Movie Response

4. Think about the students' school environments and other environments (e.g. family, work, friends) surrounding them. What did you think of the approaches to technology in the three different school environments (Austin, Texas, Cupertino, California and Tech High in California)? Do you think any of the models are more successful than others at their mission? Is Tech High, without a football team and a library, the way of the future or an experiment likely to fail? Could a school like Luisa's in Austin ever catch up with others showcased? Give your opinion.

I think the approaches to technology in both schools in California were extreme examples, while the approach in Austin, Texas, was more practical/realistic. The Austin high school, even though it was severely lacking in funding and amount of technology available to its students, it was doing the best it could. The principle was encouraging use of the technology, the school partnered with a local industry to create a class dealing with technology, and some of the students were actively pursuing careers in multimedia. Despite these efforts, I do not think that this school could ever catch up with the other schools shown in this movie--there just isn't enough money.

Of the two schools in California, I think Multa Vista High is probably a "better" school, even though its programs outside of technology are relatively poor. Since New Tech High only offered technology classes in the style of working in an industry and graduation was determined by one project, I think that the students who attend that school have a leg up when it comes to getting a job, but it didn't seem like they developed any skills outside of that narrow field. I think that New Tech High is an experiment likely to fail.