GenYES students from elementary, middle and high school presented the devices, circulated through the audience as the superintendents learned about educational uses, and provided help throughout the workshop.

And when you watch this video, notice that these students care deeply that these adults grasp how important using technology is for them. The good news is, there are students like this in every school, just waiting for an opportunity to put their passion about digital communication to good use to improve learning.

These students are part of a district-wide vision in Paradise Valley that students are a crucial part of integrating technology into every classroom. GenYES classes teach students technology, mentoring, and leadership so they can assist teachers and fellow students with technology.

As you can see, Paradise Valley is a leader in student-centered technology. They were the first K12 institution in the world to make content, lessons, and student work available on ITunes U/K12. Their pTUNES portal is now available to schools and districts statewide through a partnership with Apple, Arizona IDEAL, and Arizona State University (ASU). For this innovation, pTUNES was awarded the 2009 Cox Technology in Education Award. More about PTUNES…

Oh, one more thing – the video was (of course) produced by the GenYES team at Shadow Mountain High School in Paradise Valley.

Congratulations to the students, teachers, and administrators at PVUSD!

Sylvia

Update (3/26/10) - Several people told me they were having problems with the video. Today I substituted the direct embed from the PVCAST site. For some reason it’s clipping a bit at the sides, probably because of my blog settings. Hopefully this will help. Direct link to video – http://pvcast.pvschools.net/Podcasts/2010-03-26/2010_AASA_Workshop_on_Interactive_Touch-ipod.m4v

Yesterday, two Shadow Mountain GenYES students; Will Zandler and Hallie Liu, represented the PVUSD district, GenYES and technology at the high school level, at a prestigious event hosted by Apple Computers. The Education Leadership Summit was held at the Fairmont Princess Hotel.

First, Hallie and Will participated in a panel debate filmed by Apple which focused on how technology is used in high school. They enthusiastically promoted the ideas planned for our media center. They wowed the Apple executives with their innovative ideas and independent perspectives. Apple will feature clips on their website.

After the keynote by Apple’s Vice President, our students mounted a large stage before 50 college CIO’s and Presidents from across the nation; Stanford, Purdue, Ohio State to name a few. They answered a barrage of questions ranging from ‘how technology helps students learn’, ‘how and why they help staff integrate tech to curriculum’ , ‘expectations of technology in educational environment’ and much more. They were intelligent, articulate, thoughtful and genuine.

It was a most amazing sight and many captivated attendees, the Apple organization, Jeff Billings and I, were very, very impressed. I couldn’t be more proud of these students. Please, if you see Hallie or Will, offer your congrats… they deserve it!

Thanks, Deb

Our congratulations and thanks go out to Hallie and Will, and the whole GenYES team at Shadow Hills. By the looks of your website, you are ALL making a difference at your school. Check out these photos of a student-run staff inservice last month on Google Docs.

Sylvia