The University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy (UDJHS) recently completed the latest phase of its Technology Improvement Program, which equates to a $200,000 investment in technology.

According to UDJHS president Fr. Karl Kiser, 80 percent of the school’s classrooms have been equipped with SMART Board technology, which include an LCD projector, electronic whiteboard, computer, Internet connection, multimedia player and sound system. Kiser called it the next generation of classroom teaching.

Donations by alumni and friends to the school’s most recent $22 million capital campaign, “For the Greater Good”, paid for the bulk of the upgrades. The rest came from grants.

Founded in 1877, U of D Jesuit is one of the oldest still-operating Catholic high schools in Detroit.

The school also recently added a Sony World Language lab, which UDJHS Director of Technology John Hansknecht said gives students a much greater opportunity to both speak and listen to a foreign language. The technology includes software that lets students compare their pronunciation of a foreign language with the proper pronunciation.

Many teachers also use a program called moodle (www.moodle.org), a free, open-source software package, in order to provide information, notes, etc. students can access from home.

A group of UDJHS students, ranging from freshmen to seniors are pleased to see these technological improvements; and the seniors admitted to being a bit jealous that the younger students will get more out of the new technology than they will.

“I am rather jealous that they have this language lab now,” said senior John Cristiano, adding that it would have helped with him with Latin. “I wish we would have had it sooner.”

He added that he’s happy for the younger students.

“I don’t think jealous would be the right word,” interjected junior Chris Ostrowski. “Just happy for them.”

Cristiano also said the implementation of SMART Board technology makes things easier for both students and teachers, adding that teachers can show a lot more things off the Internet.

Senior James Johnson said his Spanish teacher, Paul Diehl, likes to use the SMART Board to go to websites that let the students either hear things in Spanish or do activities; or otherwise break away from the book.

“He just liked to mix it up,” he said, adding that Diehl would also show occasional movies in Spanish on the SMART Board.

With regard to the language lab, junior Michael Joiner-Hill finds it useful being able to record his Spanish pronunciation in the computer and hear it played back.

“Mr. Diehl can listen to it himself, and then he can critique how your Spanish is, and that really helps with pronunciation and getting to know the language a lot better,” he said.

Sophomore Brian Arnold said he can listen to himself and can train his pronunciation to match the provided examples. He also said input from his French teacher on what he might be doing wrong helps him correct his pronunciation mistakes.

He also said it was harder to correctly learn French pronunciation in the past, when the class, as a whole, would repeat what the teacher would say.

“That was not really the same, because if you hear someone else saying it wrong, you may be saying it wrong, too. So, with listening to yourself and what the computer has, it makes it a lot easier.”

Sophomore Jawanza Hill, who takes Spanish, said it’s a lot easier to pronounce the words correctly because the people who make the recordings tend to speak Spanish as their first language.

Freshman Marcus Montgomery likes the Moodle website most teachers use, because his history teacher puts up extra review notes— and even a slide show.

Ostrowski added that English II teacher Justin Manwell could teach his entire class off the moodle site.

“He has the curriculum laid out for the entire year before the year even starts.”

He added that through the Moodle site, a teacher can keep his or her class abreast of assignments even if is absent for some reason.

He also said that with the electronic submission process students can use, homework is sometimes due on a Saturday. He called that “quite annoying.”

Both Ostrowski and Cristiano take an advanced placement computer science class. Cristiano said the teacher can put examples of what they’re supposed to be programming online, and they can then E-Mail him with questions about error messages they might be getting. The teacher will then point them to a website to help find the answer.

Cristiano also likes being able to go to a teacher’s Moodle site to find notes he might not have been able to copy down in class. He can also take his time reading them over than during the rush of classroom note taking.

Arnold said his English teacher likes to put up extra links to certain websites to provide students with more in-depth background on a subject. One recent link provided them with a virtual tour of the Globe Theatre in Shakespeare’s day.

Another new piece of technology the students like are laptop-sized screens called sympodiums that (so far) are in four classrooms. What teachers write or draw on a sympodium appears on a screen behind them. Cristiano likes them better than old-fashioned projectors because nothing blocks a student’s view.

Hansknecht said they’re an alternative to the SMART Board technology made by the same company; and that math teachers tend to like them.

He also said teacher uses the new technology a little differently, and that they all remain cognizant of their mission— to teach the students.

One thing U of D Jesuit has not done is provide laptops to all the students. Kiser said they don’t want to put technology between the students and the teacher.

He added that with the SMART Boards, the teachers have the latest technology at their fingertips.

U of D Jesuit High is located at 8400 S. Cambridge. It currently has C. 810 students in 7th-12th grade. Call (313) 862-5400 or visit www.uofdjesuit.org.