When I tell people that I am teaching at a school called High Tech High, they often ask me if there are a lot of computers around the campus. Sometimes, they want to know if we are doing things with robots. Or circuits. Or coding. They want to know what makes it “high tech,” and to be honest, I didn’t know the answer until I watched this interview with High Tech High founder and CEO Larry Rosenstock, titled Innovative Teaching and Learning: Lessons from High Tech High's Founding Principal.
At the High Tech High North County campus, where I am currently teaching, there is a decent amount of technology. There’s a laser cutter, a 3D printer, 1:1 Chromebooks, a media lab, and more. But most of this technology really isn’t exclusive to a school like High Tech High anymore. As Rosenstock explains, the “tech” part of High Tech High is actually referring to something a bit different than what most people think of when they think of technology. He says, “You’re taking the methodology of tech, which is group performed, team taught, experiential, applied, expeditionary--you’re producing--and the content of academics...and you’re trying to wed the pedagogy of tech--not the content--with the content of academics.” At High Tech High, the students work in groups, they are taught by teams of teachers working together across subjects, and they consistently produce work in the form of projects that connect to the community. It is this model, and not the computers, that makes the school ‘High Tech.’
Rosenstock connects this idea to some of the concepts behind the way students interact with video games, saying, “Why is it that your average kid, regardless of socioeconomic or educational background, if given an MMO, or video game, computer game, would, left to their own devices, play with it for ten hours a day for fourteen months even though it’s fraught with failure, frustration, setbacks, and successes, but going through and persevering?” Many students are willing to spend hours and hours attempting tasks, failing, and trying again in a video game. In fact, the very nature of video games relies on a certain element of failure to engage the player. The player is compelled to try again and again to solve a problem, and when a player does succeed, he or she is often rewarded with an even harder problem to solve. So how can we use these elements to engage students? Again, Rosenstock’s answer: integrate the pedagogy of technology with the content of academics.
Looking back on my experience at High Tech High now, I can clearly see the elements that Rosenstock mentions. I think my favorite is producing. I love seeing the work that the students come up with, and even more important, I love watching the process as students encounter problems, struggle against them, and then find a solution to overcome them; that kind of learning can almost always be found when students are creating. That’s the real definition of technology at High Tech High. It’s like what Rosenstock tells the students: “You can’t play video games unless you’ve made them here...I want kids producing, not consuming. I want kids making those things.”
Rosenstock, L. (2012, March 6). Innovative Teaching and Learning: Lessons from High Tech High's Founding Principal. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spn1xGycar8
At the High Tech High North County campus, where I am currently teaching, there is a decent amount of technology. There’s a laser cutter, a 3D printer, 1:1 Chromebooks, a media lab, and more. But most of this technology really isn’t exclusive to a school like High Tech High anymore. As Rosenstock explains, the “tech” part of High Tech High is actually referring to something a bit different than what most people think of when they think of technology. He says, “You’re taking the methodology of tech, which is group performed, team taught, experiential, applied, expeditionary--you’re producing--and the content of academics...and you’re trying to wed the pedagogy of tech--not the content--with the content of academics.” At High Tech High, the students work in groups, they are taught by teams of teachers working together across subjects, and they consistently produce work in the form of projects that connect to the community. It is this model, and not the computers, that makes the school ‘High Tech.’
Rosenstock connects this idea to some of the concepts behind the way students interact with video games, saying, “Why is it that your average kid, regardless of socioeconomic or educational background, if given an MMO, or video game, computer game, would, left to their own devices, play with it for ten hours a day for fourteen months even though it’s fraught with failure, frustration, setbacks, and successes, but going through and persevering?” Many students are willing to spend hours and hours attempting tasks, failing, and trying again in a video game. In fact, the very nature of video games relies on a certain element of failure to engage the player. The player is compelled to try again and again to solve a problem, and when a player does succeed, he or she is often rewarded with an even harder problem to solve. So how can we use these elements to engage students? Again, Rosenstock’s answer: integrate the pedagogy of technology with the content of academics.
Looking back on my experience at High Tech High now, I can clearly see the elements that Rosenstock mentions. I think my favorite is producing. I love seeing the work that the students come up with, and even more important, I love watching the process as students encounter problems, struggle against them, and then find a solution to overcome them; that kind of learning can almost always be found when students are creating. That’s the real definition of technology at High Tech High. It’s like what Rosenstock tells the students: “You can’t play video games unless you’ve made them here...I want kids producing, not consuming. I want kids making those things.”
Rosenstock, L. (2012, March 6). Innovative Teaching and Learning: Lessons from High Tech High's Founding Principal. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spn1xGycar8