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CANZ recycled computers at Carey College (April 2004)

Junior students using CANZ computers at Carey College.

Carey College in Panmure, Auckland, is an unusual school with a very individual approach to information communication technology (ICT). Founded as a primary level private Christian school in 1988, it added secondary classes – and computers – in 1993. The computers were installed by the school's founder and principal, Michael Drake, who had taken a personal interest in ICT since importing his first Commodore 64 in 1983. Today the school remains small – 50 students – but computers are seen as an important learning tool. The secondary department has a ratio of between 1:2 and 1:3, while the primary department ratio is around 1:4.

The secondary curriculum, geared to Cambridge International exams, is all computer based. "Everything we deliver is modular and every module is on our computers for the students to access," says Drake.

However, there are no teaching programs as such, other than a typing tutor. "Our computers are here for writing essays, researching stuff and organising data." MS Office is the school's mainstay and they also use open-source 'office' suites: OpenOffice.org and 602 PC Suite.

The other computer-based resource for school work is the Internet, and here the school takes an unusual approach to the problem of web 'nasties'. There are no Internet content filters. "We don't think they work," says Drake, who adds that part of the ethos of the school is to teach its students discernment in life. One protection in the classroom is that the computers are in very public spaces. There is also a protocol that says, 'if you get into a site which you shouldn't be in – and that will happen if you're using the Internet effectively – you log out of the site and report it to a staff member.' "We then log the fact that the site has been accessed and that it has been reported. I go into the site myself to check out whether any counselling is needed. We haven't had to do that so far."

Senior students using CANZ computers at Carey College.

All the computers are on a Linux network, which is remotely maintained by Drake's two sons, both computer science graduates now living in England. When tweaking needs to be done locally, it is either carried out by Michael Drake himself or by a nearby computer company. As well as computers, the network hosts printers, with the main one being a Canon copier which can be controlled from any computer. Also linked with the school network, via a Bluetooth connection, is Drake's personal PDA, a Palm T3 which he uses with a fold-up keyboard. It stores a duplicate of all the administration and lesson plans stored on his office laptop.