Kahuku gets more tech savvy
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAHUKU — A grant competition has been created at Kahuku High & Intermediate School to motivate teachers to be more creative in incorporating technology into their classrooms.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Ko'olauloa Educational Alliance Corp., with the encouragement of school principal Lisa DeLong, sponsored the grant competition that produced five proposals, one of which was financed by the Alliance and one by the school.
Teacher Kevin Riach used a $5,000 grant to create the Kahuku Center for Digital Literacy, a technology lab for students.
The need to incorporate technology into the classroom is particularly acute in the upper grades.
Almost every elementary school student attends computer classes, but upper-level students use less of the advanced technology, said Stephen Kow, Department of Education curriculum specialist for Educational Technology.
"When you get to middle school, a kid may or may not have time on a computer," Kow said. And older students could go through high school "without ever touching a computer."
Part of the problem is a lack of state money for computers or specialists to teach computer skills.
Schools and communities decide how much advanced technology should be taught and then must seek the money to provide it, Kow said. Then they must find a resource instructor or parent volunteer to lead the classes, he said.
But with zero state money for computers in the past two years, schools have had to rally their communities for support, he said. Though some schools have developed excellent computer programs, they do not represent any statewide capability, he said.
In Kahuku, the community is working to expand its capability.
The Ko'olauloa Educational Alliance Corp. was formed in 1995, and part of its goal is to bring technology to the classrooms at Kahuku.
"It's a vision I share," DeLong said. "The grants will help student prepare for college and careers in the 21st century through instructions that use new technologies to help students think critically, work cooperatively while engaging in rigorous and relevant instructions."
Science and writing students at Kahuku will benefit from $8,500 in grants awarded to their teachers to incorporate technology into classroom work.
Money for the Ko'olauloa grant, which could become an annual competition, came in part from sales at Kahuku.org, an online store that sells Kahuku school logo merchandise and other goods.
The grants to English and video production teacher Kevin Riach and science instructor Brett Kewish have been used to purchase 10 new computers, three video cameras, a printer and an assortment of accessories for the two instructors.
The equipment will enable Riach's high school English students to create electronic portfolios of their writing and Kewish's science students to generate computer-assisted projects, activities that would have been impossible without the grants.
Jackie Lautaha, a 10th-grader at Kahuku, said designing a portfolio on the computer makes the class more interesting. Students are burning their work onto a CD and can embellish the work with graphics, pictures or video.
"This way we're able to visualize it and see it on the DVD player, which should be fun," Lautaha said. "Sometimes kids complain about having boring English classes. Maybe this might help them be more open-minded to English."
At Kahuku the new computers will be used with other science equipment to do long-term monitoring projects, science fair projects and classroom work, said Kewish, who teaches seventh and eighth grades.
Students will be able to practice their computer skills and increase computer literacy while learning, Kewish said, adding that computers help pique students' interest in science because they offer a more efficient way to study.
"Without the computers, I couldn't have completed as many projects," he said. "Some of the things are probably not possible."
Riach, who initiated the Kahuku Center for Digital Literacy, a technology lab, with his grant, wants students to use the six new computers and three video cameras he acquired to create portfolios of their writing to improve their abilities.
Saving writing samples gives students an opportunity to reflect on their work, which research shows is a powerful way to improve writing skills, Riach said.
"The portfolio is an attempt to go beyond using computers as a fancy typewriter and work in all the digital media skill they'll need as they get older," he said. "Kids are media literate, but they lack the technology to practice those skills."
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
