I’ve been struggling all week to write up a concise statement about what technology at SLA will look like. My problem is that I really am a true believer with the transformative powers of technology education, and I don’t want to get caught up in what we call stuff — I want to see what we can do. Anyway… here’s what I wrote:

Technology Mission Statement:

Technology at the Science Leadership Academy should be like oxygen – ubiquitous and necessary. This is why we believe that a 1:1 laptop program is essential for SLA to achieve its academic goals. We believe that innovative use of computer and communication technologies in schools are more than mere “add-ons” to a school culture, but rather they are truly transformative technologies that can create new structures of learning for all constituents. SLA will look at these technologies in four distinct but overlapping areas to create a school that represents a 21st century learning model:

1) Internet technologies must democratize a school culture by creating access to relevant information for all stakeholders. Parents must be able to get relevant data on their children – from the daily announcements via email to attendance data to their children’s most recent homework assignments, to email dialogues with teachers about their children. Internet technology can open up the walls of our school and create a transparent process where all stakeholders can more easily take part.

2) Computer and internet technology must create a more efficient school – allowing teachers, staff and administrators to more easily share information, collaborate and create reporting structures that will allow all members of the school to focus on what is most important – the teaching and learning.

3) Students must be able to pursue the “cutting edge” of technologies through coursework, electives and flexible teaching models that allow for students to work with teachers to explore their passion for technology.

4) And all of this must then lead to the most important aspect of computer and internet technology – it must transform our “traditional classrooms.” As teachers and learners, we must ask the question – “How do these tools change the way I am a student of science, English, etc…”
a. Teachers must realize that students have more access to information than ever before, so that must of what we must now do becomes teaching students to be cautious and thoughtful evaluators of information.
b. Teachers must see that class and school web portals break down the walls of our classrooms so that conversations can continue far beyond the traditional 50 minutes of a period.
c. Students must realize that they can use these tools to take ownership over their scholarship. With laptops and blogs, digital cameras and editing software, all students can become content producers as well as content consumers.
d. Our students can develop their voices in the classroom, but on the digital frontier as well – as writers and activist and scientists and artists and filmmakers and musicians.

Science Leadership Academy stands poised to lead the way in Philadelphia and nationally to show how we can take the best educational theories of the last 100 years and infuse them with new life and energy using internet and communication technologies. We can help our students view our schools with new eyes. We need to provide them with the tools, work with them to develop their voices and then support them in every way we can. They deserve nothing less.