By Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Last month Indian Hill Superintendent David Quattrone was one of 18 superintendents in the country to receive an award for merging technology with learning.

The award from the American Association of School Administrators cited the winners, including Bryan Blavatt, superintendent of Boone County Schools, for their successful integration of technology into "all aspects of school life."

Enquirer reporter Michael Clark interviewed Quattrone about technology's expanding role in his district.

QUESTION: How has technology's use and influence expanded since you began as superintendent?

ANSWER: The district was pretty foresighted in installing fiber optics in 1990. They installed 450 computers and today we have slightly over 1,000 and our fiber-optic network has been upgraded. One of the turning points in faculty development was the introduction of e-mail ... in communicating with colleagues and parents.

We had a big technology planning retreat in 1995 and one of the key roles we created at that time was that of "technology facilitator" at each school building, whose job was to help teachers model different uses in the classroom.

Q: Given Indian Hill's status as one of Greater Cincinnati's wealthiest communities, does its school system mirror technology already in the students' homes?

A: Yes. Our best estimates say that between 96 and 98 percent of our homes are equipped with computers.

Parents can check student attendance, assignments, current grades. Every teacher - kindergarten through grade 5 - has their own class Web page and those are a good way to not only communicate with the home, but also showcase student work and give you a sense of what type of classroom work they are doing. It's unusual in its scope among other school districts.

Q: What is the next quantum leap for Indian Hill technology?

A: One of the goals we've had for a number of years is students and teachers having remote access to their school files from home. Technology expands the amount of time available for learning so they can learn at home and students can control their learning rate more if they need more time on something.

Q: Which technology has had the greatest impact on students?

A: The Internet, just because of the sheer access to resources.

Q: No invention is perfect and advances in technology often leave behind something of value. What has been lost with the growing integration of technology into our schools?

A: There are always unintended effects. And some things you would question is the expectation of an instant response through E-mail or chat room, that you expect an answer right away instead of taking time to think. There is also an aspect of e-mail where some people will say things that they wouldn't face-to-face. Punctuation and grammar also seem to have gone out the window.

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com