| A Change in Attitude: Incorporating Technology In the Classroom Gives Curriculum A Boost |  |
| This video shows how technology was integrated into a classroom in Mississippi |  |
| Animating Dreams | |
| The ACME Animation Program is a school-based program where studnets connect with professional animators through teleconferencing technology and receive instant feedback from these experts on their animations. The program has also developed a website for anyone in the world to get similar feedback. This allows students to form relationships with professional mentors, which has improved the quality of their work. Teachers report that students produce better work when they know that professionals will be judging it, and that they also learn to work with deadlines in mind. | |
| Cinema Program: Cultivating A Career In Film | |
| At the Northeast School of the Arts, students are engaged in a filmaking class which instructors use a context for developing their thinking and writing skills. Students document school projects and trips in the class, and their films have been screened at festivals. The students learn how to write and develop a storyline, all while realizing that their stories do matter, and that the public is interested in what they have to say. | |
| Cowan Sunset High School | |
| Cowan Sunset High School in Las Vegas caters to about 500 students who would have otherwise dropped out of school . The school provides a day nursery for moms and dads, and the school day runs from 2-9pm in order to allow students to work in the mornings or evenings. Students report that the teachers are understanding at Cowan, and they enjoy the different environment that the school provides. | |
| Developing Minds | |
| The UrbanPlan curriculum is a three week project-based learning exercise that has been implemented in schools across the nation. Teams of high school juniors and seniors compete to win the redevelopment contract for a decaying neighborhood in the fictitious city of Yorktown. The curriculum combines government and economics classes and applies them to real-world situations. | |
| High School Classroom: Part Five (PDF) | |
| Quality teaching is critical to using real-time classroom collaboration. Teaching a class that includes both local and remote students requires an awareness of the needs of both groups. Videoconferencing can be useful in giving both sets of students the feeling that they are in the same room, but for the teacher the ability to read faces, call on remote students for questions or responses, and include them in the discussions is vital to helping remote students feel they are truly part of the class. | |
| High School Classroom: Part Four (PDF) | |
| Technology can allow schools to connect with outside experts in real time. Whether it is a local businessperson or a university expert, technologies such as videoconferencing can link professionals and schools over long distances. By linking experts where they work with students in schools, opportunities for collaboration are expanded as no one has to travel and the expert can resume to work as soon as the session is over. By reducing the amount of time it takes to participate, more frequent collaborations may be possible. | |
| High School Classroom: Part One (PDF) | |
| The ongoing assessment of student progress can provide a foundation for personalized instructional delivery. Technology tools can rapidly generate feedback from a variety of assessment types. Using technology-based diagnostic assessments, students and teachers can understand what a student already knows and help plan an instructional program to get him or her to the next level. Frequent formative assessments can allow students and teachers to monitor student progress and understand how close they are to their goals. Summative assessments allow students to demonstrate mastery and teachers to document student achievement. Technology-based assessments can also adapt to student understanding, becoming progressively more difficult as students learn more. | |
| High School Classroom: Part Three (PDF) | |
| Digital portfolio is an electronic collection of student work that is assembled, managed, and shared by the student. Developing portfolios, students collect work products over time, so the students, teachers, mentors, and parents can see students' growth. Students can prepare portfolios for a variety of purposes, such as to include with college applications or to demonstrate their academic skills and community involvement. When students are allowed to manage the contents of their portfolio, they not only reflect on the elements of mastery but also learn to selectively choose the work that best displays their skills. | |
| High School Classroom: Part Two (PDF) | |
| Short for web log, a blog is a website where individuals or groups share ideas, events, and insights with online audiences. A classroom blog is a way for teachers to communicate with students, parents, and the community in general. | |
| High School Library: Part One (PDF) | |
| Technology can provide students unprecedented opportunities to express their creativity and harness new media. From digital storytelling to movies, podcasts, presentations, games, and simulations, new technology tools are available that even young children can use effectively to share their ideas, explore art and expression, and demonstrate what they know. Because of the participatory nature of these projects, most require students to plan, design, and script or storyboard before they even begin production. They also almost always require students to work collaboratively, negotiating ideas and sharing responsibilities. | |