November 20, 2008
TECHNOS QUARTERLY Spring 2002 Vol. 11 No. 1
Technology at San Diego's High Tech High
Technology is a critical component to supporting every aspect of San Diego's High Tech High (http://www.hightechhigh.org) program and design. Students do their work with technology, exhibit their work, and communicate with their teachers and outside experts about their work. CEO/Principal Larry Rosenstock says “technology is not studied as a subject; rather technology tools, both 2-D and 3-D, are ubiquitous and used for producing - making, shaping, and forming.” According to Rosenstock, a school slogan is: “You can play video games at HTH, but only if you make them here.” Students use personal computers in their own workstation suites half of every day. Each teacher has his or her own phone, computer, and office cubicle. Students and teachers have open access to exhibition technology in every seminar room and in the Commons Room. A significant technology infrastructure supports all this technology, including a top-of-the-line wired network, a leased T-1 line for voice and data, and a wireless network that is also supporting the use of pocket PCs.
High
Tech High's Great Room and workstation suites provide plenty of space and
technology for students to pursue self-directed learning projects.
For its current 300 students, HTH has 224 computers, 140 client computers, almost all Intergraph (SGI) with CD-RWs, and 84 more client machines, high-end PCs and Macs. Animation lab computers have Video Graphics and 3-D acceleration cards. Each Seminar Room has a suite of presentation technologies for student and teacher use, including a Smart Board, a video projector, a mixer and amplifier, a cordless microphone, a CD/tape player, a computer, and a VCR. Students utilize a wide array of technology applications to do their work:
- Word processing (Microsoft Word and Office) to write papers and journals
- Email communication to consult experts and partners and to send work
to their project teammates and their teachers (Microsoft Outlook and Webmail)
- Internet for investigative research
- Multimedia tools to create online multimedia documents (Microsoft PowerPoint)
and Web sites (DreamWeaver and Flash by Macromedia, HTML, JavaScript)
- Video tools including Digital Cameras, and a video-editing lab
- Photography using digital cameras
PHOTO CREDIT: David Stephen, courtesy of High Tech High Learning