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Gratz Students
Implement Tech Tools for Teachers
by Jon Zemanek
On
Monday, March 24, each teacher at Simon Gratz High
School received an unusual delivery brought by an
unusual delivery person. The delivery: a refurbished
personal computer. The delivery person: one of his
or her own students.
Earlier that morning, a delivery truck brought 75 computers to the front door of Gratz High School. These computers had been donated to PCs for Schools. This refurbishing group did the preliminary work on the computers, ensuring that they had sufficient capabilities to make an impact on the teachers’ work.
Ten members of the Gratz Technology Club worked quickly to unload the truck and catalog all the new computers. The students then broke up into teams and delivered a computer to each teacher in the school. Students set up the computers and answered any questions the teachers had about their new tools.
The Tech Tools for Teachers project, a School District of Philadelphia initiative, is a collaboration between the District’s Office of Informational Technology, the Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance’s Digital Divide Project, Gratz Youth-Driven Service-Learning Center (YDSLC) and three nonprofit computer refurbishing groups--the UrbanTech Project, PC’s for Schools, and Nonprofit Technology Resources. The project goals are to equip every classroom teacher at three high schools, including Gratz, with a refurbished computer. Teachers will then use this new tool to connect to the internet, use email and utilize a new online grading system
Even though the concept for the project is simple and direct, a significant amount of person-power and technical expertise was needed to complete the task. The only entity at Gratz with the necessary capabilities on hand was the Gratz High School Technology Club. Under the supervision of the co-director of the Gratz YDSLC and a PSLA staff person, the students have been meeting two times a week for three hours, learning how to refurbish computers, install software and use email and the internet.
In addition to a computer, the teachers at Gratz have all been given new email addresses from Ms. Dawsey, the school technical expert. The next step for the club is to develop computer skills trainings for teachers who need some help getting started with their new computers. The students will begin to train the teachers in April on basic computer skills.
Earlier that morning, a delivery truck brought 75 computers to the front door of Gratz High School. These computers had been donated to PCs for Schools. This refurbishing group did the preliminary work on the computers, ensuring that they had sufficient capabilities to make an impact on the teachers’ work.
Ten members of the Gratz Technology Club worked quickly to unload the truck and catalog all the new computers. The students then broke up into teams and delivered a computer to each teacher in the school. Students set up the computers and answered any questions the teachers had about their new tools.
The Tech Tools for Teachers project, a School District of Philadelphia initiative, is a collaboration between the District’s Office of Informational Technology, the Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance’s Digital Divide Project, Gratz Youth-Driven Service-Learning Center (YDSLC) and three nonprofit computer refurbishing groups--the UrbanTech Project, PC’s for Schools, and Nonprofit Technology Resources. The project goals are to equip every classroom teacher at three high schools, including Gratz, with a refurbished computer. Teachers will then use this new tool to connect to the internet, use email and utilize a new online grading system
Even though the concept for the project is simple and direct, a significant amount of person-power and technical expertise was needed to complete the task. The only entity at Gratz with the necessary capabilities on hand was the Gratz High School Technology Club. Under the supervision of the co-director of the Gratz YDSLC and a PSLA staff person, the students have been meeting two times a week for three hours, learning how to refurbish computers, install software and use email and the internet.
In addition to a computer, the teachers at Gratz have all been given new email addresses from Ms. Dawsey, the school technical expert. The next step for the club is to develop computer skills trainings for teachers who need some help getting started with their new computers. The students will begin to train the teachers in April on basic computer skills.
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