All middle school students in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s central and south zones can now access free Internet accounts at city computer labs, paid for by a $1 million federal grant awarded last November to the district’s Student Writing Enhanced by Educational Technology program.

The SWEET program purchased 2,600 Internet accounts, enough for every middle school student at Pajaro Middle, Rolling Hills, E.A. Hall, Lakeview and Alianza Charter. The accounts give access to Web-based e-mail, chat rooms and blogs, powered by Gaggle.net, in addition to writing improvement software.

At the beginning of this school year, SWEET gave 310 laptop computers and writing software to 49 language arts teachers at the five PVUSD middle schools and equipped the campuses with wireless internet.

Computer lab managers will be on-hand in three city computer labs across Watsonville to help students operate the new Internet accounts.

“Internet opens up so many more avenues,” said Grant Coffin, district technology administrator and SWEET director.

SWEET coordinators suspect that a significant number of families in Watsonville do not have access to the Internet. In a classroom of 34 students at Rolling Hills polled Tuesday, half of the students said they did not have Internet access in their home.

SWEET coordinators said they wanted to give students from low-income Watsonville families a chance to expand their education and future career opportunities. To be competitive today, students must have computer skills, Rolling Hills Middle School Principal Rick Ito said.

“Technology is a tool, just like a pen and paper is a tool. But technology is the tool of today,” Coffin said.

Developing technologies will change the way students are educated in PVUSD, Ito said.

“We are on the tip of the iceberg right now,” he said.

Instead of doing a paper worksheet, students can now learn through interactive online activities. Teachers are correcting students’ essays over the Internet for instant feedback, Ito said.

The new accounts have built-in writing programs such as Step Up to Writing, Rx Netwriter and Visual Thesaurus to coach students on grammar, language usage and editing skills as they write. Students can work on their homework on any computer with Internet, Coffin said, as well as save their work in an online e-locker.

The technology department is also focused on integrating technology with writing and academic language to help English-language-learners catch-up more quickly. One of the most important skills a high school student can have in getting into college is advanced writing abilities, Ito said.

Coffin hopes the online programs will motivate students in both writing and reading.

“Good readers make good writers, and good writers make good readers,” he said. “You can’t separate the two.”

Technology administrators admit that inappropriate use of the Internet is always possible on a small scale. Internet activities will be screened through Gaggle.net’s sophisticated censoring system, Coffin said.

Parents of middle school students in the south and central zones are also invited to sign up for free Internet accounts at public computer labs. The Internet is a vital tool for parents who are job searching, Coffin said. He added that giving parents e-mail accounts will increase communication between schools and parents.

There are currently 600 accounts available, and the first parents to go through a training class will be granted access. Contact the Watsonville/Aptos Adult Education Department for more information at 786-2160.

Middle school students from the five schools can go to any of the three city computer labs with their student ID and a legal guardian to sign up for the free accounts.

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Computer lab locations:

Enterprise Community Youth Network Computer Center at 31 Union St., next to the Youth Center. Call 768-3296.

Marinovich Community Computer Center at 120 Second St. inside the Community Center of Marinovich Park. Call 768-3254.

Ramsay Park Computer Center at 1301 Main St. Call 768-3270.

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(Published in 1/31/07 edition)

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