Students May Be Required to Learn Computer Skills

Students in the Tustin Unified School District could be required to demonstrate computer skills to advance and to graduate under a plan that will be considered Monday by the Board of Education.

The district would become one of the first to adopt technology requirements for students at each grade level, said Angela Satterlee, director of management information systems and technology.

“We felt this is a need because the technology has to be tied to instruction and curriculum,” she said. “We want to make sure [students] are using computers in a structured way, not for games and play.”

Students in lower grades would be expected to understand the relevance of technology and how they might use it daily, Satterlee said. In later years, they would be asked to demonstrate basic computer skills.

In high school, Satterlee said, students would know how to use computers for writing and publishing, Internet research, multimedia presentations and other skills.

The school board meets at 7 p.m. at 300 South C. St.