Student Inclusion = Technology Infusion

Student Inclusion = Technology Infusion

by Sylvia Martinez and Dennis Harper

Generation Y (Gen Y) provides a research-proven methodology designed to infuse technology throughout the school. Students work with teachers to bring effective technology into the classrooms and libraries. The resulting collaboration provides the students with project-based learning and the teachers with on-site sustainable professional development.
Educational technology still represents an unfulfilled promise in K-12 schools. 30 years of work to install hardware, software and networks, 30 years of training teachers, and 30 years of not seeing the impact we expected. Why has technology changed every facet of our society, from business to interpersonal relations, but has seemingly not affected schools?
Students represent more than 90% of the K-12 education population, and they likely possess 95% of the technology expertise in the school. Unquestionably, they are 100% of the reason that schools exist. However, they are often left out of the equation when we plan, discuss and implement educational reforms. The technology innovations of the last several decades have unquestionably not been integrated into most schools in a way that anyone is satisfied with. Why is this so? We believe that it is because the largest group of stakeholders in the process has been ignored - the students.
The question is how to harness the students' technology expertise and at the same time, expand their learning opportunities. This question was the heart of a Technology Innovation Challenge Grant application submitted in 1996 by Dr. Dennis Harper, the Technology Director of the Olympia Washington School District. The project was named Generation WHY, and then Generation www.Y, to symbolize the combination of Generation Y (the generation after Generation X) with the questioning spirit of the project and the power of new networking technologies.
Generation Y: HistoryHaving students help out with technology is not a new idea. However, the goal of this grant was to document and prove that students could do more than just provide free labor and fix computers. Student projects could be authentic, meaningful improvements to the school technology goals - if the students understood what the school technology plan was, and were taught about pedagogy and learning. These projects could empower the student to participate in their own learning, and impact the learning of other students. Students could be part of the schoolwide goals of infusing technology into the school, and therefore become full stakeholders in the process.
Around the same time, the realization was setting in that traditional methods of professional development were not working for technology in the school setting. After-school workshops and in-services promised great things, powerful hardware could be purchased, and endless new versions of software could be upgraded, but rarely was there adequate support when teachers actually tried to use the technology.
Putting together the immense need for on-site, just-in-time technology support with the untapped resource of students who need authentic projects is the basis for the Generation Y program today. After 5 years, the grant ended, but not the impact of the model. The program is not only still going strong in Olympia, but also has also spread to hundreds of schools throughout the country. The teachers and students at the core of the Generation Y staff formed a company, Generation YES, Inc. to continue the work of supporting and disseminating the model.
The ModelGeneration Y is an innovative curriculum and resource solution for grades 3-12 that promotes schoolwide technology infusion. It is a technology program with a twist. Gen Y students develop technological fluency while learning how to share their knowledge with others. Each student is paired with a classroom teacher who needs help integrating technology into their practice. Each student/teacher team decides on a curriculum component or lesson to enhance with technology. Students learn about pedagogy and lesson plan design while developing their communication, planning and project management skills. The partner teacher receives support for their technology projects when and where they need it - in their classroom.
The result is authentic project-based learning for the students and sustainable technology professional development for the teachers. This powerful model has been refined and proven in real classrooms around the world. The students are empowered to see themselves as valuable members of the educational community. They take this responsibility very seriously, becoming invaluable resources and helping teachers and their schools throughout their school career.
For six years, Generation Y has been delivered in almost any conceivable school setting. From Native American villages in Alaska and Washington to all secondary schools in the Virgin Islands, to remote towns in Wyoming to urban schools in empowerment zones in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Seattle, Los Angeles [I don't think Birmingham is technically in an empowerment zone], and Washington DC.
"Through this model, participating educators receive individualized support as they strengthen their use and integration of new technologies. Students learn technology, communication, collaboration, and project management skills in an authentic, personally meaningful context, and many go on to further extend their skills through advanced school or community service projects." - Northwest Regional Education Labs Gen Y Final Evaluation
Generation Y is one of most researched educational technology programs in the United States. Since the start of the Technology Innovation Challenge Grant (TICG) program, the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory (NWREL) has served as an independent external evaluator. Feedback from every stakeholder group was woven back into the curriculum materials, the online support tools and the assessment design. The resulting program is a strong model that supports a wide variety of uses and classroom profiles.
Current Research - The Generation Y Higher Education ModelOngoing research and improvement is basic to the mission of Generation YES as we continue to explore and improve our models. We actively search out new opportunities to participate in research in collaborative learning communities and student empowerment.
Late in 1999, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) awarded a $2.1 million, three-year Catalyst grant (one of only 35) to The Evergreen State College to implement the Student Teacher Technology Education Partnership (ST2EP) project. ST2EP is housed at the Evergreen Center for Educational Improvement, a K-12 public service center of the college. The project, part of the DOE's Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant program, is designed to help teacher education students learn how to use technology to engage students in learning. Nine colleges of teacher education and 16 K-12 schools from five different states are participating. As part of this project, Gen Y student graduates in grades 3-12 work with colleges of education to provide their faculty and pre service teachers training on how to infuse technology into the curriculum.
The colleges of teacher education are implementing the model in various ways:· Pre service teachers join the collaboration team with K-12 Gen Y students as they help their teachers infuse technology into the curriculum, · Required pre service educational technology courses are held in K-12 schools and taught by Generation Y graduates (Gen Dids). · Gen Dids work with college of education faculty to help them model the use of technology to improve learning in their courses. · Pre service teachers work with Gen Y kids to produce web pages on a variety of academic topics. The key questions that are asked in this research is what will happen if more teachers feel free to cross boundaries of curriculum structures, roles, and distance? And how will teachers and their students use technology to assist those processes?