| Generation www.Y Course Description |
| What is the Generation www.Y Course? | |
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Over the 18 week Gen www.Y course, students develop their information and technology literacy skills, as well as online research, technical writing, presentation, mentoring, project development, and leadership skills. These skills are then used in collaboration with one of their teachers (or another teacher in the school) to infuse technology into that teacher's classroom instruction. After determining an appropriate project, each teacher/student team creates an initial online project description. During project development, students have online access to Generation www.Y consultants with content area and technology expertise. Consultants may provide responses to specific questions or requests for assistance, or they may simply provide encouragement and feedback on issues such as project feasibility; soundness of purpose (i.e., educational value); planning and organizational issues; or technical writing skills. The consultant may also suggest helpful resources and contacts, or offer to work further with the team to create a successful project. Following consultant feedback, students then proceed with the actual development and delivery of their project, with appropriate content and pedagogical input from the teacher partner. Sample project descriptions are linked to the Gen www.Y home page, and hundreds of project descriptions (including URLs of Web based projects) are available to registered Gen www.Y schools through the Projects Archives. |
| What are the course benefits for Gen www.Y students? | |
| Students completing the Gen www.Y course (a) learn valuable technology and information processing skills; (b) become a vital part of a team that is changing the way instruction is delivered in their schools; (c) become a member of the Generation www.Y national community; and (d) use the expertise and confidence gained in the Gen www.Y class to help others in their school and local community. These benefits will help students both during their school careers and throughout their lives. Graduates of this course are often participants in other Generation www.Y initiatives. |
| What is the course content? | |||||
The
Generation www.Y class has two major components or phases. Students
master the following skills—or subsets of them—which then prepare
them to complete the second course component.
The second component emphasizes students working with one of their teachers to incorporate technology into a curriculum project or lesson plan. Students develop these projects or lessons during the Generation www.Y class and in collaboration with Generation www.Y consultants throughout the United States. These two course components do not necessarily follow each other in a sequential manner. More typically, the technology skills are interwoven with the collaboration/project development skills. Significant class time is dedicated to independent learning during which students are concurrently working on a variety of skills and tasks upon which their individual projects rely. In addition to "direct teaching" by the Gen www.Y teacher, a great deal of learning occurs through peer coaching and mentoring. |
| What prerequisite skills are necessary? | |
| The Generation www.Y curriculum does not assume any previous technology knowledge or skills on the part of the students. Students need only be willing to tackle a challenging, hands-on, project based course. Typically, students bring a fairly wide range of knowledge and expertise to the course, presenting opportunities to further establish and practice collaborative approaches to learning within the class itself. In many cases, the course meets outside the normal school schedule (e.g., zero hour or after school), requiring a commitment by students to an additional investment of time and energy. |