Digital Revolution
Students today were born in the midst of the Digital Revolution. They start school——even at the youngest of ages——as digital natives. By integrating technology into Tesseract’s daily curriculum, students are able to acquire the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing, highly technological society. Through applications such as Google Apps and Skype, Tesseract students learn to collaborate and communicate remotely, working with students and educators locally, nationally and world-wide—both critical skills required for success in the 21st century workplace.
In lower school, the utilization of technology starts with age-appropriate computer programs in early childhood, and the use of Promethean Boards in kindergarten to enhance our Jolly Phonics curriculum. The use of technology for young students increases throughout lower school, progressing to include group and individual online research projects, collaboration with Tesseract middle school students via Google Apps and the sharing of information through PowerPoint presentations.
In middle school, science and social studies unite in River City, a virtual environment developed by Harvard University and Arizona State University. Through River City, students go beyond memorizing dates and facts—they experience history, conducting research and synthesizing information by traveling back in time and utilizing technology and skills from the 21st century to address the problems faced by societies in the19th century. Middle school students also utilize Salem, a virtual environment created by Tesseract educators. Based off the 17th century New England town and the book, "The Crucible," the Salem environment enriches Tesseract's history and English curriculum by providing students with real-world experiences that otherwise would not be possible. In language arts, fifth and sixth-grade students utilize iMovie to create 30-second public service announcements and short films based on student-written stories.
At Tesseract technology also enhances our student-centered approach, such as in math, where classes are equipped with the TI Navigator, a system allowing students’ TI graphing calculators to communicate with educators’ PC’s wirelessly, enabling educators to instantly assess individual students’ comprehension.
In high school, students participate in Tesseract’s one-to-one laptop program. Each high school student is provided with a MacBook equipped with all of the necessary software and applications to meet each class’ objectives. These computers stay with the students throughout each school year, easily enabling them to participate in online research and collaboration, as well as utilize digital portfolios, podcasting, Google Apps, Moodle and 3-D applications at home and at school. Students also have the opportunity to experience technology in the arts through their Dramatic Film elective, in which acting skills are cultivated while learning how to film and edit digital short films.
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