My friend, Chris Lehmann, asked me to come up to Philadelphia today and meet with him and several other people he was bringing together to talk about his new high school, the Science Leadership Academy, to open in September. I’ve known Chris for a number of years through the WWWEDU mailing list, and my several visits to his former employer, The Beacon School, in New York City.
I can think of no better person to head up a brand new and explicitly innovative school — aside from the fact that he looks more like a college Junior than an experienced and notable educator. Chris was the guiding force behind the unique technology program at Beacon, and left as their assistant principal.
Initially, what impressed me about The Beacon School was their multimedia program. I show a couple of their student-produced videos regularly as examples of what students can produce within the context of a creative curriculum-based assignment.
But their formula is simply. All assignments must be turned in digitally — no paper. We struggle with what it looks like to integrate technology into the curriculum, but this is it. It’s simple. Do it digitally. You tell students to do it. You make it the assignment, and you base part of the assessment on the quality of the student’s communication.
It helps that, being Manhattan, it is reasonable to expect all students to have access to computers and the Internet at home. The school itself was not especially tech-rich. The computers I saw were not brand new and they were not plentiful. But agreement was that in the 21st century, students’ work should be digital.
I’ve been looking forward to the meeting today. I know that Will Richardson will be there for the morning, which indicates forward reaching ideas grounded in curriculum. I’ll probably report on other attendees and what I learn later.
2¢ Cents in Escrow.
David,
I have known Chris for many years now and know that he’ll be a great school leader. Before becoming principal, I was the technology coordinator in another school when I participated in workshops that Chris organized and led.
As principal of a small high school in New York City, I struggle with the issue of equity as regards technology.
About 85% of the students in my school qualify for free or reduced lunch and many of them do not have computers or internet access at home. In this context, it’s clearly unfair to require anyone to submit work in digital form. We make our technology as accessible as possible at the school but that’s simply not enough. A good deal of our curriculum integrates technology in various ways and we’re always striving to do more.
I’m an avid reader of these discussions and the work that people like you and Chris are doing. My ongoing concern is that the equity issue often gets lost in these discussions and our desire to see these technological transformations.
By the way, while I agree with your larger point about the technological culture that was created at Beacon, I have to take issue with your claim that “being Manhattan, it is reasonable to expect all students to have access to computers and the Internet at home.”