Nueva's technology platform begins with a high-bandwidth internet connection and high-speed wired and wireless network, regulated by a content-filtering system. Productivity and focused use is maintained through the use of a centralized system that includes the use of managing and monitoring devices.
Apple MacBooks, used by faculty and students, promote content creation over content consumption. Using the Mac platform helps the school shift each student’s perspective from the gaming or entertainment paradigm to a productivity-oriented paradigm. By learning to productively and meaningfully use the technology provided, students learn to create and produce digital works.
In the Lower School, there are grade-specific laptop carts and a dedicated laptop cart for math, science, music, and art specialists. Beginning in 6th grade and onward, each student is provided with an individual laptop through our one-to-one laptop program. Learn more about our laptop program.
Outfitting individual students with computers is just the beginning. To help augment learning, each classroom has an LCD projector. Classrooms in grades 2–8 have Smart Boards for interactive digital inking and notation recording. The group learning experience is furthered by the availability of document cameras used by teachers to share student work or explore objects in more detail. Digital-video cameras, point-and-shoot cameras, and DSLR digital cameras provide both students and faculty the ability to capture and add visual and audio elements to the learning process.
Electronic Communication in Classrooms
To foster individual communication and group work, students receive school email accounts in third grade and have access to shared server storage. Email accounts are used to provide updates and submit homework, and for collaboration outside the classroom. The school has several servers to hold students' in-progress and completed work, teacher-shared files pertaining to a specific unit, files for group projects, and shared photos and videos from school or classroom events.
Classroom collaboration and information-sharing begins as early as second grade through the use of class blogs and wikis. Every Lower School class has a blog or wiki for teachers to share what happens in the classroom as well as share classroom-specific resources. Teachers create class wikis for highly collaborative assignments in which students can add their own comments to a teacher prompt or respond to a fellow student's comments. When a collaborative wiki is introduced, ground rules and classroom agreements are created to set expectations and encourage ethical use.
Every Middle School class has a homework blog in which teachers post assignments or provide additional unit/lesson details and reminders of required work. Documents, videos, or pictures can be attached to blog postings to help teachers communicate lessons. Homework blogs are updated at the end of the day and distributed via a single email to students and parents. Any Middle School class can also create a specific class blog or wiki for additional information-sharing, commenting, or document collaboration.
Along with class blogs and wikis, Nueva's online community website provides our entire community with the means for information-sharing and collaboration with group blogs/wikis, email mailing lists, class schedules, and directory services. The website also handles the school calendar, attendance, lunch management, electronic invitations, email, volunteer sign-ups, parent/teacher conferences, and selections of electives and academies.