Welcome to the Generation YES Express
March 2005 - 9,239 subscribers
Last night my wife and I went to see a Joe Cocker concert in Seattle. This 63-year-old guy still has the energy to ignite the crowd. It took me back thirty-five years -- I had just spent three years teaching high school in East Los Angeles. I took a job teaching in the public schools of New South Wales, Australia. I arrived in Sydney with only five Fijian cents to my name and two weeks to wait for my first paycheck. When I did get some cash, the first thing I did was go to see the Joe Cocker movie "Mad Dogs and Englishman."
Just as Joe Cocker feeds off the energy of his audience, the kids and teachers who participate in the Gen YES programs still energize me. Hearing great stories from schools makes me positive that the dream is still alive from the early days of computers in education, and that it is the students who should own that dream.
Just one example is from Carrie Newby of the Concrete School in Washington State. She reports that, "We have started TechYES by working on math projects, and many students are creating games for primary students. I have four peer mentors, and they are helping teach technology skills to all the other students. The students love what we are doing and I am amazed by the project ideas they have come up with."
I'm amazed as well - but not surprised! Given the chance, students will be inventive, intellectually curious, and well - amazing. Here's to the teachers who make those chances happen.
Forward -
Dennis Harper
PS There are more stories on our website... https://www.genyes.org/programs/techyes/stories
What's New at Generation YES
Welcome New Gen Y Schools
Martin Luther King Middle School - Berkeley, CA *
Milken Community High School - Los Angeles, CA *
Nova School - Broward County, FL *
Heyworth Elementary School - Heyworth, IL *
LeRoy Jr./Sr. HS - LeRoy, IL *
Pontiac JHS, Pontiac, IL *
Sullivan Elementary School, Sullivan, IL *
Benton High School, Benton, IL *
Ardmore Elementary School - Springdale, MD *
Brandywine Elementary School - Brandywine, MD *
Buck Lodge Middle School, Aldelphi, MD *
Calverton Elementary School, Beltsville, MD *
Fort Washington Forest Elementary School, Fort Washington, MD *
Four Seasons Elementary School - Gambrills, MD *
Greenwood Elementary School - Greenwood, MD *
Mill Creek Middle School - Lusby, MD *
Park Hall Elementary School - Park Hall, MD *
Samuel Ogle Elementary School - Bowie, MD *
Kinyon Elementary School - Taylor, MI *
Spring Valley Center for Exploration Elementary School - Kalamazoo, MI *
Franklin School - North Bergen, NJ *
Kennedy School - North Bergen, NJ *
McKinley School - North Bergen, NJ *
North Bergen High School - North Bergen, NJ *
Bread and Roses Integrated High School - New York City *
Ellen Lurie School - New York City *
Louis Brandeis High School - New York City *
Renaissance Military Leadership High School - New York City *
Peekskill Middle School - Peekskill, NY *
St. Marys Ballston Spa - Ballston Spa, NY *
Savannah Elementary School - Lyons, NY *
Leakey School -Leakey, TX *
Sabinal Elementary School - Sabinal, TX *
Stockdale JHS - Stockdale, TX *
Highlands Middle School - Kennewick, WA *
Nob Hill Elementary School - Yakima, WA *
Southgate Elementary School - Lakewood, WA *
Martin Elementary School - Green Bay, WI *
Northwestern Elementary School - Poplar, WI
You can see if there's a Generation YES school near you on our interactive map https://www.genyes.com/scripts/schools/index.php
Free - Visual Literacy Video
Last year, Dr. Lynell Burmark worked with Generation YES students at Washington Middle School and Olympia High School in Olympia, Washington to produce a video on Visual Literacy. The video features answers to student questions about multimedia presentations. The video is available here: https://www.tcpd.org/Burmark/Videos.html
Generation YES Website is Now 508 Compliant
In 1998 Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 with "Section 508", which requires that U.S. Federal agencies make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. It isn't required for company or individual sites to uphold Section 508 at this time, but many are beginning to adopt it proactively.
Thanks to Luke Bowerman, our web guru and director of all things that plug in, the Generation YES website is now fully 508 compliant, meets WC3 standards, and is Bobby Approved. Luke also added a snazzy new look to the site. We hope you like it! By the way, Luke was a Generation YES student back in the day.
https://genyes.com/about/webstandards
California Here We Come
Generation YES will be in Palm Springs for the California Computer Using Educators (CUE) conference on March 10 - 13th. We are in booth #926 and everyone who stops by will receive a FREE TechYES Student Technology Literacy Certification Guide. If you are there on Saturday, be sure to visit the student showcase for a presentation by Gen Y students from Imperial County, CA. For more information, visit https://www.cue.org/conference/attend.html
Northwesterners - Come Visit Us at NCCE
Generation YES will be close to home for NCCE on March 16 - 19th in Seattle, WA. Come by the booth and say hi! Everyone who stops by will receive a FREE TechYES Student Technology Literacy Certification Guide. We'll also be doing a workshop, for those of you who want to explore the concept of how student involvement in technology can change school culture, help teachers become more confident technology users, and impact student lives. To register for the workshop, you simply select WP46 (Wednesday PM) as you register for the conference.
https://www.ncce.org/ncce2005/index.html
Student Showcase
Texas Students Tell Their Stories at TCEA
Students from Center Point Middle School and LaVernia Middle School met with hundreds of Texas educators during the February 8-11 Texas Computer Educational Association (TCEA) conference. These Gen Y students displayed poise and confidence as they told how they helped their partner teachers improve learning through technology. These schools are both in Region 20 in the San Antonio area. Region 20 has been running Generation YES programs for two years now and they are going strong! Check out students in action in our photo diary: https://www.genyes.com/news/tcea
North Carolina School Gets Good Press
The TechYES program at Phillips Middle School in Edgecombe County Public Schools was featured in the Rocky Mount Telegram. Check it out.
https://www.rockymounttelegram.com/hp/content/news/stories/2005/02/12/02132005rmttech.html
Apple Exhibit Highlights Generation Y in Kansas
Since 1999, the state of Kansas has implemented Generation Y in more that 100 schools as part of the Kansas Student Technology Leadership Initiative. Read details and view videos at this great site.
https://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/hpli/exhibits/1000026/Introduction.html
News You Can Use
TTYL - The Web is Not the Death of Language
Some educators fear that instant messaging and e-mail are partly responsible for poor writing skills. This report shows otherwise. Online media allows more people to write, write more often, and write more articulately than expected.
https://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66671,00.html?tw=wn_story_mailer
Newz Crew Engages Youth in Current Events
New York high school students are running a youth leadership program for youth around the country to engage one another in current events. Newz Crew youth leaders run the site and maintain the lively discussion boards. The site also offers an array of resources for educators to bring the peer-led online dialog into the classroom.
https://www.newzcrew.org/
Home Broadband Use on the Rise
Broadband use has reached 53 percent of the market for home Internet use, passing dial-up use.
www.distance-educator.com/dnews/Article12625.phtml
Tech Tips Plus
Gaggle.net - Free Student Email and Much More
Many of our Generation YES schools rave about the Gaggle.net student email accounts and now there's even more to write home about. Gaggle has unveiled a new set of tools that can help schools feel safe and secure about student Internet use. The free student email has always had a strong set of security features tailored just for schools. The licensed version now includes secure digital lockers, chat rooms, message boards and student profile pages. In addition, the email now comes with an anti-pornography scanner, which re-routes suspicious graphics to the teacher for review.
Generation YES schools receive free access to the subscription level Gaggle.net suite of email and student tools, and we are excited to continue this partnership with even more unique and useful student tools. More details here: https://genyes.com/programs/geny/partners
Free Online Courseware Tools
This website lists over 40 different online courseware tools - all free for use. UNESCO maintains the list and the tools are user-reviewed and rated.
https://www.unesco.org/cgi-bin/webworld/portal_freesoftware/cgi/page.cgi?g=Software/Courseware_Tools/index.shtml&d;=1
Emailing Large Files? Need More Space? Need it for Free?
Here are two free solutions to these problems. Many of us use free email accounts that limit the size of file attachments. These sites come to the rescue.
Dropload (https://www.dropload.com/)
Dropload is a place for you to drop your files off and have them picked up by someone else at a later time. You can upload any type of file up to100MB, and they will store it for seven days.
YouSendIt (https://www.yousendit.com/)
YouSendIt is a similar tool. You can send a file as large as 1GB to anyone via their E-mail address. Your friend must get the file within seven days; after that they will delete it from the server.
That's All For This Issue of the Generation YES Express
We hope you've enjoyed this email newsletter. If you have stories to share or news clips about technology in education, student empowerment, or funding for technology, please send them our way and you might see them in the next issue! https://www.genyes.org/about/contact
