Gen Yes from Jeff Darrow on Vimeo.
This student made video is from the GenYES class at Winston Churchill MS, San Juan School District, California. Looks like fun!
Sylvia
Archive for the ‘student project samples’ Category
What do GenYES students do?
Monday, March 15th, 2010Students show off their tech skills in the Show Me state
Friday, February 19th, 2010
GenYES students from Reed Springs, MO, just came back from Show-Me Techknowledge Day. This is an annual event at the state capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri. Students went to share what they do to assist teachers and other students with technology throughout their school.
In Reed Springs, GenYES students meet in an after-school club where they learn technology and how to help teachers who are participating in a laptop incentive program.
Instructional technology specialist and GenYES advisor Janna Elfrink says, “The GenYES students work with these teachers each month after school, where the students teach the teachers how to utilize and incorporate the technology to meet the needs of the students and teachers. Our goal is to create a community of learners where the teachers present their curriculum to the students, and the students match the available technology with the curriculum. Students and teachers communicate through the TAPs request system and through Gaggle email.”
When planning their trip to the state capitol, the Reed Springs GenYES club did a really smart thing.
“We emailed all state representatives and senators prior to the event, inviting them to visit our booth. The response from representatives and senators was overwhelming. One representative invited the students to visit him in his office, and provided lunch for us. Another introduced our students on the House floor during session. State officials, teachers, administrators, and students commented on our work through the GenYES program and took information from us about our program.”
It’s so important to have these positive examples of students doing good things with technology. This is especially true with politicians, who often only hear about educational technology when things go terribly wrong.
Janna continues, “We have now been invited to be student presenters at an annual technology conference in March at Missouri State University. We have also been asked to present a program review to our Board of Education.”
What do the students do?
At Reed Springs, Janna explains how the students use the GenYES TAP request system to track teacher needs and projects. This is an online TAP (Technology Assistance Project) system that every GenYES school uses.
“After getting buy in from our administrative team and the teachers, I began working with high school students during our late-start Thursdays. We run our GenYES program as a club, with students working on TAP requests and their TechYES projects during that time.
The work that the GenYES students do has carried over into working with other teachers in their building on technical needs and projects.”
Reed Springs also uses our TechYES program to ensure technology literacy for their students. Students not only help teachers, but also their peers as they show tech literacy through authentic projects.
“Our GenYES students also participate in TechYES, where they are creating at least two technology projects this school year. The students are nearing the peer-edit phase of their work, and they each have a goal to submit one of their projects to our annual Reeds Spring Technology Fair in April.”
What students say
Now I know I’m violating all the sacred rules of blogging by going on this long, but there’s more. One of the reasons I’m so passionate about student empowerment is that it’s one of those win-win solutions that have beneficial ripples, both expected and unexpected.
Empowering students and enabling student voice is at core of the GenYES philosophy, so hearing what they have to say matters.
March Foster – “GenYes and TechYes have been opportunities to allow me to take on the true role of a teacher, both by teaching people, and learning new things in turn from them. GenYes has been a great learning experience. It has allowed me to expand my horizons beyond learning just school based curriculum and into more technologically advanced studies that the curriculum can’t support. Beyond that it expands my social enviornment by allowing me to develop friendships with people of similar interests. This has lead to many great relationships to be formed with other GenYes members, and peers.”
Terrion Conner – “no matter the age, you never stop learning” and “never be greedy, knowledge should be shared”
Chris Benson – “I feel that the GenYes program is a great way for me, the student, to show some of my teachers how to do things that honestly I didn’t think were hard but were for someone that didn’t grow up with the technology, and I enjoy getting the teaching experience and it has opened my eyes to the idea that I might teach latter on in life.”
Jack McCoy – “I enjoy the camaraderie of the guys in the program, and think that we have done a lot of good for the teachers and school district”
Mason Vrobel – “I find TechYES an excellent opportunity to do projects such as the computer-in-a-Nintendo.”
Austin Merath – “Genyes is a fun and rewarding experience for me. I like to share my knowledge of technology with the teachers to help them teach their students. I love seeing them learn and excited about learning with the computers and programs I know.”
Yup, what they said.
Sylvia
Maple Avenue Middle School students in the news
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010Students at Maple Avenue Middle School in Saratoga, NY got some well-deserved attention from their local newspaper, The Saratogian News.
“Sixth-graders in Tom Coons’ computer class linger after the bell rings, asking for passes to come back during their study halls and lunch periods.
The reason?
They’re excited to use mini Flip Mino video recorders, digital photography, PowerPoint and computer animation to create projects that will earn them national recognition through “student technology literacy certification.”
Maple Ave. is one of 45 schools participating in the New York State Student Technology Leaders (NYSSTL) grant, funded with state EETT funding. NYSSTL schools use Generation YES tools and curriculum to meet technology literacy standards (TechYES) and to teach students how to be leaders and help teachers and peers with technology (GenYES.)
It’s great to read a story about students doing good things with technology. This is the way to fight stereotypes and misinformation about youth. Students almost always do their best when given support and encouragement to raise the bar.
I love the part about the student who spent 6 weeks on his project about Mesopotamia, drawing and animating his own graphics, and memorizing and recording his own soundtrack. This student is so far beyond the normal checklist of tech skills it’s amazing. And yet, this is NORMAL when you give kids time, support, and the encouragement to go beyond the checklist.
This is exactly why we do what we do with schools – to help schools take that leap of faith that together, students and teachers can achieve tech fluency beyond everyone’s expectations, especially their own. This is the essence of Generation YES – Youth and Educators Succeeding.
Sylvia
What does project-based learning look like?
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010“Even as I write this, I am amazed at how much kids did in just 20 minutes. I can’t wait to see where they go next and what they do when I introduce ideas such as storyboarding, clay animation, etc. It will be interesting to hear their conversations about the things they notice outside of school–times when photos are manipulated, etc I didn’t realize how much they would learn from this one tool.”
via A Year of Reading: Discovering the Possibilities of Stopmotion in Grades 2-5.
People ask me all the time – so what does project-based learning look like? This blog post is a great example of a teacher explaining just that. It’s the details that stand out – the choice of a good tool, the thoughtfulness of finding the right balance between too much or too little initial instruction, and the reflection on what happened.
People think that project-based learning is more difficult for the teacher, but this article points out that the teacher used the same tool and same lesson plan for grades 2-5. The projects were age-appropriate and varied because students brought their own experiences to their projects, not because the teacher designed the lesson differently.
I often ask teachers to share in sessions what happens in their classrooms when they allow these experiences to unfold. These stories share a sense of wonderment at what students are capable of when given the chance. Yet it’s hard to explain exactly how this happens or what the teacher does besides “let go.” To many people, project-based learning seems like an “if you build it, they will come” kind of mystical promise.
Articles like this explode some of that mythology. It’s clear that the teacher is actively guiding students in their natural pursuit of learning. And it’s clear that for technology based projects, open-ended tools like Frames allow students to not only succeed quickly, but support longer and deeper experiences as students gain fluency.
Please read Discovering the Possibilities of Stopmotion in Grades 2-5!
Sylvia
Student video – GenYES Rocks!
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010SMHS GenYes Rocks! from Debbie Kovesdy on Vimeo.
GenYes is the ultimate tech group at Shadow Mountain High School! We simply rock when it come to new tech and learning! In addition to tech support for teachers and students, we are implementing educational and social gaming in the media center, telepresence communication with students, academia, scientists across the globe, developing interactive Wii walls and more!
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This video was created and produced by the GenYES class at Shadow Mountain HS in the Paradise Valley School District, Arizona. Learn more about GenYES and the student help desk (TAP system) at the Generation YES website.
So all you other GenYES schools – we challenge you to come up with your own videos showing GenYES in action at your school!
Sylvia
Future game designers! Apply for the Student Design Corps today
Friday, January 15th, 2010Apply to the Student Design Corps Today
If you work with students (13 years and older) who have a strong interest in designing and creating their own computer games, definitely learn more about our plans for the Design Corps, which kicked off in the fall. This spring, the program is entering a new phase focusing on student design teams. We’ve opened this up to new participants — interested students can apply right here by Friday, January 22, 2010.
What does it take to apply between now and next Friday?
- Teachers can suggest students by emailing us brief recommendations at design.corps [at] learninggamesnetwork.org. (If you’re a student, ask a teacher to recommend you.)
- For applicants under 18, we need a parent or guardian to let us know that he or she approves of their participation in the program. They should send a brief email affirming this to, you guessed it, design.corps [at] learninggamesnetwork.org.
- All applicants must tell us a little bit about their interests using the form on this page.
Voilà, you’re done! For this new group of students joining the Design Corps, we’ll have our first event on Jan 23, 2010. Remember, our events are online, so participants will need reliable access to an internet connection.
Sylvia
$71.6 million in California stimulus funds for educational technology (ARRA EETT)
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009States are starting to distribute the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding, better known as “Stimulus Funds”. Much of the Title 1 funding has already found its way to schools, and now, the portion allocated to improve technology use (EETT) in schools is starting to trickle out.
California has released their guidelines and RFP here. 50% of the money will be distributed by formula, 50% will be distributed via a competitive grant process. This money is over and above the annual EETT funds from the federal government. It’s a LOT of money, but is a one-time only grant. This isn’t going to happen every year!
GenYES has been a very popular component of many California EETT grants in previous rounds, and we hope this continues! Over 40 schools in California are currently running GenYES programs funded by the EETT grants. These GenYES students are helping their teachers implement technology throughout the curriculum and assisting with tech support.
Here are a couple of great examples:
- GenYES Students Shine in California. GenYES students at B. Gale Wilson school in Fairfield, California, were featured in their local paper with a story about their leadership and technology skills.
- Kids Use — and Teach — Digital Storytelling. At Parkview Elementary in Chico, CA, students assist teachers on digital storytelling projects that support the technology plan and content standards.
- Technology Success Story. In San Juan, California, test scores and student self-esteem rise as students find their voice and show what they know using technology.
A relatively new goal for the EETT is to address the NCLB mandate for technology literacy by 8th grade. The TechYES Student Technology Literacy Certification program is a project-based way to do just that. Plus, the new TechYES TLC – Technology Literacy Curriculum is a great way to move your technology classes beyond word processing and keyboarding.
These funds MUST be used for programs that will be sustainable in the long run. All Generation YES programs are permanent licenses, with no renewal fees.
Find out more about how Generation YES programs meet the goals of the California EETT.
Sylvia
Free Back to School Resource for Laptop Schools
Thursday, August 27th, 2009It’s back to school time again in the US! Time for fresh new school supplies, backpacks, or maybe some new laptops?
Student Support of Laptop Programs – new laptops? old laptops? Are you getting the benefit of making students allies in your laptop initiative? Peer mentoring, student-led training on new hardware and software, student tech support and other ideas can be time saving, cost effective, and best of all, good for students and the whole learning community.
This whitepaper contains research, case studies, practical information that you can use right now, whether you have one cart or are a 1:1 laptop school.
Student Support of Laptop Programs (PDF)
Sylvia
Kids Use — and Teach — Digital Storytelling
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
California Kids Use — and Teach — Digital Storytelling
Veteran fourth-grade teacher Don Kinslow often hears colleagues say they would use technology if they had the time to get training. At Parkview Elementary School, in Chico, California, he has found a practical solution to this dilemma: He engages students as technology mentors.
This article appears in the September issue of Edutopia magazine as part of their stimulus funding series, “High Tech at Low Cost”, and is online here.
The story captures the essence of what many schools see when they include GenYES students in their technology outreach to teachers and the whole community. Don says, “It’s a simple idea, but it’s had huge outcomes.”
One of Kinslow’s students, for instance, was consistently reluctant to speak in class. For a book report, she narrated a digital story. “Her voice was clear. Her ideas were well organized,” Kinslow says. “For some kids, this was the first time they’d ever heard her talk.”
And we all know, this isn’t about saving money, it’s about giving kids experiences that change lives, either by being a GenYES student who finds her voice, or a student in a classroom where the teacher feels supported enough to try technology for the first time.
Part of the fun of this job is meeting teachers like Don Kinslow. He’s got great ideas and he tries things, lots of things. He’s given me some great stories to tell! If you’d like to read more about Don and his students, they are also one of the detailed case studies in my Student Support of Laptop Programs article. Their school uses laptops on carts and the GenYES students are part of the team a teacher can count on when they use the laptops for small student groupwork, digital storytelling across all grades and subjects, and special request projects for teachers.
By the way, don’t miss the article’s author, Suzie Boss, in the Edutopia blog lineup called Spiral Notebook.
Sylvia
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Tinkering School
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009Once a year at the TED conference, invited speakers from all fields and backgrounds gather to give short talks about their subjects of interest. The conference website holds a treasure trove of brilliant, moving examples of storytelling about things that matter.
In this 4 minute video, Gever Tulley talks about his Tinkering School. This is a subject I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, especially in regards to technology. My post a few months ago, Technology Literacy and Sustained Tinkering Time was about how looking at technology through the lens of tinkering makes more sense than approaching it through checklists and skill acquisition charts.
But I think this TED talk is nice because it shows kids doing things, and he talks about what is necessary to facilitate this kind of learning — time, materials, and openness to the serendipity of both success and failure. Time is such a key element. Time to think, time to change your mind, and time to work through frustration.
In the comment page for the video, there is a a lively discussion of how computers fit into this world of “stuff” for kids to mess around with. Some people look at computers (and video games) as taking children out of the “real world” of making things with hammers and nails, but I know that computers are not in opposition to children tinkering. Children, especially with open-ended, creative software tools can flow seamlessly between creating virtual and real things that have meaning to them.
This fits in perfectly with my work next week at the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. I’m looking forward to 4 days of tinkering with all the cool materials and software we bring in. According to Gary Stager, who leads the institute, teachers often see student frustration as a failure, and want to “help” students through it as quickly as possible. He says that teachers simply need to fine tune their reactions to differentiate between “mouth up” and “mouth down” frustration. No one wants to just leave a student stuck forever in an endless loop of problems. But to rescue them too soon means they never develop the problem solving skills they need. At CMK, the teachers learn that lesson by going through it themselves, tackling complex projects that have natural cycles of success, frustration, and more success.
Here’s a video from CMK last year, made during the event by one of the participants, that shows some of this in action.
By the way, there are a few places left, so sign up and come on down. What better way to spend a week than going to technology tinkering school!
Sylvia
