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| Note taker: Doran Smestad types notes during a history class in Newport, Maine. As a 'tech sherpa,' he will post these notes
online. Mary Knox Merrill - staff   Voices from Nokomis High School |
In US classrooms, 'tech sherpas' assist teachers with computers
In a role reversal, students provide the tech support, creating a 'culture of respect' between teachers and teens.
from the November 29, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
In Mr. Viles's honors history class, Doran sets an iPod – with a small black microphone popping out of it – onto the center table. Later he'll post the recording of the class on iTunes, where students can access it if they want to listen again. Students hash out their views about truth, faith, and science – with several veering into a debate about creationism and evolution. As they prepare to write persuasive essays, Viles makes clear that part of the point of this class is to practice having civil discussions when they disagree.
One student tells him she's excited to have her mom listen to today's class recording. "Transparency is really important," Viles says after class. "I want every parent who thinks this may be a sensitive topic for their child to have the option of hearing every word that's said in class."
Kelley, the technology integrator who works with the high school and middle schools, has found that some of the students who are used to success with technology need to be nudged into situations where they might hit roadblocks.
"If you never fail at anything, you never really learn anything," he says. "The biggest thing I can give [them] as a teacher is not the tech stuff ... it's the opportunity to speak with others and learn how to teach – that empathy; empathy is huge."
By relating to people and not just computers, Kelley says, "later in life, they won't be the ones sitting in the cubicle working, they'll be the boss."
In the broadcasting trailer – where paths are cleared between jumbles of cords, computers, cameras, and creaky furniture – the words "geek" and "nerd" are tossed about unselfconsciously. That reputation is one reason only a fifth of the 20 or so tech sherpas are girls. Kelley says he's working hard to recruit more girls, and now that digital technology is becoming a part of everyday life even in middle school, he thinks he'll see the gender gap in the high school start to shrink.
An issue of filtering Internet content
Schools here have had their share of incidents in which kids break the Internet-usage rules. A common complaint among the techno-teens is that the school district blocks too much with its Internet filter, which teachers can override with a password.
"Our job is to protect students," says Gee – to help them discern what's valuable online and what's inappropriate or dangerous.
But at the same time, she's working to build that culture of mutual respect – involving students in discussions about whether some rules need to change to give them more flexibility to do legitimate work. "What I'm really trying to do is open up the communication with them.... We're trying to teach them to be ethical citizens," she says.
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