Technology is a big part of learning at Moanalua Middle School, but the emphasis isn't only on mastering computer skills. Principal Caroline Wong sees technology as a tool to nurture critical thinking among students.

The school is "bumping up the level of technology so that kids are not just using the application, but they're using technology to think at a higher level, solve problems, look at data," Wong said.

Rather than just grabbing facts off the Internet to explain or describe something, for example, students are encouraged to analyze the information, she said.

"We're trying to take that process of using the Web as a resource and take it to a higher level where the kids actually do something with it," she said. "They learn how to use an Excel spreadsheet to analyze it."

The school is moving technology forward in other ways. Moanalua Middle will be a demonstration site for SMART Boards, interactive whiteboards, and this year is purchasing 15 more boards in addition to the three it already has, said technology coordinator Joann Fu.

And among the school's recent accomplishments is the robotics team, which won the Universal Design Award last week at the FIRST Lego League World Festival in Atlanta, Ga., for its research project on nanotechnology to clean up sewage spills, called the SEWAGEANATOR.

The Moanalua Middle team won the right to participate in the world festival — which included 94 teams from more than 20 countries — by winning the state regional competition.