WebQuest in Wonderland: The Eight Grade Comes to the Edge

WebQuest in Wonderland: The Eight Grade Comes to the Edge
By Paul Aldridge

Paul Aldridge is the computer instructor at Pine Crest middle school. This school is a premier private college-preparatory school. The school at first was without technology, but after a few years, immense amounts of technology were added to the school and curriculum. Each child is to come to school with a laptop in hand.
Pine Crest now has the third largest wireless network in the country. Students are seen all around campus on their laptops submitting work to their teachers. The school had a gap between the performance of its students. The lower school had precise typists who were quite familiar with computers and the upper school needed students who could research ideas in depth and well and confident users of a laptop who would be able to easily in the world of proficient college students and out in the real world.
The issue this school had was the gap between these two levels. Paul Aldridge went to a conference where he learned of a program which would help the school's problem, this program is called WebQuest. This new program has helped the school and the students now have an easy transition from lower to middle school and then middle to upper school.

Q1. What is the school's reasoning behind their goal of having each child so extremely knowledgeable about computer technology?
A. The school is a private college-preparatory school, so I believe they are trying to make their students the best and most intelligent they can be when they are sent to college.

Q2. How does this school have so much funding for such a complex and involved technology program.
A2. This school must be very wealthy, also because it is a premier private school.