But here’s the antidote…

TechYES/GenYES program receives new supplies (News from Stillwater CSD)

“December 8, 2011 – Mrs. McBride’s TechYES/GenYES students will be able to help improve technology throughout the district even more, thanks to a new donation of supplies.

The class received a new video camera, web cam, business card stock, t-shirt iron-on paper and laminator from Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery County BOCES. A special thank you to Todd DeSoto, who presented the class with the new supplies.

The students are currently planning projects to utilize the new tools.”

Why not put the energy, passion, and enthusiasm of your students to use in your school. TechYES and GenYES are tried and true models of real student engagement and leadership, ready for all schools to adapt and hit the ground running. Online tools, professional development, and curriculum give you everything you need for one school, a district, or a whole state!

Generation YES supports all our schools with commitment, pride, and passion – we would love to work with you!

Sylvia

PS Want something different? Check out our projects website for some ideas for large scale grants and unique technology implementations that focus on student leadership.

So if you are in the area and want to see student technology leadership and literacy in action, be sure to register and come by! I’ll be setting it up in the morning talking about how we must expand our narrow view of technology professional development to include more than one shot, one-size-fits-all, “sit and get” sessions.

One of these schools was profiled in the blog post yesterday - Jamesville-DeWitt GenYES students teach teachers technology but you should not miss the opportunity to hear about the fantastic things these students are doing from these young leaders themselves.

GenYES and TechYES in Action
Teachers and students from Jamesville DeWitt High School and Baldwinsville’s Ray Middle School will be on-hand to discuss their experiences with the GenYES and TechYES programs in their respective schools. GenYES is the only student-centered research-based solution for school-wide technology integration. Students work with teachers to design technology-infused lessons and provide tech support. In TechYES, students show technology literacy by creating projects that meet state and local technology proficiency requirements. As part of TechYES, a structured peer-mentoring program assists the teacher or advisor, and provides student leadership opportunities that serve to further strengthen the program and enrich the learning community.

Hope to see you there!

Sylvia

Assessing Technology Literacy: The Case for an Authentic, Project-Based Learning Approach (PDF)

This whitepaper takes a comprehensive look at the research, policies, and practices of technology literacy in K-12 settings in the United States. It builds a research-based case for the central importance of “doing” as part of technology literacy, meaning more than just being able to answer canned questions on a test. It also explores the current approaches to develop meaningful assessment of student technology literacy at a national, state, and local level.

Where “doing” is central to students gaining technological literacy, traditional assessments will not work; technological literacy must be assessed in ways that are more authentic.

Building on this definition, the whitepaper connects project-based learning and constructivism, which both hold “doing” as central to learning, as the only authentic way to assess technology literacy.

True project-based assessment is the only way to properly assess technological literacy.

Finally, it examines our TechYES Student Technology Literacy Certification program in this light.

A review of existing technology literacy models and assessment shows that the TechYES technology certification program, developed and implemented by the Generation YES Corporation using research-based practices, is designed to provide educators a way to allow students to participate in authentic, project-based learning activities that reflect essential digital literacies. The TechYES program includes an excellent, authentic, project-based method for assessing student technology literacy and helps state and local education agencies satisfy the Title II, Part D expectations for technology literacy by the eighth grade.

This whitepaper can be linked to from our Generation YES Free Resources page, or downloaded as a PDF from this link.

Sylvia

PS – Share this important research with your PLN!
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Generation YES will be there in full force with a booth (#855) and other events. If you will be in Denver, we hope you will come by and say hello!

Pre-conference event - The Constructivist Celebration, Sunday June 27
Held once again the day before ISTE starts, this is a day-long workshop focusing on creativity and computing. For a very reasonable $60, you will receive free creativity software worth hundreds of dollars from the world’s best school-tool companies, breakfast, snacks and lunch, and a full-day workshop led by Gary Stager and other members of the Constructivist Consortium. Added bonuses: a free just-released “ImagineIt2″ DVD and a TechYES mini-kit. It’s always a sell-out, but right now there are still a few spaces left to join in the fun, so register today – you won’t regret it!

Sessions

• Dennis Harper – Establishing Student Technology Leaders Programs for Districts, States, and Nations Wednesday, 6/30/2010, 8:30am-9:30am, CCC 605.  Discover how districts, states, and nations can establish effective student technology leaders organizations that meet integration, infrastructure support, and technology literacy goals.
• Sylvia Martinez – Tinkering Toward Technology Literacy Wednesday, 6/30/2010, 10:30am-11:30am, CCC 605. Combine tinkering and technology and you have a time-honored tradition that allows imagination and creativity to lead the way to technology literacy.

Events in the Generation YES booth #855

• Adora Svitak (12 year old author, blogger, and the youngest person to be invited to speak at TED) will be sharing her ideas for education from a youth’s point of view.
• We will be sharing a new technology literacy study by a well-known researcher making the case for project-based technology literacy assessment. (more about this soon)
• GenYES and TechYES teachers and students from nearby schools will be in the booth sharing their projects and tech integration tips.

Plus… we will be printing handy business cards for any teacher who forgot theirs at home!

Hope to see you there!

Sylvia

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

“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.

The screencasts are short 1-2 minute help videos that quickly show students, teachers and advisors how to use the online tools and curriculum for GenYES and TechYES. The first set of TechYES screencasts went up today, and TechYES schools can see them by logging into their account and looking in the Toolkit. GenYES screencasts will be coming soon.

We’ve also started to do webinars for our member schools – if you are a GenYES or TechYES teacher, advisor, or district coordinator, you should have received an email with the instructions. And if you can’t attend live, no worries – they will be archived on the Generation YES website on the Free Resources page. We plan to do one a week for now, with topics on everything from the online tools, to tips and tricks, and using the curriculum. We’d love to hear your ideas too!

The plans are to add webinars about more general topics, such as student empowerment, project-based learning, and introductions to GenYES and TechYES.

We are happy to say that our webinars are being presented in Elluminate, thanks to the fine people there who accepted us into their Community Partner program. We couldn’t do this without their support!

Sylvia

Lots of exciting things going on at NECC this year!

On the Exhibit Floor - Come by booth 2918 and meet some local TechYES students who are going to be making some photo souvenirs for selected conference attendees right in our booth. If you love politics and technology, don’t miss the fun!

TechYES TLC – Making its nationwide debut at NECC is our new student Technology Literacy Curriculum, TechYES TLC. Completely online and up-to-date, this curriculum gives technology teachers options and guidance to create an engaging, student-centered, project-based learning experience. Access to some revolutionary project planning and classroom tools will be included in the permanent license.

I’ll be meeting with quite a few press and ed tech media folks to talk about what we’ve done with TechYES TLC.

Sessions

• Digital Equity Symposium - one of the roundtable discussions will be led by Dr. Dennis Harper Monday, June 30 8:30AM
• 30 Years Later: The Best Technology Professional Development - Sylvia Martinez, Tuesday, July 1 12:30PM
• Classroom 2.0: What Is Web 2.0′s Role in Schools? ( Steve Hargadon, CoSN/EdTechLive with Darren Draper, David Jakes, Chris Lehman, Julie Lindsay and Sylvia Martinez) Wednesday July 2, 12:30PM

Pre-conference – And once again, the 3rd Annual Constructivist Celebration event on Sunday, June 19 is SOLD OUT! If you were lucky enough to get in when we announced this last month, we’ll see you there for a fabulous day of creativity and constructivism.

So if you are going to be at NECC, be sure to say hello!

Sylvia

It’s been a long time coming and a lot of hard work, but we are finally getting near enough to the finish line that we can begin to share things publicly.

TechYES TLC is all online, with nothing to install or download. It’s completely new and (we hope) the best, most engaging project-based technology literacy curriculum out there. It’s geared towards middle school, just like our TechYES Student Technology Literacy Certification model, but it goes deeper than just certification.

Engaging, student-centered activities
In the five years since we created the TechYES – Student Technology Literacy Certification model, we found many schools in search of new curriculum to use for their technology classes. Not satisfied with existing technology curriculum, they want to give students a more engaging, student-centered experience using a project-based, constructivist philosophy and 21st century tools.

This is the big idea behind TechYES TLC. Units include:

• Web safety, netiquette, cyberbullying, ethics
• Internet searching, copyright and citations
• Peer mentor training
• Digital publishing – presentations, word processing, visual literacy
• Web publishing – websites and wikis
• Online collaboration – email, blogs, RSS, networks
• Media literacy
• Graphics – photography, drawing, art, animation
• Audio – editing, podcasting, music
• Video – production, editing, digital storytelling
• Computer programming
• Simulation and modeling
• Web 2.0

Each unit contains multiple activities and mini-projects, all with resources, teaching tips, and extension activities. Included are training and support, with suggested pathways to customize the units to fit multiple timelines such as rotations, block schedules, trimester, semester, year-long, even multiple years.

Technology literacy reports and project tools
And it’s not just lesson plans, there are online tools that support projects and authentic assessment:

• Individual student project planning and evaluation
• Blogs and wikis for students to document the progress of their technology projects
• Customizable reports that track student progress towards technology literacy certification
• Plus the Generation YES special brand of support (the TLC) for our schools

Permanent license means a sustainable solution
By the way, for those of you with your eyes on the bottom line, this curriculum is available as a permanent site license. No renewal fees, all future upgrades included.

There is much more information on the website, and we’d be happy to start giving online tours after NECC in June. If you are going to be at NECC in Washington DC, be sure to stop by our booth and see it live!

Whew! It’s been a long road and a lot of hard work, but we are so very proud of TechYES TLC. We hope it finds its way into many schools!

Sylvia

By the way, this money is in addition to the funding that will be in the regular budget, currently $269M. You can’t exactly add those two numbers up, as they cover different time periods, but any way you slice it, this is a lot of money coming — and really soon. (Anyone interested in following this at a federal level should subscribe to Hilary Goldmann’s blog at the ISTE Connects website.)

The hope is that by using existing EETT mechanisms and rules, this money will quickly make its way to states, and then out to districts and service centers, creating or saving jobs and expanding technology-enhanced learning opportunities for all.

Ready, Get Set…. GO!
The key word there is quickly – so the time to get ready is NOW. The next few weeks should see a flurry of information as state education departments decide exactly how to do this. If you’ve been saying… gee, if we only had the money… this is your chance. Dust off those grant proposals, call consortium partners, and watch your state ed tech department closely — because this will happen FAST.

Now comes the shameless promotion — GenYES and TechYES have been the basis of hundreds of successful EETT projects. If you are looking at the power of technology to empower students, support teachers, and create a culture of shared ownership of learning at your school, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel or design your own curriculum from scratch.

GenYES is a curriculum and online toolset for student technology teams, either in a class or after school. GenYES students in grades 4-12 learn technology skills, project and collaboration skills, so they can teach teachers, do tech support, and share their technology skills with their school and community. GenYES combines the passion of youth for technology, the benefits of service-learning, support for teachers in their own classrooms, and provides all the resources to get a program up and running quickly. GenYES includes an online help desk where teachers can request help from a GenYES student – whether that help is to hook up a projector or plan a technology infused lesson. The really good news is that the EETT can fully fund GenYES, permanently.

TechYES and TechYES Science are project-based student technology literacy certification programs. Printed and online materials guide students in grades 6-9 through the project-process, allowing students to show technology literacy with real world projects, either academic or personal. One of the NCLB goals is that all students achieve technology literacy by grade 8. TechYES offers a way to meet that goal using a project-based philosophy, because you can’t really show technology literacy through a multiple choice test. (TechYES in Action video)

But whatever approach you take to the EETT funding, I hope you consider putting the emphasis on classroom technology that enhances the student experience, allows students control and ownership of their own learning, and gives teachers professional development that transcends old “sit and get” models.

Sylvia