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Learning Curve
Catching the Tech Wave
Catching the Tech Wave.There's a whole lot of surfing going on at Raglan Area School - on the waves and on the web.
by Anthony Doesburg.
The surf academy students work on their surfing skills through a software program called Silicon Surfer, which lets them video a surfing session and analyse their performance on a computer. They can compare their own style with the style of expert surfers because both are displayed side by side on a split screen.
It's an exciting use of technology. And it's not the only tool Raglan Area School uses techto overcome its isolation and attract children who might otherwise go to schools in Hamilton. The school, which has 420 pupils ranging in age from five to 18, has been a big user of information and communications technology (ICT) for longer than most other schools in the country. There is barely a subject in which computers - and the internet - don't play a part.
Students use ICT in English, science, Maori, graphics, life skills, social studies and information management. And they take to them with ease, helped by the fact that most also have computers at home. Haidee Rangiawha, who's in year 12, likes typing and so enjoys using Microsoft Word. Microsoft's presentation software, PowerPoint, is another favourite because of its wide range of features. And, as with the other girls we spoke to - Hinepare Te Rangi (year 8), Chiquita Poulgrain (year 9) and Sharnae van der Helder (year 10) - going online is a big part of Haidee's computer use.
"I search the web for music, go on TradeMe and send email," Haidee says. MSN and Google are Sharnae's favourite applications, and she expects to carry on her use of computers when working. "You pretty much need computers for anything." For almost as long as computers have been around in education, the school has been keen to use them. Today the school is networked, with a total of about 100 machines, most of which are under four years old. Each classroom has one to four computers, and there are two computer labs, one with 25 PCs and the other with 15 Apple Macs.
"A computer is a computer," says Chiquita. "As long as it goes and has the internet, I'll be fine." Haidee's introduction to computers was on a Mac, but she doesn't care whether it's a PC or a Mac she's typing away on.
BACK TO THE LABS
Computer labs in schools went out of fashion for a while, and PCs were moved into the classrooms. Now the labs are coming back - a trend headmaster Clive Hamill says is important. While students might work well independently or in small groups, learning the basic skills is best done in labs where there are lots of computers and broadband internet access.
Money is a big factor for all schools when they're adopting new technology, and Raglan is no different. Sometimes, that has meant having to wait for the cost of technology to come down before the school has been able to get the benefit of new equipment. For example, through a sponsorship arrangement, the school had videoconferencing equipment as long ago as 1994, but in those days the cost of using it was just too high.
A decade later, with connection charges a fraction of what they once were, video-conferencing is integral to learning at the school. And so are most of the other tools of the digital age - printers, scanners, digital cameras and audio-conferencing systems. Students from year one to ten are taught how to get the benefits from all the equipment through an information literacy programme, developed for the school by a former member of the teaching staff.
Students may not care much about the theory of learning when it comes to ICT, but they do think computers make education more stimulating. Chiquita is a big user of Google for research. She says she would use her internet browser to find out about a topic under discussion before reaching for a book. "We use the internet a lot. You get to find out more information more easily."
American Jake Fyalka, the school's part-time computer technician and tutor, believes in letting the students discover how ICT can help them, rather than closely managing their use of computers. "I've let things get a little looser. All students are different in how they approach computers."
To show students the benefits of internet research and get them to use their own judgement about the quality of the information they find, he recently gave a class a virtual budget of a few thousand dollars each and sent them off on an internet shopping spree. As well as developing research skills, they also needed to find out about online payment systems.
By encouraging students to make their own way, Fyalka's setting them on the same path he followed in developing his ICT skills. He grew up in Seattle, cutting his computing teeth on a Commodore 64, before getting his fi rst PC eight years ago. He ended up working in roading construction, but wanted to be a teacher and got his chance when his technical skills impressed the founder of RaglanNet, a community internet serv- ice provider (ISP). He was hired, came to Raglan, now owns half the business, works part-time at the school and - needless to say - surfs.
SOFTWARE SKILLS
Next year the school will off er two National College of Design and Technology (Natcoll) courses - web design and print design - in which students will learn to use web author- ing software, how to hand-code, manipulate images, do 2D animation, print document layout and design. They'll also be introduced to software packages like Photoshop and Dreamweaver.
The most heavily used software at the school is Microsoft Offi ce, a package that includes Microsoft Word, Excel spread- sheets and PowerPoint. The school has had outstanding success with the software, producing the top two results of any tertiary or secondary institution in the country in an online competition of Microsoft Word skills. The winning year 12 student, Sarah Curtin, was awarded a travel prize to an international competition in the United States, where she fi nished in the top ten in the world. Haidee was second to Sarah in the national contest. Students who've grown up with computer and console games and other electronic devices demand a more interactive way of learning. Chiquita says what she learns us- ing the school's computers is providing her with useful life skills. What's more, she says, without computers to learn on, lessons would be boring.
Her ambition is to be a surgeon, for which she expects a computer would be valuable for diagnosing patients. But the computer industry also beckons, she says. "I wouldn't mind programming games."
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