NOTES:

1. Registration procedures are documented (or soon will be) on the Login/Registration Support page: <www.genyes.org/entrance/registration.php>
   
   
2. Preferably, consultations between Gen www.Y students and their partner teachers should be on-going throughout the project development process. The sooner they begin, however, the better.
   
   
3. Generation www.Y teachers and/or partner teachers should monitor student's completion of the on-line Project Organizing and Reporting Tool (PORT) for correct writing conventions (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, word usage, etc.), as well as overall organization and alignment of project objectives, procedures and assessment plan. The Class Management Utility enables Gen www.Y teachers to review (and edit, if desired) individual project proposals. Further information regarding Gen www.Y Technical Writing Standards can be found on-line at <genyes.org/genwwwy/curriculum/Writing_stds.htm>
   
   Alternatively, students can develop draft project descriptions using a word processing program. After a teacher has reviewed and approved a given section of the draft proposal (e.g., objectives, procedures, assessment plan), it can then be copied & pasted into the on-line form.
   
   
4. Each Gen www.Y student has access to 30 minutes of consulting time with content area specialists with considerable technology experience. Students may request consultant assistance or feedback at any time during the project development process, or they may simply complete their project description, using the PORT, and request general feedback on their proposed project.
   
   
5. In addition to responding to specific questions from students, Gen www.Y consultants may also provide constructive feedback on (a) writing conventions; (b) organization and alignment of project objectives, procedures and assessment plan; and (c) ideas and content. They may also provide references to helpful resources and/or suggestions for how a proposed project might be improved. For examples of consultant feedback, go to <www.genyes.org/genwwwy/samples/>.
   
   
6. Feedback from Generation www.Y consultants is not intended to serve as an evaluative tool for the Gen www.Y teacher. It is intended only to help students improve their projects and/or the written description of their projects. In some cases, a consultant may suggest to a student that additional work is needed on his or her project description. Students are not required to respond to a consultant's comments or suggestions, although they will hopefully review the feedback with their Gen www.Y or partner-teacher. It is ultimately, however, the decision of the Gen www.Y teacher as to whether a student should address a consultant's recommendations.
   
   
7. Development of projects should occupy the bulk of Gen www.Y class time during approximately the second half of the semester (for the semester version of the course), though some class time will be spent introducing and teaching new technology and pedagogical skills. Planning and managing this "balancing act" between project work and instructional work is the challenge for Gen www.Y teachers. Students should also expect to spend out-of-class time working on their projects, particularly when it comes to meetings with partner-teachers.
   
   The nature of the project and the preference of partner-teachers determines whether a Gen www.Y student participates in the actual presentation of a project to student in the partner-teachers's class. The preferred "Gen www.Y Way" would be for the student and partner-teacher to co-present the project.
   
   
8. Near the end of the course, students should revisit the PORT and their project description. If they've not updated that description during the actual development of their project, they may find that what they originally described is not exactly how the project turned out.
   
   Any necessary editing changes to the PORT should be made, and then students should complete the Results section of their project description. If the project has not actually been presented in their partner-teacher's class, they should explain that in the Results section. As long as their Gen www.Y account remains active, students can return to the PORT and edit the Results section—even after the Gen www.Y class has ended.
   
   Once the project description has received its final editing, Gen www.Y editors review the project description, evaluating it against the criteria of the Gen www.Y Technical Writing Standards. If it meets those standards, it is sent to the Gen www.Y Project Archives, accessible via the Gen www.Y Web site to registered users. Particularly well written reports may be included in the Exemplary Archive.
   
   Project descriptions which do not meet Gen www.Y standards are returned to students, who then have the opportunity to make corrections or editing changes to their report. If students choose not to make such revisions, or those revisions still do not meet Gen www.Y standards, their project description is archived in a "private" section that is inaccessible from the Gen www.Y Web site.
   
   
9. End-of-term activities include completion of post-surveys by Gen www.Y students, partner-teachers and Gen www.Y teachers. The Gen www.Y Teacher Post-Survey is accessed via a link on the teacher home page (also called the Class Management Utility). Partner-teachers are automatically notified of their post-survey via an e-mail message sent out by the Gen www.Y data system. Students link to their post-survey from the PORT.