When I was in elementary school, nurses came to my school and gave us all shots of something called “Salk vaccine.” Everyone knew it would protect us from a bad disease called polio. My friend’s mom had polio and I knew it was an awful thing. She couldn’t breath by herself anymore and lived in a huge machine called an iron lung.
Memories of my childhood vaccinations replayed for me today when I attended a meeting of the Select Committee on Schools and Community of the California State Senate, chaired by Senator Tom Torlakson. The meeting took place at the Jonas Salk High-Tech Academy in Sacramento’s San Juan Unified School District and addressed the topic “Policy Options for Enhancing Technology in California Schools.” The meeting was a very enlightening experience in two ways. First, the “testimony” was fascinating. Second, at the end of the meeting, those of us who wished were treated to a tour of the school.
During the meeting, nine people spoke on three topics: “Why Education Technology Makes Sense,” “Lessons from the Field,” and “Thoughts on Moving California Forward.” The speakers ranged from the district’s superintendent to one of the Academy’s students. Perhaps the most provocative recommendations came from the first speaker, Ned Davis, of the National Education Foundation. He urged California’s legislators to:
- Act now, on a large scale, to implement what we already know works.
- Set an example for the nation.
- Create flexible learning environments.
- Create an independent, education re-engineering team.
- Create an independent technology innovation systems design team.
- Invest 30% of educational technology budgets in professional development.
- Plan and budget long-term for technology integration.
- Invest heavily in anytime-anywhere blended learning.
- Reinvent the curriculum and integrate 21st century skills.
- Deal with the elephants in the room.
Following the testimony, Amanda Richards, an eighth-grader at the school, took me to visit several classrooms at the school so I could see just what “high-tech” at Jonas Salk is. Of course, in a 30-minute whirlwind tour I could get only a cursory impression, but it was clear the school was using technology as an integral part of instruction in every class, every day. Though students are not issued individual laptop computers, laptops are readily available in most classrooms. Students can grab any laptop and log into their school network account. From there they can do research on the Internet or read, study, share documents, or engage in collaborative work in their Moodle environment.
For this older school to accommodate the newly introduced technology, many creative modifications were necessary. Hanging extension cords are just one example!
As I left the school to drive back to Santa Cruz, I was both encouraged and depressed. For someone who believes in technology’s value for education it was very reassuring to see a Senate Select Committee take such an interest in this topic. And it was obvious that the infusion of technology at Jonas Salk was playing a dominant role in transforming a previously troubled school into a model for others to emulate. Yet as Amanda lead me around the campus, I could not help myself thinking, “Why are so many of our public schools like this? Barren, concrete expanses. No plants. No color. Chain link fences to keep others out and the students in. No vibrance outside, and precious little inside the classrooms.” So, the idealist in me applauds the recommendations made by the various panelists who testified. At the same time, the pragmatist in me grumbles, “Good grief, there’s so much more work to be done.”