By Kevin Barr, Director of Studies
When I was in graduate school, I remember writing a paper on Melville's use of the Bible. To cull evidence, I worked my way painstakingly through every line of the text, until I had mounds of information, which I then had to sift through very carefully, until the gold was separated from the dross and I could get to work. Today, students simply need to go on-line to www.concordance.com, type in Melville and the appropriate biblical phrases, and out will pop all the biblical allusions their brains can hold. As a 21st century Shakespeare might have said, "O brave new world! That has such software programs in it."
While we may be born as tabulae rasae, we do not remain so. Learning does not exist in a vacuum and like velcro our minds attach new facts to the old. Although, personally, I like having chunks of books and scads of facts stored away in my mind which I can pull out when the occasion warrants, we have come to realize that having the information is less important than knowing what to do with it. Websites such as concordance.com allow us quicker access to information; they do not teach us what do with it. Still, technology has become an inescapable fact of our children's and our own education and with its advance, we have come closer and closer to an electronic and permanent interface between home and school.
Although there are Calibans as well as Ariels in this brave new world, with the launching of an online academic bulletin board and student organizer, hopper.gds.org (powered by Blackboard software), GDS is moving towards even greater home-school connectivity. The program, which works at home and school through web browsing software (Netscape or Internet Explorer), enables students to access class documents as well as transfer files easily between home and school or another location. Many high school teachers have begun posting assignments and handouts, and recently fifth graders started using Blackboard to transfer traveling biography documents back and forth between home and school. GDS students can also use the personal calendar and task list tools that are on the left side of the hopper.gds.org home page; eventually they will even be able to see announcements and reminders posted by their teachers.
Some teachers are already swimming in this great electronic sea; others are just getting their feet wet. Over the next twelve months, all teachers will be trained in the use of Blackboard.com and begin to use it in ways that meet their students' developmental needs and complement their curriculum. Parents interested in seeing what uses have already been made of the program can go to hopper.gds.org and log on with their child's school login name and password. Those of you who have used Blackboard at other schools will note that we are using our own Blackboard server rather than the official Blackboard site. As the school begins using Blackboard more and more, additional information will be posted on the GDS website. If you or your child has difficulty working on Blackboard.com, don't hesitate to e-mail a member of the technology staff: Marti Weston (mweston@gds.org)at the Lower/Middle School and Bruce Ruble (bruble@gds.org) at the High School.
Literary allusions aside, the territory ahead is vast and the potential it holds for improved communication and enhanced learning is unlimited; let us work together to ensure that we know as much as our children and that we move forward with them.
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