MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-08-20 |
| FROM | From: "Steve Milo"
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] Laptops for All
|
Perfect example of how valuable computer science is to society and why
its
technology and its by product shouldnt be held ransom by self interest
groups.
Steve M
On Wednesday, Aug 20, 2003, at 17:47 America/Denver, Inker, Evan wrote:
>
> Laptops for All
> November 1, 2001
>
> http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/content/stories/index.cfm?key=219
>
> A sixth grader lowers a temperature probe inside a beaker full of hot
> water.
> Two of her classmates stare intently at a laptop computer screen,
> watching
> as a graph dynamically changes when a chip of melting ice gradually
> lowers
> the water temperature. Another student sits poised, pen in hand, ready
> to
> record every detail of the science lab on a procedure sheet.
>
> "It's melting!" exclaims one student.
> "The temperature is going down, alright," agrees another.
> "When the ice is gone, we'll hit stop," directs one boy who has been
> given
> the job of data collector for the group.
>
> This popular science lab activity at The Mott Hall School is the
> culmination
> of several days' worth of study and exploration into the heat of
> fusion, or
> the amount of heat required to melt a solid substance into its liquid
> form.
> Throughout the room, the sixth graders are working in groups of five
> students, each team responsible for setting up its station, conducting
> the
> experiment, and then analyzing the results. Their tools comprise a mix
> of
> standard lab equipment (a beaker, a triple beam balance, and the like)
> and
> some decidedly high-tech additions, including a temperature probe
> connected
> to a laptop computer and software that records, graphs, and displays
> the
> changing water temperature in real time. In addition to the temperature
> probes used by Mott Hall students, there are similar probes for gauging
> pressure and sound. All of these devices provide students access to
> the same
> tools scientists use.
>
> Sixth-grade science teacher Mercedes Diez had begun the class with a
> quick
> refresher on phase-change operations but had quickly turned the
> activity
> over to her students. They troubleshoot when one of the probes isn't
> working
> properly, consider possible causes when they get unexpected results,
> and
> brainstorm ways to present their findings to their classmates. For her
> part,
> Diez serves as a facilitator. She responds to the occasional question
> or
> poses one of her own, always encouraging her students to take their
> analysis
> just a little bit further.
>
> Harlem Pioneers
>
> Mott Hall is a math, science, and technology academy in New York
> Community
> School District Six. This fourth- through eighth-grade magnet school
> has
> 425, primarily Hispanic, students. And it's one of a growing number of
> schools in the country where every student and every teacher has his
> or her
> own laptop computer.
>
> Mott Hall opened in 1986, and for the first 10 years of its existence,
> the
> school offered a rigorous but fairly traditional approach to
> education. But
> everything started to change in 1996. That's when a class of fifth
> graders
> and their teacher became pioneers in the use of laptop computers in
> schools.
>
>
> "We saw the introduction of laptops as a wonderful opportunity to
> reexamine
> our curriculum and to confront the Digital Divide," says Principal
> Mirian
> Acosta-Sing. The parents agreed. Together, parents and staff developed
> policies to ensure the safety of students traveling to and from school,
> created a payment plan that relied on the contribution of families and
> the
> school district, and began troubleshooting everything from curriculum
> delivery to basic repair and maintenance.
>
> Over the next five years, Acosta-Sing and her staff built upon that
> first
> pilot project, slowly adding classes and grade levels to the growing
> contingent of laptop pioneers. Finally, in the fall of 1999, the last
> class
> received its laptops.
>
> A Focus on Projects
>
> Visitors to Mott Hall don't have to look hard for evidence of how
> laptop
> computers have changed teaching and learning. While sixth graders are
> conducting experiments with temperature probes, fifth graders are
> creating
> scale models of kites in Excel spreadsheets and reading poems about
> Harlem,
> inspired by digital photographs the students took at nearby St.
> Nicholas
> Park. Seventh graders are creating business plans as part of a project
> on
> entrepreneurship. And the eighth graders, who will soon be graduating
> and
> moving on to some of the city's most prestigious high schools, are
> creating
> a digital photo album and conducting scientific research on methane gas
> emissions, coral reef bleaching, and dozens of other topics of their
> own
> choosing.
>
> Every classroom, every hallway is a showcase for student work. Artwork,
> essays, poems, and science posters cover the walls. And everywhere you
> look
> there are laptop computers. In one classroom, students are logging on
> to an
> Internet chess site to play against a faraway opponent. In another, a
> group
> of students is putting the final touches on a multimedia presentation.
> With
> frequent use has come a comfort with technology that many adults have
> yet to
> achieve. Students manipulate temperature probes and swap network cards
> as
> easily as they might replace the lead in a mechanical pencil or verify
> a
> computation on a calculator.
>
> Teachers, too, have come a long way, thanks in large part to the
> school's
> built-from-the-ground-up approach to professional development. From its
> first day as a laptop pilot school, Mott Hall has relied on the
> expertise of
> its most experienced teachers to advance the technical and curriculum
> savvy
> of its entire staff. Staff development days are used to showcase
> exemplary
> teaching units. More experienced teachers mentor their colleagues (in
> Mott
> Hall lingo they're known as eLearning facilitators), opening up their
> classrooms for observation and taking the time after a long school day
> to
> meet and plan lessons. Partnerships with local universities,
> businesses, and
> other organizations provide yet another level of support and training
> for
> Mott Hall staff.
>
> "We had staff members who bought into this immediately, and we had
> staff
> members who had to be persuaded," acknowledges Marc Briller, Mott
> Hall's
> staff professional developer. He describes an evolution in how Mott
> Hall
> approached the integration of laptops into curriculum. "Here we had
> these
> wonderful laptops and the question that then came up is, 'Well, what
> are we
> going to do with these laptops? How are we going to showcase the
> technology?' We had to ask ourselves how we could fit the laptop into
> the
> curriculum, rather than adapting the curriculum to fit the laptop."
>
> It was that epiphany, says Acosta-Sing, that eventually led to a
> schoolwide
> commitment to project-oriented work. "We still lecture when it's
> important,
> and we still use textbooks when they're needed. But as a school
> community,
> we've embraced multidimensional, interdisciplinary projects. And we use
> these projects," she adds, ever mindful of the growing accountability
> movement, "as evidence that our students are not only meeting, but
> exceeding, the state standards."
>
> Go Fly a Kite
>
> A steady rain is falling outside Room 502, where Sandra Skea's class of
> fifth graders is putting the finishing touches on a second generation
> of
> handmade kites. At one table, Brandon is attaching a new tail to his
> kite in
> hopes of helping it fly longer and higher. At another, Lisbeth and
> Vanessa
> are working intently on their tetrahedron kite, a three-tier design
> made of
> multicolored tissue paper and straws and held together with lots and
> lots of
> glue. Throughout the room, tables are covered with the stuff homemade
> kites
> are made of -- paper, straws, aluminum foil, skewers, string -- all
> contributed by students, their teacher, family, and friends.
>
> By the time we arrive on that wet spring day, students have already
> spent
> several days on the interdisciplinary unit. They've written poetry and
> prose, studied such diverse topics as electromagnetism and the use of
> kite-flying in celebrations, and developed a keen understanding of
> principles of ratios and proportions as they designed and refined their
> kites -- on the computer and then by hand.
>
> Room 502's kite project began much like many of teaching veteran
> Skea's most
> successful units: with a conversation with her class. "We had been
> reading a
> story about kites," she recalls, "and I mentioned in passing that it
> would
> be nice to research kites." The students responded to her suggestion
> with a
> resounding, "Yes!"
>
> Having been somewhat less than successful in their first kite-flying
> expedition, Skea and her students are now back at the drawing board,
> refining their original designs. As soon as the rain stops, they'll put
> their second-generation creations to the test.
>
> But the point of the project isn't to see whose kite flies the highest
> or
> stays in the air the longest -- and that's not how the veteran teacher
> will
> be grading her students. Instead, Skea explains, the rubrics, or
> criteria,
> by which she'll be grading students address how well they work
> together, the
> amount and quality of their research, the thoroughness of their
> writing, and
> how well they planned their first -- and then refined their second --
> kite
> design.
>
> "The kite falling on the ground is not going to cause them to fail,"
> Skea
> adds matter-of-factly, "because that wasn't the purpose of the
> project."
>
> Assessing Student Work
>
> In Skea's class and throughout the school, students benefit from a
> clear
> understanding of the goals of a project, how it relates to grade-level
> standards, and the criteria by which it will be evaluated. Rubrics are
> discussed in class and then posted or handed out for all to review.
> Teachers
> and students (who routinely evaluate one another's work) rely on these
> criteria when assessing everything from kites to science projects to
> research papers.
>
> "The rubrics are our way of showing how each component of a project is
> aligned to standards," says Briller, adding that clearly delineated
> guidelines also ensure that projects are not just engaging but are also
> leading to a deep and meaningful understanding of concepts.
>
> Because so much of the student work is done on the laptops, Mott Hall
> is
> also in the process of creating digital portfolios for its students.
> Although currently in a pilot stage, the goal, says Acosta-Sing, is to
> create a portfolio for each fourth grader and then add new work to this
> digital archive as students progress through the school. By eighth
> grade,
> each student would have an electronic representation of their work at
> Mott
> Hall.
>
> Besides the "internal" evaluations, students at Mott Hall routinely
> participate in academic competitions where their work is assessed by
> other
> students as well as by outside experts. This real-world evaluation,
> says
> Briller, "gives kids the opportunity to understand where they stand in
> relation to other students. Tests are so abstract for kids. These
> competitions make it all very real," he adds.
>
> Like most public school students throughout New York state, Mott Hall
> students are also required to take a series of standardized tests in
> core
> subject areas. Although students receive instruction in the mechanics
> of
> test-taking, students learn the concepts through projects. "It's one
> thing
> to be able to pass a test," says Briller. "The real challenge (is)
> understanding the information and being able to apply it."
>
> Thanks to a standards-based project approach to learning, Mott Hall
> students
> are able to do both.
>
> New Challenges, New Opportunities
>
> If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the staff and
> students
> at Mott Hall should feel truly honored. In September of 2001, a new
> school
> -- Mott Hall II -- opened in New York City, building on the philosophy
> and
> methods developed at the original Mott Hall. Based on the success of
> Mott
> Hall's program, all of the schools in New York Community School
> District Six
> are now moving to the laptop model pioneered by Acosta-Sing and her
> staff.
> Indeed, throughout the country, public schools are embracing the use of
> laptops to support project-based learning.
>
> For their part, Acosta-Sing and her staff are experimenting with new
> tools
> to take the school's commitment to project-oriented work to the next
> level.
> With the help of a pilot grant, for example, students and teachers are
> beginning to investigate ways in which handheld computers can be used
> to
> support the school's project approach to learning. "I'm not sure
> whether it
> will translate into anything useful," says Acosta-Sing with a shrug of
> her
> shoulders. "But we'll experiment with the new tools and then decide as
> a
> community whether they have some value."
>
>
> Copyright (c) 2002 The George Lucas Educational Foundation www.glef.org
>
>
>
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____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
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