Lower School Technology

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The Lower School Technology Lab is a place to learn about technology and to use technology to further our learning. We teach safe and responsible online behavior to all our students. Students from first to fourth grade attend classes in the Tech Lab once a week. They also visit the Tech Lab to work on classroom projects.
Our Lower School Technology Lab has both iMacs and PCs. We use SmartBoards in the Lab and in classrooms both for teaching and as an interactive experience for the students. Learning to use digital still and video cameras and work with images is an important component of the program.

The primary focus of the Lower School Technology curriculum is:

1st and 2nd Grades

  • Basics of keyboarding
  • Basics of Microsoft Office: specifically Microsoft Word and PowerPoint
  • Basics of digital photography and Adobe Photoshop Elements
  • Math applications related to classwork, and for skills practice, including The Graph Club
  • Idea mapping in Kidspiration as a tool for planning projects
  • Beginning programming in GEO-LOGO
  • Rules of Internet Safety, using the iSafe America curriculum (www.isafe.org)

3rd and 4th Grades

  • Working in a network, including logging on, saving to folders, finding files
  • Regular keyboarding practice with Type to Learn 3
  • Familiarity with Microsoft Office: specifically Microsoft Word and PowerPoint
  • Continued use of digital photography and Adobe Photoshop Elements
  • Basics of digital video composition and media literacy, edited in iMovie
  • Math applications related to classwork, and for skills practice, including The Graph Club, and the basic tools of Geometer's Sketchpad
  • Advanced programming in GEO-LOGO and Squeak.
  • Idea mapping in Inspiration as a tool for planning projects
  • Rules of Internet Safety and online behavior, using the iSafe America curriculum (www.isafe.org)

Learn More

The Sidwell Friends School Vision for Technology was developed with the belief that the proper use of technology can add immeasurably to the learning experience of each student, improve student achievement, facilitate teaching and learning, and reinforce the school's commitment to the environment.  We encourage our students to use technology in ways, consistent with the ethical and moral standards of the School and the larger community, that underscore the words contained in the Sidwell Friends School Philosophy.  In particular, we believe that the appropriate use of technology can enhance the "rich and rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum," provide ways for our students "to stimulate creative inquiry, intellectual achievement and independent thinking in a world increasingly without borders.