tech options

Systems Crash

Most districts are ill-prepared or ill-equipped to teach computer education correctly

By Theo Gantos

Technology is at the heart of our culture. Just about everything depends on it in some way. Our children can greatly benefit from using and mastering computers. Some schools are trying hard to integrate the use of technology into their regular curricula. Some just aren't trying. Let's explore the good, the bad and the ugly of technology in West Michigan K-12 public education.

Why integrate technology into the curricula? Because businesses no longer have data entry specialists. People are expected to be more flexible. Technology helps you be more productive and effective. Computers are now considered a basic service, like the telephone. And employers expect their people to be able to use technology effectively.

In order to be able to apply technology so widely, you need a broad range of skills. From communicating via e-mail, to researching information on the web or in newsgroups, to writing correspondence and proposals. They prepare charts, graphs, presentations, integrate type, graphics, basic layout and design techniques and even use such multimedia as audio and video.

Only computer programmers need to learn how to program computers anymore. Studying computers for computer's sake in K-12 schools is an unimaginative holdover of the mainframe era. The reality is, it just doesn't work.

Employers want expert users, not average Basic, C, or Html programmers. Excel, ClarisWorks, FileMaker Pro, Powerpoint and Netscape are the five applications every student should know well before graduating from high school to be able to succeed.

Notice I didn't say it had to be MSWord or the more complicated databases. Students don't need the complexity of Word to do their work. School districts can't justify the expense, either. Integrated programs like ClarisWorks can teach the basic techniques for HOW to get your work done most effectively with technology.

The report card

So then, who's hot and who's not?

Wyoming Public Schools have been working for several years to connect all of their schools and deploy technology directly in the classroom. They have a dual fiber optic network connecting the schools in their entire district. They pool their resources such as CD-ROM servers, Internet access, etc.

This makes everything easier to manage centrally with fewer resources and fewer capital outlays. They are ahead of most, but they have made mistakes.

I give Wyoming Public Schools a B+.

Caledonia Public Schools also have been very aggressive in applying technology and networking their secondary schools.

I've visited several public schools in West Michigan during the past couple of years, and I must say I am ashamed at the lack of technology integration that I have seen.

Many computers are inoperable, obsolete, or inadequate or misconfigured. Buying Wintel machines is one of the worst mistakes a school district can make.

Apple Macintosh systems require half to one-fourth the support resources and have 30 percent to 50 percent longer asset life than their Intel-equipped cousins.

Many school board members think that if businesses use PCs, then they should, too. But the rules are different in business. Where cash flow and the bottom line rules, a lower upfront cost and accelerated depreciation deductions tend to push managers in the direction of cheaper initial investments. Because they turn over their computing assets every three to five years anyway, what's the difference?

But non-profit organizations don't file taxes or take depreciation allowances. They can't afford to carry large IS budgets, either. They need to squeeze every penny out of their investments. Apple is a clear winner. And they have more education software as well.

The worst offender

The biggest is the worst. The largest school district in West Michigan gets a D in technology. Grand Rapids Public Schools don't have networking, Internet access or integrated technology curricula and seem to be making a lot of bad investments and decisions. It's a shame when our children's futures get clouded by politics and administrators who can't and don't even use technology.

No, you can't send e-mail to new Superintendent Patricia Newby. Try a fax. The district won't get Internet access because it can't understand the concept of an Internet firewall. If AT&T and others can keep the hackers, crackers and pornography out, then the public schools can, too.

These techniques are well-known and there is even a lot of expertise in the local area to be tapped on a volunteer basis if they only could. Call any ISP president and ask if they could lend some help to the task or even guidance and consulting. You can bet Jeff Honeyager of Iserv would show up. I'd be there. GRCMC leader Dirk Koning would help in a heartbeat. I am sure that CNS might lend an engineer or two.

Creative alliances

GRPS and other public districts in West Michigan seem to have a not-invented-here mentality that prevents the forming of creative alliances and drawing on community resources. The best IS professionals I've known are never afraid that someone else might know more than they do. They encourage discussion and debate. They hope that you know something they don't so they can learn from you.

They know that in this fast-paced field theory counts for little and experience rules. California schools worked with Netscape to conduct the "Net Day '96" programs, in which volunteers formed teams and wired entire buildings and districts for networking. Wire was donated, and in one weekend, hundreds of schools were networked. Suggestions to do it here have been met with silence.

GRPS is an an example of wasted resources and technology incompetence in action. Example: A large group of Power Macintosh computers for the Montessori program at Ottawa Hills were purchased last summer. Many sit idle today. Some of the computers are still in their boxes -- most without software -- waiting for wiring to be finished.

I'm sure plenty of experienced volunteer teams could be drawn together to solve such problems if the district would focus on technology implementation and results rather than spending.

GRPS administrators cannot exchange e-mail on the Internet. Many of the schools are not even connected, most of those that are use slow dial-up modems.

Grand Rapids missed out on a bonanza that Wyoming cashed in on: cheap, fast Internet access. Ameritech, as part of an overcharge settlement, agreed to sell Internet access to schools at far below cost. But Grand Rapids Public Schools moved like a supertanker in winter and did nothing. Now the program is over, and GRPS still has no Internet access and no wide-area networking.

Private schools

Many private schools do a great job with technology. They have smaller staffs and budgets, so they get creative. They tap volunteer expertise. They get parents to come in and help. They are often so hungry for machines and eager to implement that they don't let anything stand in their way. Or sit in boxes.

Put a couple of new PowerMacs in their school, and the boxes would be opened and the machines up and working the same day. Teachers bring in their own computers and use them to prepare their classes. They work hard to get local companies to donate money to buy new machines. Parents often make donations which are matched by their employers.

The bottom line: Parents are losing patience with schools that don't prepare their kids for the high integration and dependence on technology in business and universities. Perhaps a little competition can be a good thing to stir complacency.

Next week: More on what the top schools are doing with technology and how kids with special needs can benefit especially.

Theo Gantos is president of TEKA, a technology consulting firm. Contact him: