The year was 1995 and Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Angeles was about to go "online." Students and teachers crowded around the sole computer about to make the leap into cyberspace - by modem. It took a lot of work back then, much more than just pointing and clicking. Everyone was wide-eyed and filled with excitement.

 

That magic moment for Bruce Lee's students reminded him of the first time he saw color television or a man on the moon. "Suddenly, my students could see that they were not bound by the limits of the school building or books. They could see themselves having open access to all kinds of knowledge."

 

The next morning, and thereafter, students were lined up at the computer lab an hour before school started. People who had been thought of as "geeks" were suddenly cool, because they knew how to navigate the Web.

 

"While some schools may be stalled on the Information Superhighway, King Middle School in Los Angeles is in the fast lane, setting an example for how technology can and should be used in the classroom," noted the California Educator in 1996.

 

Today, King is still on the cutting edge compared to most schools. But it's a constant battle to stay there in the face of declining revenue and shifting priorities.

 

"Computers are very commonplace here now, which is a good thing," says Lee, the technology coordinator for the school and a member of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). "Everything is starting to be technology-based, including medicine, the music industry and just about any job you can think of, so it's important that students have access to technology. I am proud to say that we have made great strides here."

 

Inside Room 208 at King Middle School, a robot constructed of brightly colored plastic pieces has a dangerous mission: It must grasp a radioactive isotope and place it inside a lead shield. If it fails, everyone in the room will die.

 

This is the problem that eighth-grade students Michelle Harwood and Kenney Palanca must solve. The students - who built, programmed and control the robot holding the classroom's fate in its claws - stay calm, even when the robot drops the isotope in the wrong spot.

 

Fortunately it's only pretend. The isotope is really a plastic ball and the lead shield is a paper cup. However, the robot has four real motors and one real sensor, and its actions will determine the real grade of Harwood and Palanca, who say they are close to completing their mission.

 

Thirty-eight other students are engaged in similar projects throughout Steven Dworetzky's third-period robotics class. Some are programming robots to push a piece of wood up an incline. Others are creating robotic roller coasters or an 18-hole mini-golf course with robotic hazard bridges and windmills. Some are designing virtual playgrounds on computers.

 

"There's a lot going on here," says Dworetzky. "It may seem chaotic, but it really does make sense. I'm trying to introduce these kids to all the things that computers are capable of doing."

 

Robotics serves as a springboard for students to learn relevant applications of core subjects, says Dworetzky. "Students are using principles of math and science, studying the concepts of friction, inertia, momentum and gravity. They understand what angles mean in geometry and use algebraic formulas. When they read and write about their projects, they improve their literacy and language-arts skills. At most schools, students study things like algebra and science in a vacuum. Here, with project-based learning, they can see the relevancy."

 

Dworetzky has 40 students in his class and works 51 weeks a year because he doesn't want to turn any student away.

 

King Middle School's efforts to go high-tech and its struggle to remain there are, in many ways, a microcosm of what's happening with technology in public schools throughout California. "We are clinging to the cutting edge or the bleeding edge, but it feels like someone is always trying to pull us back," says Lee.

 

When the school rebooted its curriculum to join the technology revolution nearly a decade ago, it formed a "school within a school" called the Highly Gifted Technology and Arts Magnet program, consisting of 12 classrooms. The goal was that students in regular classes would have access to curriculum infused with technology. This was in what might be considered the good old days, when schools had money, the dot-com industry was booming and critical thinking was valued more than test scores.

 

King Middle School today is your typical inner-city Southern California campus - overcrowded and on a year-round schedule, with permanent portables and nonfunctioning water fountains. But looks can be deceiving. Students in many classrooms use state-of-the art technology the way students in other schools use paper and pencils. While technology is everywhere, UTLA members at King are proud to say that they don't teach technology - they use technology to teach.

 

While some argue that technology has replaced critical thinking, students in Connie Martin's eighth-grade English class combine both of them with aplomb. Divided into groups for a "Webquest," students use laptop computers to research the ethics of animal research in preparation for assuming the roles of research scientist, animal rights activist and medical doctor. Along with a written report, they will deliver oral reports in front of the class, which will be recorded by fellow students.

 

Sitting around a table, the students condense their information to fit on index cards and practice their verbal presentations.

 

"I don't really think animal research is a good idea," says Sam Yale. "You can do experiments on animals that are already dead. Maybe things should be tested on people, because we are animals, too."

 

"I think animal research should continue so we can find cures for diseases," says Christian Acuna.

 

Magnet teacher Martin says the kids love it. "Computers bring the real world into the classroom. The challenge is to use the information they get from computers productively."

 

Almost a decade after "the revolution," there is still a divide between generations when it comes to computers, observes Bruce Lee. Younger teachers who grew up with video games have taken to computers naturally, while some of the older teachers at King are still in need of training and reassurance.

 

"Out of 118 teachers here, there are still nine who won't touch a computer. I have invited them to come to a lab and have offered to model lessons for them, but they say, 'No, thank you.' There is still a phobia about computers. They are afraid they might break one. But most older teachers - like me - do quite well and are self-taught."

 

King Middle School opened the first Teacher Practitioner Center for Technology in the district. It was a place where teachers could work in "sheltered technology labs" and practice - with assistance - the lessons their students would attempt. The center closed more than two years ago for lack of funding. While the 12 magnet teachers still receive quality technology training, the rest of the school's teachers are "sadly lacking" in professional development opportunities, says Lee.

 

"At one time we devoted many hours and sessions to professional development. But now we have one just one professional development day with six different classes to choose from - and only two of those classes are technology-based. I have seen the impact here. Sometimes I've seen machines sit idle because teachers haven't had the opportunity for training."

 

Teacher interns still come to King for technology training, but district staff, not teachers, conduct the training. "Before, it was almost a showcase for teachers to share what they know. Now, it has become very top-down."

 

On the walls of Room 209, there are posters of Harry Potter, Bart Simpson, Shrek and other characters. A life-size mannequin of Chewbacca, the furry character from Star Wars, stands atop a table, as if supervising students who are busily designing their own cartoon characters to the loud beat of techno music.

 

Students in Kirk Palayan's animation class were given the job of designing storylines and creating characters, settings and backgrounds. Soon all the separate facets will be merged into actual cartoons using Macromedia, Flash MX and Fireworks MX programs.

 

"I'm creating a new version of Peter Pan," beams Nellfa Salazar, a seventh-grader. "In my version, he knew his parents, who were killed mysteriously, and finds the person who killed them."

 

Students in the eight-week elective class study historical aspects of filmmaking and animation. Palayan has connections with nearby studios and has taken his students to film premieres.

 

"We live in Hollywood and the studios are striving to get more people to work in the medium," says Palayan. "I let my students know there can be jobs - and a future - in this."

 

A decade ago there was a sense of urgency to jump on the technology bandwagon and prepare students for the job market, recalls Lee. Today, there is a sense of urgency to improve test scores.

 

"We try to do project-based learning whenever possible, but we are constrained by what the district requires," says Lee. "Everything is scripted learning, and that can take the creativity out of it. The scripted programs take up so much time that it can be difficult to also find a way to incorporate technology into the curriculum."

 

Linda Sasser, a seventh-grade technology class teacher who formerly taught in the magnet program, says technology is not a magic bullet that will raise test scores. "Test scores are determined by how much learning takes place. Technology is a tool. Scrapping technology because test scores are not going up is like scrapping books or pencils. But technology can increase student motivation - and motivation can factor very high in achievement."

 

Sasser's ESL students may not be completely proficient in English, but they know the language of computers. While searching for facts on the Surtsey Volcano in Iceland, students navigate the Internet with ease.

 

"I like using computers," says Ani Arabyan, whose first language is Armenian. "It's fun. You can find lots of information and words."

 

The school has large numbers of Hispanic and Armenian students. For the volcano project, they are mixed together in groups and communicating in English.

 

Sasser, who has mostly English language learners in her classes, says computers help even the playing field for students. "They have a chance to work at their own level and build upon knowledge they already have. I try to gear projects for individual students so they can fill in the gaps of what they need to know. I send them to websites geared to their level of reading and writing."

 

Computers, says Sasser, can give English language learners confidence. "When they can include animation or do something like scan in pictures of their family, it gives them a sense of self and motivation."

 

King Middle School has a ratio of two students to every computer in its magnet classes along with eight computers in each regular class and a laptop for each teacher. That translates into about 600 computers on the campus. Lee is responsible for basic troubleshooting, networking and installing software for all the machines - as well as professional development.

 

"There isn't enough money for technical support," he says. "From the moment I set foot on campus until I go home, I am working on the computers. Before I even turn my ignition off, I'm approached in the parking lot by teachers with computer problems. We've been in the process of rewiring the lab and installing new eMacs. We had district personnel who were capable of doing this, but the district has cut back on technical support because they consider it expendable. I do what I can, but we get backed up."

 

Lee depends upon student assistants to fill the void. "It really helps me," he says. "It also helps them to learn about computers. Many of my former students are now networking for a living. Sometimes kids who are troublemakers really latch onto this."

 

His principal has been generous with money for technology upgrades, but in July the school was forced to return $105,000 to the district in midyear cuts.

 

Because technology is so expensive and becomes obsolete so quickly, Lee worries about finding money for technology down the road.

 

"If you embrace the beast, you have to feed it," says Lee. "If you don't feed it, the beast will consume you. Like everything that is not properly maintained, computers at this school are in danger of becoming glorified doorstops and expensive paperweights."