Computer-savvy kids show off latest D-20 classroom technology

Wikis, vodcasts and podcasts, twiducate, turnitin, Google Docs, Blender, Movie Maker and netTrekker were on display this week at the annual Share Fair in Academy School District 20.

Lost already? Just find a teen — or even a kindergartner — to translate.

“Students are better teachers of this,” said Marshall Smith, a social studies teacher at Pine Creek High School who has students using wikis for class work.

Last school year he did a demonstration project with wikis and he and other staff got additional training over the summer and fall. Then they let the students teach each other and run with it.

So, what’s a wiki? Let sophomores Garrett Dietz and Caleb Olson and junior Mark Gillespie explain:

• It’s a Web-based program that can be set up so students within a particular class or project group can collaborate on work wherever they have computer and internet access.

• A teacher can limit who has access and track who has contributed to the work.

• Students can easily add photos, video and charts from other sources.

And the program they use -- PBworks -- is freely available on the internet, said Pine Creek librarian Susan Adams.

“This was the first time I worked on a wiki,” Dietz said as he showed a group report on the Mongolian empire. “You can do a whole lot of stuff.”

One of the biggest benefits, Gillespie said, is that students in a class can access the wiki any time. Like the night before a test.

“This is by far the easiest way I’ve ever seen to get information from various sources and share it with the entire class,” said Gillespie, who showed the work compiled by his Advanced Placement U.S. History class. Better than PowerPoint, and way, way better than posters.

Adams said the school is using wikis in various subjects and is finding that students are more willing to collaborate on projects because they can work from anyplace at any time.

At Timberview Middle School, librarian Leslie Brinkley is seeing similar excitement about the tools of technology.

One math teacher has turned the learning sequence upside down by recording audio/video lectures that students watch at home. Then they work on the problems in the classroom — with the teacher on hand to help when they get stuck.

“The kids say they sometime listen over and over to parts of the lecture to get a particular concept,” Brinkley said.

Timberview also is experimenting with a video grading system in which a 2- to 5-minute discussion of a paper is e-mailed to parents. It’s a bit time-consuming, but parents like it so the staff is working on ways to make it more efficient, she said.

Those at the Share Fair are in agreement on a couple points: applying technology to studies helps students learn to manage information and collaborate with others, and they’re more engaged in learning.

That’s why the district holds the annual event and invites each school to showcase how it’s using technology in the classroom.

“The kids aren’t afraid to push the buttons so we can’t be either,” Brinkley said.

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