In Christopher, Illinois, a rural, economically depressed community of 2,800 people, parents no longer fear that their children will be unable to compete in a technology-driven society. That's because Christopher, with its student population of 867, is already reaping the benefits from two innovative community-based technology programs.
The Christopher High School District established its award-winning technology program in 1995 as part of an initiative by the Illinois State Board of Education. This initiative creates three- to five-year community-based technology plans in the state's poorest school districts. The Christopher Elementary School District followed with a similar plan in 1996. Both initiatives are succeeding—in part because the whole community has become involved in the process.
Technology Planning
According to Marla Harp, technology coordinator for the Franklin/Williamson Regional Educational Office 21, which encompasses the Christopher schools, the first step in the technology planning process was a town meeting in which participants were asked, "What is your best hope for technology and learning?" Participants then formed a vision and recruited a strong core of volunteers to implement it. Next, they determined the gaps they needed to fill to achieve the vision. The final step was to write goals that focused on the plan's four components: community involvement, engaged learning, professional development, and technology deployment.
Technology deployment was the easiest component to address because the community agreed on what to purchase. These purchases included workstation hardware and equipment to enable Internet connection. Community involvement entailed improving the home-school connection with Internet home pages and electronic mail, and opening up school facilities to provide learning opportunities for all community members.
The areas of engaged learning and professional development were more challenging to implement. Christopher residents wanted all teachers and students to develop essential technology skills, but they also wanted those skills to be integrated into the curriculum, not just to stand alone. This meant new roles for teachers—as co-learners, co-investigators, facilitators, and guides. It also meant new roles for the students—as explorers, teachers, producers, and cognitive apprentices.
"Engaged learning and professional development were considered the heart of our community-based technology plans," says Harp. "We wanted students and teachers to have the essential technology skills needed now and as we move into the 21st century. We also wanted to improve student learning in all academic areas."
Best Hopes and Worst Fears
Christopher High School started the journey toward technological fluency by sending a six-member technology advisory board to community-based planning workshops sponsored by the Technology Outreach Center and taught by Educational Technology Planners of Colorado. The board, which included community and parent representatives, learned the techniques needed to hold its first community meeting.
During that meeting of 200 community members, the high school's technology plan took root. "We thought nobody was interested in technology," says Kathryn Greenwood, the high school director of technology services. But what they found were parents, displaced coal miners, and senior citizens who openly shared their best hopes and worst fears about technology.
Parents were concerned that they were not equipped to help their children with technology and that their children might be left behind if they didn't have computers at home. The miners wanted to go back to college, but felt that they needed basic computer skills before they could be successful. And the senior citizens were worried that no classes would be available for them.
To tackle these concerns, the technology advisory committee was expanded to 27 members. The com-mittee proposed free community computer classes, peer teacher training, and group training through the Regional Office of Education and classroom Inter-net projects. The local newspaper, The Progress, ran a survey to assess the community's computer needs. Community members and teachers volunteered their time, and the Regional Office offered resources and incentives.
The first seven community classes were quickly filled with 20 students each. "We trained more than 400 people on basic computer literacy and introduction to the Internet," says Greenwood. Senior citizens were given early classes, taught by Greenwood, so they could get home before dark. Richard E. Cook, a local resident who chairs both districts' technology advisory committees, is a former NASA Apollo engineering manager who volunteered to teach the Internet course. A local genealogy society member taught computer genealogy, and a newspaper editor taught basic desktop publishing. The advisory committee also worked to bring reasonably priced Internet access to the area.
The High School Plan
As part of the engaged learning component of the plan, the high school students are collaborating with two other districts in a history project on Illinois migration. The project is funded in part by a $45,000 federal Technology Literacy Challenge Fund grant.
Students have initiated their own projects, as well. Several students began researching Southern Illinois coal mining and its effects on the environment. That led to studies on the sulfur content of coal, in chemistry class; the effects of acid rain on guppies, in biology class; and the effects of black lung disease, in health class. Portions of their reports will be posted on the school's Web site (http://www.roe21.k12.il.us/cchs/).
To allow for more computer time, students may use the computers in the library media center as early as 7 a.m.—classes begin at 8:15—and after school until 4:30 p.m. Greenwood has kept the doors open as late as 10 p.m. for student use, and the high school willingly opens the center on weekends. The school also lends students its 25 Alpha SmartPro keyboard word processors.
In meeting the professional development goals, the 18 high school teachers have participated in the Regional Office's group training for e-mail and for Perfect Office Suite. Most of the training comes from one-on-one peer teaching. Teachers are eligible for a $100 stipend if they use a new piece of computer equipment in class—like a scanner or digital camera—and they can also earn an extra $20 for each time they train on the computers for an hour before class begins.
The Elementary School Plan
The technology approach taken by Christopher Elementary School differs from the high school's plan. The elementary advisory committee chose to commit to a three-year contract with Futurekids, which provides a 45-hour teacher technology training program plus age-appropriate computer curriculum for the classroom. Teachers may earn college credit for the training.
Teachers began their training last summer and are continuing after school, says Kimberly Byars, principal of Christopher Elementary. "We wanted the teachers to become technology literate right away and to begin using engaged learning strategies in their classrooms."
The teachers at first were concerned about whether their students could handle the computer classes. But the response has been positive—even the kindergartners are using technology.
Teachers tied this year's Futurekids international themes with last year's school-based curriculum, the Global Child. In this thematic unit, students study a different country each month. The school subscribes to the online service Scholastic Network, which allows the kindergartners to talk to international students at different sites. The students write stories on the computer and are currently e-mailing students in Russia.
The Futurekids training also gave teachers the confidence to create interdisciplinary units using technology. For example, the junior high students are getting three grades for the computer/science class in which they learn keyboarding skills. Their social studies teacher assigned them an Internet research project to do while in computer class, and their language arts teacher is grading them for story mechanics on the report they write from their research.
"The teachers are excited about their new technology skills," says Byars. "They have also found that students put a lot more effort into their work when they are getting three different grades for it."
Christopher Elementary School started the Futurekids teacher training and curriculum at the K–2 level. Grades 3-5 will be picked up the second year and grades 6-8 in the third year. The high school is looking forward to eventually receiving junior high graduates already proficient in computer skills.
The elementary school offered its first community classes in keyboarding skills based on the high school's assessment of the community's needs. Now adults who want to enroll in more advanced computer courses can hone their keyboarding skills first.
Before Christopher Elementary initiated its three- to five-year community-based technology plan, it held a joint town meeting with the high school. "One mother was concerned that her child was considerably smarter than she was and that with this new computer training, she would no longer be able to communicate with her child," relates Byars. "The community classes offer parents the opportunity to learn and be on the same plane as their children. They've been a mechanism to bring the community together."
Community Rewards
How did the Christopher school districts achieve such swift success? With community support, strong school leadership, and a "can do attitude," according to Richard Cook. With both plans set in motion, the parents of Christopher and four other smaller communities are confident that all their students will acquire the computer skills they need.
