On the grid, a chance to learn

April 10, 2008

LAST FALL, a group of students at Boston's Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School fanned out, laptops in hand, across the neighborhood surrounding the Dorchester school. The immediate goal was to test the signal strength of the nascent wireless Internet network in Grove Hall and Dudley Square.

Students put their findings on Google Maps and gave these results to openairboston.net, the nonprofit organization in charge of Boston's efforts to build a public Wi-Fi network. It was a lesson in technology, civic affairs, and even typing.

At schools like the Frederick, the most interesting computer instruction happens outside traditional computer labs. With planning help from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the school is furthering students' education and cultivating technical skills. And it is doing so in part by using Web technologies and games that aren't strictly educational.

Frederick students are also in the pilot phase of the National Engineers Week Future City Competition, a national contest for seventh- and eighth-graders. They use the computer game SimCity to design their own metropolises. And they learn about engineering, city planning under budget constraints, and managing a long-term project.

All 650 students at the Frederick have access to their own laptop computers - which makes the school a state-funded laboratory for weaving computer technology into the curriculum. A 2004 report from the Legislature's Special Commission on Educational Technology championed this one-computer-per-student approach. Debra Socia, principal at the Frederick, credits the laptops with improving student engagement. And she's waiting to see if there will be an improvement in MCAS scores.

It's too soon to declare victory. But it's clear that schools have to keep up, incorporating technology to fuel students' success.