Chapter+4

**Chapter 4- New Tools in Schools **

 * Overview: ** This chapter presents examples of ways new tools and technologies are being used in schools and all different content areas and grade levels.


 * Cool Schools: ** Entire school systems that have "incorporated technology in order to promote an environment that supports, sustains, and even requires a pedagogical approach that includes inquiry, creativity, and full integration of technology" (78). This can be because of a number of factors, including funding and caution.
 * Two "Cool Schools": ** New Tech High and Lemon Grove School District
 * New Tech High: ** The New Tech High Learning System is a group of tools that contain curriculum, assessment rubrics, living grade books, and communication tools. The system is used to help manage the school's unique collaborative environment of in-depth project and problem-solving based learning. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded this system and the NTHS Replication project, which helps other schools to replicate New Tech High's model. (The book is a little dated, but predictions of the project reaching some 14,000 students by 2009 were made). The New Tech High model was created "as part of an overall education reform effort and to implement a 21st century learning environment" (79). Project-based learning and collaboration were essential to the project, and technology was looked at to support the pedagogy and philosophy of this method. After graduation, 40% of students were majoring or working in Science, technology, engineering, or math professions. The only downfall to the program is it requires a lot of programs, a strong server, a reliable network, and massive amounts of funding.
 * Lemon Grove High School: ** By partnering up with cable and other companies in the area, Lemon Grove school district was able to launch a unique project, called LemonLINK. This project was aimed at filling the digital divide between technology and homes. LemonLINK delivers high speed intranet connectivity between the district and students' homes. Students and parents are thus able to access the Internet and school resources at school and from home. This allows a collaborative learning environment to exist. The program uses a thin client, which means it depends primarily on a central server and contains no software. Teachers and school professionals are offered more than 120 hours of curriculum based professional development to implement technology in their classroom.


 * Classroom Applications: Using the Tools for Learning **
 * Writing Process (Blogs):** "Blogs are natural tools for writing instruction" (81). They allow people to brainstorm, organize writing, revising, and even peer review. The comment box lets students and teachers alike to leave comments, suggestions, and corrections. Blogs are a public forum that make it possible to share ideas and thoughts with not only the teacher, the students, but the outside world, as well. "Students are engaged in sharing, communicating, and exchanging ideas on a larger scale and see a permanency to their words that a composition paper can never equal"(81). Blogs can be an online forum for daily or weekly journal entries.
 * Collaborative Writing (Wikis):** Wikis work well for group projects in which teams have to collaborate to "write, revise, update, and contribute on a regular basis"(81). They keep track of changes and modifications for both group members and teachers to see in order to monitor progress. Wikis can be open to the public or group members only, on the discretion of the group.
 * Student Feedback (Podcasting):** Podcasts allow students to give feedback on projects, tests, assignments. Students are able to reflect and voice their opinions while simultaneously learning how to use voice and video recording software like Audacity and GarageBand.
 * Digital Storytelling (Flickr):** Merges writing, photos, music and voice to create a personal multimedia story. David Jakes says, "Digital storytelling helps students explore the meaning of their own experience, give value to it, and communicate that experience on multiple levels to others...[It] not only promotes the development of life long learners, but lifelong communicators as well" (83). Photostory 3, Flickr, and Podcasting stories are all examples. Digital storytelling makes students want to work hard, remain engaged, and ask better questions because they know it will end up in digital media (83).

Sharing digital stories to people all over the world; share experiences, lives, and perspectives with each other. Student engagement in understanding the world has increased.
 * Digital Diplomacy **

**Classroom Applications**
 * English and Literature: ** Making famous poets blogs, post original poems,stories, illustrated works on digital medias.
 * Media Literacy: ** Questioning the information students find on the web. The ALA (American Library Association) has sources that help students and parents to understand and assess the variety of resources found online. New Media Literacy.org encourages the development of new media projects, provides resources for teachers to assist in their efforts to prepare their students for Web 2.0 curricular lessons.
 * Social Studies:** Oral histories and create presentations of the interviews with iPods and podcasts, iMovie, etc., old photos. Podcasts of real people in historical events- anecdotes, quips, humor in conversational manner in order to "bring life to the characters of history" (86). Talkinghistory.oah.org (the Organization of American historians) created talking history podcasts. Blogs to communicate with soldiers fighting in Iraq--students reading and writing but also learning about current events and soldiers' challenges. The Education Podcast Network (http://epnweb.org) brings together wide range of podcast programming for teachers looking for content. Colonial Williamsburg at www.history.org/media/podcasts.cfm; Middle Ages at http://podcasts.medievalstudies.info/; Teaching Matters (teachingmatters.org) voices and choices, Greece and American Constitution. Blogs with discussions.
 * Journalism, Broadcasting, and Video Production: "**Web 2.0 tools are particularly suited for this curriculum area, because citizen journalism 'is the act of citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating information'"(89). Classrooms can create a classroom daily newscast. Some high schools are publishing their newspapers online as well as in print. My High School Journalism Web site provides links to hundreds of high school, middle school, and elementary school newspapers.
 * Math:** The possibilities of using Web 2.0 tools in math are endless. Students can work in groups to create math rhymes and songs to convert into mp3s to put onto cd's for the class. Students can also contribute to math manual wikis online and be assessed on their participation. The wikis can include problems and basic skills questions and test questions they missed in the past. Blogs with math problems, answers, and discussions can be linked with other blogs of different classes and schools.
 * Geography:** Web 2.0 tools provide many opportunities to help students understand different cultures and peoples around the world and their own countries, as well. Geocaching is like hide-and-seek and scavenger hunts online "in which individuals and organizations set up caches (a logbook or a waterproof container) around the world and share the locations of them on the Internet. People use a GPS device and coordinates to find the caches, which might include various rewards"(94). Geo-blogs allow students to create their own sort of travel guides online. National Geographic offers numerous tools for educators who teach geography at different age levels. Google Earth is also great for teaching geography. Juicy Geography offers help and lesson plans for incorporating Google Earth in geography lessons.
 * English as a Second Language and English Language Learners:** Use iPods as a "language lab" allows students to record vocabulary, conduct q&a segments, check pronunciation, and store their language exercises. For immigrants moving to a new country, it is hard to learn the language and culture of the new world around them, and activities like this can be very helpful. Text, audio, and image files can be used together to teach vocabulary.
 * Science:** Some science classrooms can record experiments with recordings of teacher's instructions and student observations and photos of the experiment taking place. Students who miss class and visual learners could really benefit from this. Software like iMovie can aid in putting ideas like this into action. Science blogs are also helpful. This Week in Science offers a weekly adventure through podcasts that teachers can use in their classrooms.

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