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February 11, 2007 10:58 AM
Qwest Grant
Project Title: Kids, Kameras and Kreativity
The three goals of the Kids, Kameras and Kreativity project are to:
Integrate tools of emerging technology into classrooms in a simple and friendly manner
Engage students with these tools through a process that illustrates application, analysis and evaluation of their learning
Demonstrate and facilitate these uses in other classrooms throughout our school
Project Overview:
Funds awarded by this grant will be used to purchase approximately 15 digital cameras, a student response system, and other materials to support those tools.
The gist of this project is students going out and taking photos using digital cameras, then interacting with their photos, and those of their peers, through the student response system.
For example, students in primary grades may take photos of things that start with the sound "ca" as in "cat". With appropriate guidance and instruction, this will bridge to lessons that help children associate the sound with different spellings, and many different words. They will use the student response system to interact with photos that they and their classmates have taken, identifying those that fit with the concept being taught.
Intermediate students may use the cameras and response systems in a similar manner to demonstrate an understanding of geometry in the natural world, or to increase their understanding of the classification of different species. These tools could also be integrated into writing lessons dealing with word choice and descriptive language, or science lessons on native and non-native plants.
These are just a few of many joint uses of these tools that I have come up with. There are many more possibilities, and my ideas for their independent uses are never-ending!
Furthermore, because I am an Instructional Technology Specialist part time, as well as a part-time classroom teacher, I am afforded a wonderful opportunity to develop content-based lessons to use in my own class, teach and refine them, then modify those lessons in order to model the use of these tools in other classrooms around our school and district.
I hope that these model lessons will inspire other teachers in Central Oregon area schools to develop ideas for the use of either one or both of these (simple!) tools in conjunction with their curriculum, and apply for some of the many grants available to obtain them for their own use.
At this point, I am still waiting to receive my digital cameras. My student response system has arrived, and I am learning how it works. I look forward to sharing my successes, challenges, and lessons with all of you once my complete program is up and running!
Respectfully,
Amy Lundstrom, Instructional Technology Specialist and 4/5 Teacher, Bend LaPine Schools
Posted by amylundstrom on February 11, 2007 at 10:58 AM in Ed Tech Grants | Comments (0)
