Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth – Equipped with the latest Technology Centre, and the cutting edge in Technology Curriculums, Pearson High School has positioned itself at the forefront of education for the new century.

The opening of the new Information Technology Centre at Pearson High School ushers in a new dimension in the creation of knowledge workers for the knowledge age that is dawning.

"The birth of the new Information Technology Centre – carrying the code name of the 'Y2K Room' – can be compared to the birth of a child," says Ms Daphne ffolliatt – the headmistress at Pearson High School. "It took approximately 9 months for the Y2K Room to be established from its conception to its official opening, and might I add, it was a planned birth to start off with!"

"We are planning to use the Y2K room to prepare the learners at Pearson High School for the world that they stand to inherit. We will not only be running the Computer Science and CompuTyping Curriculums at the school, but we have introduced the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum for High Schools as from 2000. Knowledge Network will stand in as the 'godfathers' for the new Centre – ensuring that the centre lives up to its potential."

Knowledge Network, established in 1994, specialises in integrated technology solutions for schools, the development of teachers and learners in schools, IT Curriculum development, IT Project Management for Schools and IT skills training and IT skills evaluations for companies.

Knowledge Network have supplied and implemented the Knowledge Network IT Curriculum to Pearson High School to equip learners with the skills needed for life in the information / knowledge age.

In order to properly equip all kids and teenagers with the skills to cope in a technological world, and to survive in the business world they are set to inherit, teachers need to be equipped with the right skills.

Teaching kids how to use a computer as a tool for everyday life is a new challenge for many of the excellent teachers in our schools. Keeping current with technology is an even greater challenge. The Knowledge Network Partner Schools Programme provides schools and teachers with the tools they need to meet these challenges.

The traditional barriers that exist between High Schools and Primary Schools are quickly disappearing as a result of the way learners of all ages are using technology in their daily lives.

The introduction of the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum for High Schools at Pearson High School and the fact that its main feeder school, Summerstrand Primary School are using the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum for Primary Schools means that a knowledge exchange between the learners at the two schools is rapidly starting to form.

"We would not have had the opportunity to introduce the Knowledge Network Curriculums were it not for the fact that the headmaster of Summerwood, Mr Fred Claasens and his Information Technology Co-ordinator, Mr Albie Nel introduced us to Knowledge Network in 1999," says Ms ffolliatt. "It is critical that the knowledge that the students from Summerwood gain be enhanced when they join Pearson in Grade 08."

According to Mr Johan Schaeffer – the Information Technology Co-ordinator at Pearson High School, the choice to introduce the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum was an easy one. "We have always known that it is essential that the learners are given the most relevant Information Technology training. In our first Information Technology Centre (or IT1 as it is now known) we have been teaching the learners Information Technology skills since 1997. After being invited to our closest neighbouring school, Summerstrand Primary School, and seeing what some of the Grade 04 pupils were able to do having gone through just one year of the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum for Primary Schools, we were convinced to introduce the High School Curriculum at Pearson High School."

Mrs Jackie Kirsten – the Information Technology Teacher responsible for presenting the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum to the Grade 08 and 09 students at Pearson High School said she found the methodology training offered by Knowledge Network key to the implementation of the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum.

"I was impressed with the amazing amount of skills that the students learn in such a short time. The curriculum is very advanced in its content and therefore requires a new way of teaching. The Knowledge Network ILAMM - Integrated Learning and Mentoring Methodology equipped all of us with a revolutionary new way of teaching. The methodology is fully outcomes based and accelerates the students ability to learn," says Mrs Kirsten. She will also be responsible to teach the CompuTyping Curriculum at the school.

The learners starting the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum in 2000 will qualify for a nationally recognised Information Technology Diploma at the end of their Grade 12 year. The Knowledge Network curriculum also develops creativity, lateral thinking, logic, life, listening, memory and communication skills, all of which are critical for learners who will be entering a business world without borders when they leave school.

Learners completing Level 03 of the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum for High Schools – are able to sit the Microsoft^® Office User Specialist (MOUS) Examinations on Proficiency Level. The learners completing Level 04/05 may sit the MOUS Expert level examinations.

This means that a student graduating from Pearson High School in 2004, after having completed Grades 08 to 12 at the school, as well as Level 01 to Level 05 of the Knowledge Network Information Technology Curriculum for High Schools will have had the opportunity to gain the following qualifications: A High School Senior Certificate with Computer Science on Higher Grade, a National Diploma in Information Technology and an internationally recognised Information Technology qualification.

Such a student will not only have these qualifications, but be ready to face a world in which skilled knowledge workers will pave the way for the knowledge age.