In the fall of 2006 I got a phone call wondering if I would be interested in a job as a computer teacher/support person for a high school. Little did I know what an amazing journey this would be.
When I arrived in the fall of 2006, the school’s computer curriculum revolved around typing skills, letter composition and MS Word processing. After spending some time with the students it was clear the curriculum was not challenging enough. The second biggest issue was that modern day computers were far superior to the ones in the school. In the Fall of 2007 the lab computers had Intel Pentium III Processors @ 1.13 GHz using between 256mb – 512mb RAM, which was not much to work with. That’s when I began crafting my first project based learning curriculum around teaching children how the computer works so we can improve our lab, the school and our overall tech experience. We began opening the computers up to study the hardware to learn how the system works to know what we need to improve.
In the Spring of 2010, with a little luck in the form of a donation from St. Joseph’s college I was able to replace all 86 computers in the building with the refurbished computers that we received. The machines had Intel P4 processors with 2gb – 4gb RAM!
That same year the senior class of 2010 designed and built six computers for our lab to be able to support Adobe CS4 software that we were purchasing to learn how to use Photoshop, which required 4gb RAM minimum to run.
Technology penetration in the rest of the school was also seriously lacking. In the fall of 2007 not a single classroom was outfitted with a Smartboard. In just three years, with little to no budget, I was able to strategically outfit all 15 classrooms with Smartboard technology using NYSSL funds, E-Rate and community outreach.
Part of my mission as well was to create an environmentally friendly atmosphere that contributes back to needy communities and help provide computer access to people who have none. With the help of NYCIST, one charity I was happy to find and support was Mr. Steve Bergen and the Children’s Storefront. Mr. Bergen takes old machines and refurbishes them for needy families.
Next up was creating a support environment for teachers and staff for using technology. I began devising a professional development program that I call CSL (Computers as a Second Language). I started by teaching basic computer and Smartboard tutorials to teachers in a variety of formats from departmental to one on one sessions and from scheduled to impromptu throughout the school year. I also created a wiki for teachers to act as a one stop shop for valuable classroom resources.
Revamping the curriculum was yet another high priority. Once access and capability were improved I focused on building a curriculum to scaffold on students abilities and instill deeper understanding, advanced application and enhanced learning with technology. A prime motivation of mine was to graduate women capable of over coming societal biases around technology and to have an advantage in our increasingly technologically complex world.
Anthony Tricarico 