May 1996 — Features

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The School Design Model at Brewster Academy: Technology Serving Teaching & Learning

DR. ALAN BAIN, Assistant Headmaster, Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, N.H

  • Is expertise with technology intentionally represented as a school–;wide learner outcome? What should students know and be able to do at graduation?
  • Are these skills and competencies represented in the day–;to–;day activity of students within the context of teaching and learning in all subjects? Do students learn about spreadsheets and databases through science experiments and math simulations used regularly as part of an intentional, integrated curricula?
  • Do students acquire skills in networking and information retrieval while undertaking research for authentic assessment projects that are connected to school–;wide learner outcomes?
  • Can a teacher design a curriculum unit to incorporate a HyperStudio stack created for different levels of reading ability to be used by all of the students in the class, or in small groups?
  • How d'es the HyperStudio stack fit with the school–;wide and unit learner outcomes?
  • Is technology seamlessly integrated into the attainment of the unit outcomes?
  • Is quality software combined with best practices to create a complete teaching–; learning ¼cture?

Answers to these and a myriad of similar questions relate at a more fundamental level to whether technology is embedded as a meaningful, integral part of learning or just something else to be learned about. Ultimately, the examples of access and answers to the questions about curricular embedding exert an influence on the way schools, teachers and students behave, day to day, in the conduct of schooling.

Brewster's goal was to ensure that technology becomes a routine and meaningful part of the life of the whole community, based on the belief that technology actually becomes invisible when it is ubiquitous. The approach to the design of a communication utility that would allow such a teaching model to become reality and yet was transparent, robust and affordable, took considerable effort. The design focused on the development of the network as a campus–;wide utility that would maximize access for the student's laptop computer and provide universal access for faculty, administration and staff.