Learning the Language of Technology at FASPS
In addition to French, English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Latin, students at FASPS learn the language of technology, which continues to change at a rate faster than ever imagined. We know that our students will work and live in a highly complex and technology-driven world. Our goal is to teach students the skills necessary to use technology as a tool to enhance their learning and communication in all subjects.
Our Technology Program
The Technology Program at FASPS prepares children both conceptually and technically for the future, and is based on these guiding concepts:
- Technology should be integrated into the curriculum in a way that enhances and expands our programs in both French and English.
- Students and teachers need to have a certain level of computer literacy in order to access all that is available to them.
- Technology tools must be easily accessible, reliable, and appropriate for various grade levels.
- Students must learn to use technology and the internet in appropriate and safe ways.
- Technology helps teachers prepare cross-cultural and multi-language learning experiences for students.
- Effective communication between all members of the school community can be strengthened by the use of technology.
Our Technology Infrastructure
FASPS has an infrastructure in place that supports the ongoing expansion and upgrading of hardware, software, and other technology tools. FASPS features state-of-the-art equipment and services, such as SMART Boards, projectors, and wireless connectivity.
Students in Kindergarten through Grade 5 have access to multiple mobile technology carts featuring laptops and tablets. In Young Pre-kindergarten (YPK) though Grade 2, classroom touchscreen computer stations with age-appropriate software are available for student use. The school’s library is also equipped with computers for students to use for research.
Technology in the Middle School
The Middle School has a one-to-one laptop / tablet program; each Middle School student is issued a device to be used at school and at home. The primary purpose of the Middle School Technology Program is to provide students with computer access whenever and wherever needed for their classwork. Students use their devices for research, communication, writing, and collaboration.
This tool has opened the doors for a multitude of learning activities in French, English, and other languages. Science, math, and technology courses all use the laptops extensively as well. In some classes, students receive electronic versions of textbooks and have access to additional interactive activities that extend the textbook. Teachers often communicate with students through school email accounts and other electronic communication. Grade 6 students learn software, computer, and networking basics, beginning programming logic, and computer ethics.
FASPS in the News
Microsoft Features FASPS for Teaching Language of Technology
Microsoft shined its spotlight on the French American School of Puget Sound (FASPS) in December 2017 both for our school’s use of technology in and out of the classroom and for ensuring our students are well-versed in the “language and logic of programming” so that they go on to high school and university with the skills necessary to thrive “in their increasingly connected futures.”
Brian Hoyt, FASPS’s technology director, who was interviewed extensively for Microsoft’s article — “Cutting Edge in Any Language: Technology at the French American School of Puget Sound” — talks about keeping the school on the cutting edge of technology with the latest Lenovo ThinkPads for its teachers and Surface Pros for its students, and managing those devices with Intune for Education, Microsoft’s cloud-based application and device management service for schools … all in order to provide the best tools available for FASPS’s dual (or more) language learners:
“When the devices come out of my hands, they’re set to English. But then the students can set them to French, or Spanish if they want to use them in Spanish class, or Chinese in Chinese class, and so on. With Windows and Office 365, we have the flexibility to install language packs, and then students just make their device their own. It’s really powerful.”
FASPS’s vision is to inspire the next generation of global citizens to learn, understand, and act wisely in a multicultural world, and, in answer to the question of how technology factors in to that vision, Hoyt says it best when he says, “FASPS considers technology a language that we teach widely across the curriculum.”
