Learning and Leading - February 2010

Boot-Up Camp

Each year, our laptop program begins with three mini-workshops that focus on the issues of physical care, guidelines for appropriate use, and ethics. Students travel in small groups and participate in a variety of activities and discussions with teachers and tech staff. They have the chance to ask questions and review key aspects of laptop learning at Nueva.

As part of the morning workshops, leaders from Common Sense Media ( www.commonsensemedia.org) join teachers to work with our students. The not-for-profit organization provides information and tools to give families a choice and a voice in the media they consume. We use parts of the Common Sense Media Digital Life curriculum to have students explore challenging ethical situations involving digital media, and to develop solutions and interventions.

We invite a technology educator to speak to the students at midday. This past September, we heard from internationally recognized technology leader and educator Alan November. He tapped into student imagination about the possibilities of media and ways to leverage technology tools for deep, authentic learning. In the afternoon, we have students engage in a media creation project, such as making an iMovie about the opening advisory overnight camping trip.

Students pull together video footage and photographs to make their films and then share with the whole community. On the day of the boot-up camp, we hold parent education meetings to discuss and review the acceptable-use policy and to talk about how to manage the home computing environment. We asked several parents to write a parent tips guide for the laptop program (http:// nuevaschool.org/programs/one-to-one-laptop-program), and we share and strategize with parents about how to “keep the peace” at home.

The goal of the boot-up camp
is to bring together the key
constituencies—students, teachers,
and parents—to get the community
on the same page about laptop
learning.

From the school’s perspective, the academic purpose of the laptops had disappeared into a vortex of social networking, especially when it was occurring during the school day.

We really love it [iChat] and use it for important uses.…We believe that the parents can block it for their own children if they want, but it is not fair for them to block it for the whole middle school.

Other students were less circum-
spect. One commented:
My mom says that the majority
of angry old people are OK with
video chat at school. However,
after 3: 30 it should go off.… I am
actually glad that you decided on
a blanket ban. Otherwise it would
be like teasing us. Giving it to us
for a little bit then taking it away.
Boy, that would be horrible!

Many parents sharpened their
quills to share their opinions as well.
One parent wrote:
iChat was wonderful. It truly
broke the “clique” boundaries
that tend to occur at school. Also,
as our daughter is very busy and
goes to a commuter school, she
has almost no social life. We as
parents were relieved that the
clique boundary seemed broken
on iChat and that she was engag-
ing socially with her classmates. I
also second the opinion expressed
by other parents that iChat is like
TV or video games or Internet
browsing. It is the responsibility
of the parent to teach the children
how best to use these tools. Each
parent can establish household
rules as they wish. We are in favor
of bringing iChat back! Censor-
ship is not necessary nor wanted.

The situation had turned into an
issue of freedom of speech. But
from the school’s perspective, the
academic purpose of the laptops
had disappeared into a vortex of social
networking, especially when it was oc-
curring during the school day.