Palo Alto HS: One View of a Digital High School

Biographical Notes

Arlene Leslie is Technology Coordinator at Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, California. In that capacity she works with students and staff to use technology resources for learning and productivity. She works closely with the Educational Services Division of the school district to integrate technology and library resources into the curriculum. As a member of the Digital High School team she initiates and supports projects that explore the development and application of interactive multimedia systems as tools for thinking, learning, and communication. She organizes training sessions and materials for a wide range of learners throughout the school district. In addition, she coordinates several community-outreach activities which help other educational and nonprofit agencies use the computer to better serve their clients and better manage their organizations.

Arlene is a graduate of the University of the Pacific and holds an M.Ed. from the University of San Francisco. She spent a number of years as both an elementary and middle-school teacher as well as director of programs for gifted and talented children. As part of this effort, she taught students to build and program computers.

Norman Masuda teaches Japanese language and is Technology Mentor to the Foreign Language Department at Palo Alto High School. He was instrumental in securing a Department of Defense grant to establish a Foreign language Computer Lab in 1995. Since then, part of his responsibilities on campus has been computer lab maintenance as well as workshops for the department on technology. He has made presentations at the California Language Teachers Association conferences, ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, state conferences in Wisconsin, Washington, New York, and is consultant for foreign language projects in California. He has served on the California Foreign Language Project’s Advisory Board, the Japanese SAT II, the California Japanese Framework Committee and is past President of the National Association of Japanese Language Teachers and the California Association of Japanese Language Teachers. He is presently on the team of the Monterey Bay Foreign Language Project.

Norman Masuda has a BA in Oriental Languages (UCLA), an MA in Chinese Literature with a Japanese minor (Stanford University) and is certificated in Japanese, Mandarin Chinese and English.

Abstract

This session will introduce how Palo Alto High School accepted the Digital High School challenge and established a plan for technology. The presentation will include the formation of a technology mentor group, the implementation of the technology plan, staff and student training workshops, technology projects within the high school and the Multi-media Fair for the showcasing of the projects.