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September 15, 2001
Online Professional Development (cont'd)
Generation www.Y
Generation www.Y takes a reverse approach to professional development by training middle and secondary school students in computing and telecommunication skills so they can in turn help novice computer-using teachers integrate technology into the curriculum. This 18-week off-line program works by partnering individual students with a teacher, known as the partner-teacher, and together they design and complete a curriculum-building project utilizing technology. Participating students also take the Generation www.Y technology and teaching skills course either during or outside of school hours, where they actively engage with their www.Y technology instructor to build a project proposal for classroom implementation. Students eventually submit an online project proposal, and from there build clear objectives for their partner-teacher, their participating class, and themselves. Additionally, Generation www.Y provides a consulting teacher who offers feedback on a variety of areas including the project's feasibility, educational value, and assessment. Curriculum objectives guide students as they build technology lessons on Netiquette, copyright, researching on the Internet, and more. Both students and teachers participate in progress reports and self-assessments during the course of the project.
Course Title:
Key(P)als in French
I took a look at www.Y's sample foreign language project in which participating teachers and their twelfth-grade students learned how to send, open, and maintain e-mail while communicating with French students. Student mentors are in charge of setting up e-mail addresses for their class and contacting French students who will exchange e-mail messages. With the help of their partner-teachers, the mentors write a letter of introduction to the participating French school, introduce their participating class to Netiquette, and then teach them how to communicate with e-mail.
Ongoing assessment opportunities are a salient feature of www.Y's interesting reversal of student-teacher roles. For example, the student-mentors' assessment component includes a post-project interview with their teachers to appraise how well the project went. Additional authentic assessment activities examine mentors as they send and receive e-mail, and a final report details whether the partner-teacher met project objectives.
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