.
Observing a successful technology program, we will see that what we choose to do with technology, and how we use it are reflections of the core values of our community. Respect for the person, ideas and property of others will be exhibited in the way we use computers to communicate and collaborate.
Our successful technology program will provide an infrastructure (network, hardware, software, etc.) that is:
up to date
dependable
flexible
accessible
transparent.
An up to date infrastructure is consistent with the best tools that are used outside of The Park School. As technology rapidly changes, our infrastructure must remain current in order to provide services that are generally expected, and are consistent with the rest of the world.
A dependable infrastructure never breaks down. Technology, as a "mission critical" resource, must earn the confidence of its users.
A flexible infrastructure can be reconfigured to serve changing needs, as change they inevitably will. The technology industry routinely reinvents itself every several years, and the needs of a faculty and student body which grows in skill and confidence also amplify the change.
An accessible infrastructure is available to everyone in the community, not just to certain privilege groups. A transparent infrastructure is easy to use. It should not present obstacles to those who have less computer experience.
The Role of the Technology Department
The mission of the Technology Department is to guide the introduction and appropriate use of information technology throughout the school, to teach technology-related skills when appropriate, and to manage the technology infrastructure.
In general, we do not see information technology as a separate school subject. While this might be appropriate in secondary and post-secondary schools (for example, programming courses), as an elementary and middle school, we choose to focus our academic energies on the appropriate and meaningful incorporation of technology into the regular school curriculum. We seek to empower the faculty and the academic departments to take ultimate ownership and responsibility for the what and how of technology within their classrooms. However, we recognize that computer skills vary among teachers, and the changing nature of the technology landscape requires specialists who keep abreast of these changes. As specialists, we provide instruction and encouragement to faculty, we mentor or assist classroom activities, and we actively seek opportunities to bring information technology into the curriculum and the work lives of teachers.
We take a school-wide view of the needs for information technology. It is the Technology Department that is responsible for the network, hardware, and software. We make sure that this infrastructure presents a unified "backbone" which serves the needs of every member of the community, not just the academic departments.
