Originally published on 19 March 2015 in the Pasadena Independent, Arcadia Weekly, Monrovia Weekly, and Sierra Madre Weekly

The morning bell rings and a gaggle of Kindergartners run excitedly into the classroom ready to start the school day. But instead of the usual crayons, pencils and paper, the children have iPads, and sitting in front of them on their desks are computers. There is no blackboard to be seen anywhere; around the periphery of the room are large screen monitors. The five-year-olds await with anticipation today’s important lesson.  

This is the daily scene for Paul Barker, technology teacher, at Clairbourn School in San Gabriel. And, along with his students, he discovers how using technology in the classroom is making the learning experience that much more alive and vibrant.

Founded in 1926, this independent private school offers an excellent educational program for nursery-age children as young as three years old, all the way to 8^th grade. Adhering to its original mandate of preparing its charge for a full and rich life, Clairbourn teachers cover the core subjects of English, Math, Science, History, and Language much like their predecessors did all that long ago.  What is different, though, is the way they teach.   

Dr. Robert Nafie, Clairbourn’s head of school, understands that children today are bombarded with bursts of information coming at them from various video platforms. Gone are the days when students sat at their desks to listen to their teacher lecture about a subject matter. Children today retain knowledge when they put into immediate use what they learn; that piece of information goes from their short-term memory into their long-term memory. “The challenge,” he says, “is for us to capture their attention and engage them during that small window we have.” 

Clairbourn School fully addresses this shift in the way children learn. And, as teachers integrate technology in their everyday lessons they are, themselves, still learning about it. Nafie says, “Schools are just figuring out technology along with the kids they’re expected to teach. It’s a new challenge for educators who are digital immigrants (having been largely paper-trained) to teach kids who are digital natives.”       

Meanwhile, in his computer lab, Barker types on his iPad what he wants his students to do. Eager faces look up at the large screen monitors for their instruction, and proceed with the lesson. Using the language Scratch, he teaches them how to program. With each touch of the mouse, they command the Scratch sprite (which looks like a cartoon cat) to walk, run, or skip. They can invent a storyline for this Scratch cat, and using various backdrops available to them, create an interactive book.

First graders learn a Lego program and build simple robots using Mindstorms. In 2^nd grade, they learn basic robot controls; in 3^rd grade, they add devises to their robots. When they reach 4^th grade, they build complicated robots from scratch. In 5^th grade, they research and outline a project using all the concepts they learned, their robot-building knowledge, and experience. In middle school, they construct an actual working robot that they will present to their classmates, teachers, and parents. According to Barker, some of his middle-schoolers built a bathroom, complete with flushing toilet and working sink.

Recently, the computer lab got its own 3-D printer from a local manufacturer, Deezmaker. The heart of the contraption is a small index-card size CPU (central processing unit) and is capable of printing simple blocks or complicated objects.  Students are now able to use all the knowledge they gained in Math and Science to design and create something. Using their programming skills, they can make the 3-D printer replicate what they built in their mind into something they can touch and feel and experience.  

The lessons Barker teaches in his computer lab class complement the topics his students are learning in their other classes. He has a list of subjects for each grade level and the lessons on discussion at each point in the schoolyear. When the English teacher is teaching Shakespeare in her class, Barker integrates that lesson in the lab. It makes memorizing Hamlet’s soliloquy, for instance, easier and more fun.

What a long way Clairbourn School has come! From the Bourne family’s first vision of how they wanted their children to be educated, when Mrs. A.K. Bourne held classes in their conservatory for a handful of students, to the interactive teaching instructors now provide.

Under Dr. Nafie’s capable stewardship, technology is not just a promising academic supplement, it is a fundamental component of the Clairbourn student’s everyday learning experience.