Jeff+Piontek

=Jeff Piontek= []

Jeff Piontek, is the Head of Hawaiian Technology Academy (HTA), a public charter school with two Learning Centers, and two virtual pilot programs on four different Hawaiian islands. HTA combines traditional classroom and virtual learning programs and offers students an individualized program using web based curriculum and technology the students can interact with.

Piontek stresses the importance of STEM education and 21st century skills. Piontek’s book; "Blogs Wikis and Podcasts, Oh My! Electronic Media in the classroom" is in its second printing. According to the website, his newest book is due to come out in March, but I couldn’t find a date, so I’m not sure what year.

Piontek has designed many PowerPoint slideshows giving his views on education. I found a video on YouTube [] which explains a little bit about the interactive programs at HTA, and what the children there are learning and doing. He believes children need to learn to think in a creative way and not just learn facts. It contains a statistic on the dropout rate in the U.S. even as expenditures for education are rising, and ranks our students 32nd in the world in science skills, giving the United States a “Significantly below Average” rating. Piontek believes we need to “engage” our students in active learning, issuing each child a laptop, and teaching them the skills they need to survive in an increasingly global world.

I completely agree that learning 21st century skills is essential for our children to survive and flourish in our global world. Through a computer, students attending HTA are actually sharing ideas and designs with students in Singapore and Japan. As long as the use of computers in our classrooms is done in the right way (don’t use a computer for drills and memorizing facts), children will greatly profit from this type of learning.

mw