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Youth and Educators Succeeding
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May 2009
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Greetings!
By now pretty much every educator knows about the ARRA stimulus funds. The focus of these "one-time" funds is on "innovative, yet sustainable projects" that expand proven models of best practice.
Of course, we at Generation YES are excited. Our GenYES model has a thirteen-year track record of preparing students in grades 4-12 to help teachers learn technology and create technology-infused lessons. Our TechYES model prepares a group of students to help their peers create projects to show they are technology literate. These are certainly innovative (and proven!) models with years of positive research.
We've set up a webpage to show how schools and districts can use EETT, Title 1, and other stimulus funds to implement Generation YES models. Or give me a call and we can talk about how your students can utilize technology to "stimulate" learning.
Forward... Dennis
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Technology literacy curriculum - sneak peek New TechYES curriculum to be released at NECC in June, 2009
 We want to share some exciting news with our e-newsletter readers. We have been hard at work on a brand new middle school technology curriculum all year long. This curriculum will be a companion to the award-winning TechYES Student Technology Literacy Certification program. 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. Best of all, it will be a permanent license, meaning no renewal fees. Units include: - Web safety, netiquette, cyberbullying, ethics
- Internet searching, copyright and citations
- Project planning and peer mentor training
- Computer and Internet basics
- 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 - editing, digital storytelling
- Computer programming
- Data, mapping, simulation and modeling
- Web 2.0
This is so new it's not even on the website yet, so if you want to learn more, give us a call, reply to this email, or watch for next month's newsletter for more details. |
Building local student expertise makes sense!
This economic downturn threatens many technology integration efforts in
K-12 education. It simply makes sense to build local expertise to provide
the support needed in the classroom. Seems like lots of people are
figuring out the beauty of Generation YES models in this regard. Teach students to
be your local support and gain the benefit of providing opportunities for students to become 21st century leaders and learners. Numerous large districts are moving toward district-wide implementation of student technology leaders programs based on GenYES and TechYES. Paradise Valley in Arizona, San Juan Unified and Chico in California, and Kent SD in Washington provide some examples. The New York State Student Technology Leaders network now has 25 participating districts with another 20 scheduled to begin in September. Finally, the country of Malaysia, based on a successful pilot program, is due to expand the Malaysia Student Technology Leaders program to 100 schools next year. We hope this trend continues!
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TechYES students speak up at TechForum West
On May 1 in Seattle, three 7th grade students participated in a panel entitled Meaningful Digital Projects at TechForum West. These students, from Mill Creek Middle School in the Kent School District (WA) showed the science projects they completed to meet national and state technology standards. They represent nearly 400 seventh graders who will complete two projects in their science classes using TechYES Science, a student technology literacy certification concentrating on science projects. Mill Creek members of the Kent School District's STEP program play a major role in helping all 7th grade students do the projects as well as assessing the projects to ensure they meet national and local technology literacy standards.
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Fabulous Summer Institute Opportunity Computer-rich learning adventure for creative educators
Constructing Modern Knowledge is a minds-on institute for
educators committed to creativity, collaboration and computing.
Participants will have the opportunity to engage in intensive
computer-rich project development with peers and a world-class faculty.
Inspirational guest speakers and social events round out the fantastic
event. Yes, the economy is bad and budgets are being slashed. But investing in yourself and expanding your learning horizons is always a good idea. This may be the most inexpensive 4-day summer institute of its kind, but it's rich in ideas, opportunities for creativity, and learning.
Constructing Modern Knowledge July 13-16, 2009 Manchester, New Hampshire
More information and registration information here. Don't wait! Space is limited and past events have sold out quickly.
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Free!
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New Resource for Laptop and 1:1 Schools
Student Support of Laptop Programs Find
out how to create a highly effective student support team for your
laptop program. Research, planning tips, case studies, and practical
suggestions are packed into 16 pages. Written by Sylvia Martinez, the
paper contains:
- Student tech support teams in a laptop school
- Students partnering with teachers to create and support new laptop learning activities
- How (and why) to include students on planning committees
- Students as trainers and mentors for new users
- How students can make a laptop rollout go smoother
- How to train and sustain a student technology team in support of laptops
Download the PDF - Student Support of Laptop ProgramsView other Free Resources on the Generation YES site
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