Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Music videos with young Jamaicans dropping the latest dance moves are far from unusual and, in that regard, Defend The Truth fits into the mould of the usual. The lyrics, though, set to a present-day dancehall beat which is typically a bit off-shore - still in Jamaica's territorial waters but rocking with a distinct foreign influence - are not stereotypical, as the uniformed students chorus:

"Uno, dos, tres cuatro, cinco, seis

SET a de bes'

Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis

School a de bes'"

And in one shot, a group of grinning students hold up green and white rectangular packages.

The Ascot students have been holding on to those packages, in groups or individually, since they got them approaching the end of the school year, as well as throughout the summer programme which ended recently. As colourful and handy as they are, they are not toys.

Learning process

They are computers, and the smiling students are part of the Students Expressing Truth (SET) programme, which equipped persons from their batch of 25 with the machines.

Caleen Diedrick and Kevin Wallen of SET said the computers created quite an impact among the general school population, including staff members, when they were handed over to the students.

And just as how the machines are an extension of their learning process, for some students the machines became almost an extension of themselves, as they carried them everywhere.

"We were actually worried that they would take the computers to classes and do nothing else, or not go to class," Diedrick said.

And the computers, part Nicholas Negroponte's mandate of one laptop per child, and accessed through Charles Nesson of Harvard University, are made to go anywhere. Negroponte is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineer.

Wallen, describing how rugged and practical the computers are, while still having good features, said, "if you go in and mess up something, you just press the reset button."

And they are made to stir interest.

"They (students) are very fascinated with technology. We were reintroducing them to the whole education thing. We gave them the computers and told them play with it," Wallen said.

"They are not toys, but at the same time, they are not the kind of computers that can get you distracted because they can do other things," he said. Still, "you can go on the Internet, you can do so many other things". Among the 'other things' is an introduction to computer programming and music making.

Each computer automatically picks up computers that are on in the vicinity, and persons can then invite other users to type documents or work on projects together said Wallen, adding that it encouraged collaboration.

It also encourages persons to learn."What they (the computers) brought to the school was stimulation," Diedrick said. This is vital in a situation where many students are already distracted from their academic work.

The 25 students in the SET programme, introduced at Ascot last October, are mostly from grade nine, although a cross-section of the school population is involved. Home visits are also part of the programme. And taking a computer home was a major thing for many students who did not have one previously.

The students were in the programme Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, then an additional two hours, during the last school year. The summer school ran from July 6-31.

Providing leadership

The emphasis is on building a community around the students, teachers, who are also in the programme, and parents.

When the next school year begins, those Ascot students already in the SET programme will be giving support and providing leadership to others, as while the initial 25 were assigned to the programme it will become voluntary.

The new participants will go through the required training, while members of the first group will form the executive, committees and various sub-committees, which reflect various areas of school life, such as sports and cultural activities.

There is room for 182 new participants in the SET programme at Ascot High and it is expected that students will volunteer for all the spaces.