The beginning of the 2009-2010 school year brought about drastic changes to the way Cocheco Arts and Technology Academy (CATA), a college preparatory, charter high school based in Dover, N.H., uses technology.
Bob Walker, Jr., a music teacher at the academy, began an internship as he continued to work on earning his master’s degree in Education Media Design and Technology. Mr. Walker developed tools for staff and students to use in order to offer an online component of the school. These tools included social networks, shared documents in order to help operate the school more efficiently, and a way to hold classes online when the school building needed to be closed due to weather or other emergencies.
Established in 2004, CATA serves 9th -12th grade students with a specialized interest in arts and technology. Their mission: to provide excellence in secondary education through college preparatory academics, performing arts, fine arts, and technology related to the arts.
CATA Discovers Haiku LMS
Although using class social network sites had been successful, the staff quickly realized some limitations. Features they wanted to add were not available in the tools they were using. Mr. Walker spent a month in his master’s program learning and experimenting with various learning management systems, and Haiku LMS had been one of the systems he explored in the quest to find what CATA was looking for.
CATA was attracted to Haiku’s simplicity, and Mr. Walker is excited about its potential. “It will allow us to incorporate the use of music and art software right into the system while maintaining a clean, artistic visual experience for our community to use,” he said. “Our other attraction to Haiku is the ePortfolio feature. All of our students must submit a portfolio of work, including rationales, for each year of attendance. The final portfolio is a requirement of graduation from CATA. Our staff and board are excited to have Haiku in our community to enhance the educational value of what CATA offers.”
Through the development of the curriculum and the design of the school based on its mission, CATA has offered hands-on training in computer programs like Adobe® Photoshop® for visual arts and hands-on courses in recording technology and set design. It is the goal of the school to move forward with technology by requiring students to have their own laptop; offer classes on how to fully utilize programs and online collaboration tools to complete projects; and to use technology to create and promote student artwork.
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