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July 25th, 2008
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Teachers, students are going wireless

The International School of Prague debuts Stroodle

By Curtis M. Wong
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
March 26th, 2008 issue

MySpace and Facebook have changed the way an entire generation of children and teens communicate, as well as how they spend countless hours of their free time. While those social networking sites operate solely for entertainment, officials at the International School of Prague (ISP) are harnessing that technology in an effort to enhance the day-to-day classroom experience.

The school recently launched Stroodle, which follows the tried-and-true social networking format of Facebook but with an educational twist. On the site, each course is listed by subject and teacher, so students can easily view daily notes and homework assignments.
Furthermore, students have access to online forums on the site, where they can communicate with classmates, making collaborative projects easier. It’s a true multimedia experience for students, note ISP officials, who debuted the program schoolwide last fall. The open-source content management system, which the school downloaded from Moodle.org and nicknamed Stroodle, received a warm reception from both students and teachers.
“I hope this is the wave of the future,” says Chris Warnecke, a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at ISP. “It’s basically an online academic community, a resource that is always there, no matter where you are in the world.”
Warnecke says his students have truly embraced the new system, and he hopes to move to a completely “paperless classroom” by the start of the next school year.
Despite the initial excitement surrounding its launch, Warnecke says his students still view Stroodle as an academic tool while Facebook is seen more as a social network.
Still, if Stroodle were taken away from students, “they would freak out,” Warnecke laughs.
ISP students have the opportunity to create individual “electronic portfolios,” where they can post photos and written work. Kids also have access to an online directory where they can access “kid-centric” Web sites that are helpful for book reports, school officials point out. And instead of ruffling through dusty card catalogs, the library maintains its collections online, making it easier to locate books and find out if they’re available.
Warnecke says that he tries to keep his classes’ Stroodle pages updated by weeks, so that students always aware of their current homework and lessons. The teacher adds that he even posts test grades online.
According to John Mikton, the school’s director of information technology, the new programs are an effort to strengthen use of technology in a classroom setting. Students are being introduced to technology at a very early age, and this gives them the hands-on experience that’s beneficial both on a personal and academic level, he says.
“Kids like to create, and they like to express themselves through multimedia,” Mikton says. “All of these interactive sites allow students to create information, instead of just being recipients. In turn, they gain critical knowledge and skills.”
The school presented Stroodle, along with other classroom-oriented technology, at a three-day conference for international school administrators earlier this year. Officials were on hand from more than 20 schools in Europe and Asia, including the American School of Barcelona, the American International School in Vienna, the Anglo-American School of Moscow and the International School of Bangkok.
Education officials discussed strategic leadership as well as system implementation for international schools. The conference’s keynote speakers included Gordon Shukwit, director of strategic education programs at Apple Inc. and Donald G. Knezek and Lynn Nolan of the International Society for Technology in Education.
The conference was helpful for school administrators, Mikton says, because it helped foster a sense of community that he hopes will continue in the virtual setting.
“It really helped to break down the feeling of being isolated,” he says. “[With the conference and the available technology], we’re now able to collaborate internationally.”
The Stroodle application is just part of the many recent technological advances that have taken place at the International School of Prague in the past three years. Educators are going to great lengths to ensure that the students are well-skilled with computers. Incoming kindergarteners start with one computer class each week. Students are quickly bumped up to six computer sessions a week by the time they hit third grade. And, in the fall, the school plans to provide all fourth and fifth grade students with their personal laptops for classroom use.
Another benefit of the “virtual classroom” is that it allows parents to review their children’s academic curriculum, Mikton says.
While some parents may question the school’s recent emphasis on technology, saying that even the most high-tech software can’t replace true interpersonal communication, officials say that the new programs are meant to enhance the learning process rather than detract from it.
“Of course, balance is critical,” Mikton says. “We want to blend technology into the school experience in a way that’s meaningful to kids and teachers without replacing interpersonal contact in the classroom, and in a way that’s helpful in preparing students for the real world.”
By posting notes on the Web, which students can still access if they are absent, teachers are also able to conserve classroom time for more efficient purposes, school officials say. And with all assignments also available online, it reduces the familiar “My dog ate my homework” excuses among students.
“Now, students don’t have their access to classroom resources limited to 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. They’re available anytime, any day, constantly,” Mikton says. “Technology can help us to create opportunities for non-IT related classroom time. It’s actually quite seamless.”

Curtis M. Wong can be reached at specialsection@praguepost.com


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