Freedom Area Senior High School, in Freedom, Pennsylvania, finds that integrating technology in all areas of the learning experience helps the school:

On this page:

Establish learning and instructional outcomes

In the recently created, school-based position of Technology Coach at Freedom Area Senior High School, Tom Hickey works with Technology Coordinator Matt Scala to help teachers and students use technology in their daily lessons. Their instructional outlook is informed by the learning outcomes adopted by the school, including collaboration, civility, career preparation, core content literacy, critical thinking, written and oral communication, and technology literacy. These outcomes also help to inspire the students and get them more engaged with the learning experience.

Watch a video below to see learn more about technology and core learning outcomes.

Broaden learning opportunities

Students and faculty at Freedom have found that computers can make lessons livelier. Technology allows for unprecedented and instantaneous connectivity between and among students, teachers, administrators, families, and others around the globe. Although this idea may seem revolutionary to some, it is becoming the norm for today's students.

Watch the video below to learn how Freedom Area Senior High School students are embracing change and the learning opportunities that come with it.

Prepare students for success

Many high school students complain that they are bored, and they wonder about the relevance of their lessons to life after graduation. Most of Freedom's students begin working while still in school, holding down jobs that may require 20 or more hours per week. Although 68 percent of Freedom's graduates attend college, only half complete degrees. School administrators know that technology in the classroom can help them do a better job of preparing students for success. Technology also provides the ability to increase accountability and to engage students in a more rigorous curriculum.

See some of the students from Freedom High School students talk about how technology is helping them.

Overcoming challenges

Freedom Area Senior High School has its share of challenges to overcome. Moving a traditional school system into a more innovative mode can present obstacles, and technology integration is just one part of a comprehensive growth plan. Superintendent Ron Sofo leads the school system through the change process. Through participation in grants from Project 720 and Classrooms for the Future and other reform initiatives, Sofo promotes institutional change. He also knows only too well that change can be expensive. He budgets to acquire, utilize, and maintain the technology infrastructure—knowing that technology integration can require ongoing investment and even possible cuts to other programs.

Additionally, an established faculty can find change difficult. But in this first phase of reform, the faculty at Freedom Area Senior High School is enthusiastic about learning new skills and integrating technology into their teaching. Teachers at Freedom recall when their teaching tools included textbooks, a chalkboard, and an overhead projector. Although some may still feel more comfortable with these traditional tools, they are gearing up to meet today's challenges and beginning to use innovative software and equipment in their lessons. Tackling new skills and learning different models of teaching using these technologies moves teachers out of their comfort zone, and this willingness to learn benefits the students along with the staff.

About the community

Freedom, Pennsylvania, sits on the banks of the Ohio River, just 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, amid rolling hills and abandoned steel mills. In response to the decline of the local economy, the school system is shifting its approach. The Classrooms for the Future program offers an educational vision that looks forward to new and better times. Freedom Area Senior High School uses this vision—along with technology— to prepare its students to meet the challenges of a changing economy and to be part of the 21st-century workforce in this community.