Student Intern Program

Nortel LearniT is in the process of developing our Student Intern Program and could use your help. We want to design a program that provides students, grades 7-14, with hands-on experience in producing and distributing digital media. Some of the traits of our program will include: Working with other students to create group projects; Projects created must fit within one of the content areas we are establishing; Projects shall have an instructional/documentary objective tied to our core Discover iT curriculum; Projects should be both self - contained, and those that could constitute one program in a series of offerings.

One concept we are considering is to have each intern create their own 'bio' video as a means of introducing themselves to future interns working with Nortel LearniT and it's Centers and Charters. A follow-up may be to have these interns create a brief testimonial video when they are nearing the completion of their internship. See the Fraser Institute http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/studentcentre/intern.asp?tnav=1&scnav=2 for an example of how one program accomplishes this.

If you have any ideas or suggestions to help us structure our program to be of a benefit to both the kids participating and our content offerings, please post your comments.

As more and more schools have begun using laptops as a means to provide students with the kind of anytime, anywhere learning that is needed to revolutionize education in the digital millennium, this online blog has emerged to help educators keep tabs on the latest laptop initiatives and see how teachers across the country are using the technology to transform learning.
 

Nortel LearniT Plans for It's Newest Content 

We Need Your Help In Designing our Newest Unit

Nortel LearniT is embarking on the production of a new 'unit' to support educators and their students in their efforts to integrate the use of technology as an organic part of their teaching and learning. Like other units this new effort will include online resources that both lead and support individuals in their efforts to systematically involve the use of digitial literacy in their classrooms and in their studies.

Before we progress down this development path, we need your assistance in clarifying what our approach will entail. Among the many questions we must clearly answer are issues such as:

1.) What is the right 'curriculum' to use to reach our educator and student audiences?
2.) What is most needed by the teaching and learning community to support their integrative use of technology?
3.) How does this commitment and approach differ from other available online resources?
4.) What components will be most effective in delivering to our target audience the resources and approach to support the goal of technology infused learning?

This is the first of several posts designed to facilitate your feedback, suggestions and input. Please consider responding to this post, or create one of your own.

A Good Example of A Teacher's Experiment w/Blogs

Betsy Rogers, 20-year teaching veteran from Alabama, and the 2003 National Teacher of the Year, is now working at the "neediest school" in Jefferson County, Alabama, and keeping a blog of her experience there. In this week's entry, she finds herself asking: "Am I the right person to work at this school? Can I really help and have an impact? Do I have what it takes?"

One Teacher's Philosophy on Technology Integration

Johnny Hansell is a 3rd Grade teacher in a large urban school district. As he moves through his fourth year in the classroom, he has realized how valuable technology can be. Technology is NOT an activity unto itself, but as an itegral part of the core subjects that he must teach to a diverse group of learners. Read Johnny's essay in a recent article in Tech Learning. http://techlearning.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60401514

Blogging Clicks With Colleges
Interactive Web Pages Changing Class Participation
First the Internet turned colleges upside down, extending classrooms and changing the way people learned. Next came Napster and other file-sharing tools, then Web logs. Now blogs are morphing into the next big thing on campus: wikis.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25305-2005Mar10.html

Having technology in classrooms doesn't mean that schools are revolutionizing teaching and learning, introducing project-based learning and making other departures from the traditional factory model for schools. Many teachers use computers simply to keep track of attendance and grades, and many students use the Internet mostly for drill and practice, word processing or to shop for a prom dress. Read this Carnegie Foundation Report that showcases where technology integration is working and how. http://www.carnegie.org/reporter/06/learning/

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) is hosting a press conference to release a new national study of young people on their media use.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at 9:30 -- 12:00 a.m. EST

WHAT: Panel discussion and release of Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds, a national survey of young people which measures use of TV and video, music, video games, computers, movies, and print. The study and forum explores the following questions:

* How much time do young people spend with media compared to other activities such
as hanging out with parents, physical activity, and pursuing hobbies?
* What rules, if any, do parents impose on their children regarding media use?
* Has the use of "new" media such the Internet and video games affected time spent
on "old" media such as TV, music, and reading?
* What kinds of media do young people prefer?
* What kind and how much media are in young people’s bedrooms?
* What is the home media environment like?

WHO: Drew Altman, President and CEO of Kaiser will discuss the implications of the findings and Vicky Rideout, who directed the study and is Vice President at Kaiser will present the detailed findings, followed by a discussion moderated by Jeff Greenfield, Senior Political Analyst at CNN with the following panelists: Michael Copps, Federal Communications Commission; Common, Grammy Award-winning Hip Hop Artist; Jordan Levin, former CEO, The WB Television Network; Donald Roberts, author It's Only Rock and Roll and professor at Stanford University; Juliet Schor, author, Born to Buy and professor at Boston College; Alain Tascan, Vice President and General Manager, Electronic Arts Montreal

WHERE: Barbara Jordan Conference Center, Kaiser Family Foundation Building, 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, D.C. (one block west of Metro Center)

RSVP: Tiffany Ford, (202) 347-5270 or tford@kff.org 

What Does Research Say About Technology Integration?

What does research say about using Technology effectively?

Research exists now that helps define where technology can most effectively impact student learning.

· Students should be motivated, engaged and learning actively
· Learning should be authentic
· Learning should be collaborative
· Students should be the explorers and producers of knowledge
· Instruction and learning should be integrated across curriculum
· Students should be proficient in digital age literacy skills
· Assessments should be performance based

Related technology indicators and frameworks.

2005 NECC Conference Registration Deadline

The early deadline for the June 27 - 30 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) is rapidly approaching on MARCH 31, 2005.

Be sure to look online for more information at: http://www.iste.org/necc

Research on State of eLearning in K-12 Schools

The US Department of Education released a landmark study that provides the first-ever data on distance education in elementary and secondary Schools. This report was released on Wednesday, March 2, 2005.

CNN's news story about the findings of the report and examples of the research.

The Deptartments Press Release