If you went to Junior High School or Middle School over 15 years ago, you're probably wondering this. Because, if that is the case, you were more than likely enrolled in a traditional Industrial Arts program at your school. A lot of us remember Industrial Arts or "Shop," as many called it, with fond memories. Those older Industrial Arts classes were made of wood shop, metal shop, plastics shop, machine shop, and welding shop. go to top.

Tech. Ed. still has students making some of these traditional projects, but, at the same time, introduces them to newer technologies that incorporate computer use into the workplace. In today's Tech. Ed. classroom, you will often see activities and projects produced on the band saw, drill press, and strip heater, but in the same room, you will also see applications such as Computer Aided Drafting (CAD), which uses a computer hardware and software to produce mechanical and architectural drawings on the computer screen, CNC, which integrates lathes and milling machines with computer hardware and software, desktop publishing, and Internet projects. go to top.

A lot of the emphasis in the Gaiser Tech. Ed. program is in hands-on projects such as the CO2 car, Deskjockey, and Rocketry projects, but there are also assignments and projects that are strictly computerized in nature. For instance, a pair of students in Robotics would be expected to write a script that would take the robotarm through a series of movements to make it complete a predetermined task. A pair of students at CNC Sim would write a script to make an imaginary tool cutter cut a shape on the computer screen. Students at Desktop Publishing would be graded by the teacher on correct saving procedures when saving a document. Whether it's hands on or computer task, Gaiser Tech. Ed. students always feel a sense of accomplishment when they succeed at one of their modules. go to top.

There are two Tech. Ed. classes at Gaiser Middle school. The first year class is a modular technology class. Modular technology classes consist of a dozen or more learning stations. At each learning station, two or three students partner up until they complete the assignments and tasks at their location. Then everyone in the class moves on to a new module and new partner. The recently introduced Advanced Tech. class includes computer applications such as Microsoft Office, Dreamweaver which is a web authoring software program, and Photoshop, shop activities such as bird houses, squirrel feeders, and bat houses, and design activities such as magnetic levitation cars, mouse trap cars, and dragster design. These activities give the students a wide range of computer activities as well as hands-on activities. go to top.