A model classroom.

If you think it's hard to engage students as you teach the War of 1812, then you obviously haven't gotten a look inside social studies classes at Houston County High School in Georgia. There teachers use illuminated maps, streaming video and handheld voting devices to immerse students in the details of the war's battles.

If this sounds like a peak into the classroom of the future, well, that's exactly what Intel thinks. Through the company's Model School Program, the classes at Houston High are equipped with Promethean's ACTIVBoard Collaborative System, including whiteboards, built-in software, and handheld voting devices that provide teachers with instant feedback.

HCHS is one of several models for 21st century classrooms thanks to Intel's program, which began tour years ago to showcase and share some of the innovative ways that educators are using technology to enhance education. The program connects schools with hardware and software vendors and application service providers via grants and discounts.

"It is very important to have the Model School Program to provide guidance for schools wishing to move down the technology path and to match schools with companies that can provide the answers or solutions that the schools need," says Terry Smithson, Intel America's education marketing manager.

Intel provides case studies on its Web site as well as an application to join the program. The company named HCHS a Model School in May 2003. Since then more than 70 schools have visited the high school to see how technology is changing the way teachers teach.

"Teachers are no longer sources of information, they are great facilitators of information," says HCHS principal Mike Hall, adding that technology forces teachers to evaluate how much learning is taking place and how they can improve their instruction.

"If you're not evaluating these things, you're cheating your students," Hall says.

www.intel.com/modelschool/index.htm