Students to Help Teachers Better Use Tech
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Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 02/01/2010
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) believes that when it comes to technology training, we should look no further than a terrific resource already in the classroom—students.That’s why Microsoft and the Corporation for National and Community Service has launched a new initiative that empowers middle and high school students to help teachers and staff better integrate tech into schools.
“The concept of students as tech support and even teacher support has been around for several years,” says Karen Cator (pictured), Director of the Office of Education Technology at the U.S. DOE. “I think what this initiative does is take the best practices and take them to scale.”
Called START (Service & Technology Academic Resource Team), the program will combine five existing projects such as GenerationYES!, in which students help teachers come up with compelling assignments using technology, and MOUSE, where students act as tech support in schools, and bring them together under one umbrella.
Piloting in six schools, START will then produce a set of guidelines, which other school districts across the country can use to help build their own student-led programs by June 2010, says Mary Cullinane, director of innovation for U.S. Education at Microsoft, which is funding the coordination effort. However, videos demonstrating some of the in-school programs are already being uploaded to Vimeo, where other students and teachers can watch and pick up tips.
The first schools to initiate START are: New York’s Lower East Side Preparatory High School M515, Mississippi’s Tupelo Middle School, Pennsylvania’s Parkway West High School, North Carolina’s East Garner Magnet Middle School, Virginia’s VA Star program at Forest Park High School, and California’s Winston Churchill Middle School.
Cator is careful to emphasize that the START program is not meant to eliminate trained technology professionals in schools or in classrooms. “The supervision of adults are critical to this,” she says. However, she does note that the program is a unique way of incorporating science and technology into service, providing students with a way to give back to their school community and giving them a taste of actual work in that field.
“They learn how to communicate effectively with their clients, track what their doing, and run a help desk,” says Cator. “The development of technology skills with critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and service learning is incredible powerful.”
