TeachTech Award http://teachtechaward.org/ The Teach Tech Award recognizes creative uses of technology in K-12 classrooms. en Copyright 2009 Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:39:48 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Gigapan School Exchange Falk School Proposal submitted by Barbara Bianco The Gigapan School Exchange is an on-going research project in its second year at The Falk School, University of Pittsburgh, PA. The Falk Laboratory School has been honored as the first school in the United States and one of four globally (2008) in the pilot program. A futuristic tool, The Gigapan robotic camera was developed with the collaboration of NASA to study Mars and takes panoramic views of the earth; a curricular innovation aimed at supporting the learning process on a global scale including history, geography, and literature. The goal is to break down the digital divide, create a world wide social network to foster mutual understanding and to promote meaningful communication between schools across the country and the world. With partners Carnegie Mellon University, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and NASA, implementation of this project in future schools may have far-reaching effects. 2009 Winners: "Integrated Robotics Curriculum" | "Gigapan School Exchange (finalist)" | ]]> http://teachtechaward.org/gigapan_school_exchange/ http://teachtechaward.org/gigapan_school_exchange/ winners Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:39:48 -0500 Integrated Robotics Curriculum The School at Columbia University Proposal submitted by Lisbeth Uribe and Amy Eguchi This innovative curriculum integrates the use of robotics across subject areas in grades two through four. The curriculum incorporates robotics - and the attendant skills of programming and engineering - into science, art, dance, and music while taking advantage of opportunities to support collaborative learning, literacy, creative expression and group problem-solving. Students in the second grade practiced measurement skills, and calculated ratios between time and distance and created elaborate costumes for robot dancers. In the third grade students created city-inspired performances using robot pedestrians and vehicles moving to music of their own creation. Students in the fourth grade built and programmed robots, incorporating sensors for imagined undersea exploration. The team included six current faculty members of The School - Lisbeth Uribe, Greg Benedis-Grab, Andrew Gardner, David Gordon, Nancy Wong and Yoshiko Maruiwa - as well as five former or part-time faculty members - Shawn Mishler, Jenny Howland, Pamela Bernstein, Patti MacDonald and Amy Eguchi. 2009 Winners: "Gigapan School Exchange (finalist)" | "Integrated Robotics Curriculum" | ]]> http://teachtechaward.org/integrated_robotics_curriculum/ http://teachtechaward.org/integrated_robotics_curriculum/ winners Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:06:10 -0500 Stories in Motion The School at Columbia University, New York, New York Project submitted by Lauren Pemberton and Cheryll Hajjar The teachers here were working to find meaningful ways to integrate art and literacy in the 3rd Grade classroom. They thought of using clay animation to enable students to tell their own stories and then stop-action photography to animate them. Bringing a moment to life - using a painstaking method - was a way to help students focus and guide the writing of their personal narratives. 2008 Winners: "Arthurian Legend" | "111 Eavesdroppers" | "Stories in Motion"]]> http://teachtechaward.org/stories_in_motion/ http://teachtechaward.org/stories_in_motion/ winners Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:52:14 -0500 The "111 Eavesdroppers" Online Newspaper Burris Laboratory School, Muncie, Indiana Project submitted by Emily Funk and Christy Wauzzinski In a two year project, the Technology Coordinator and the Intermediate Elementary Education Teacher collaborated to design and implement a 5th Grade student-produced multimedia classroom newspaper intended to be an online communication piece for parents and the school community. The Technology Coordinator developed weekly lessons to teach the students the basics of website design, use of video and audio technology and ethical guidelines to publishing on the web. Then after practicing skills they had learned, students began to design, produce and publish their own online multimedia newspaper entitled the "111 Eavesdroppers." 2008 Winners: "Arthurian Legend" | "111 Eavesdroppers" | "Stories in Motion"]]> http://teachtechaward.org/the_111_eavesdroppers_online_n/ http://teachtechaward.org/the_111_eavesdroppers_online_n/ winners Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:50:44 -0500 Bringing the Arthurian Legend into the 21st Century University High School, Normal, Illinois Project submitted by Kathleen Clesson The goal of this medieval literature unit was to tap into Web 2.0 technologies - notably web pages and podcasting - to move students from consumers of knowledge to creators of knowledge, sharable in multi-media format. Junior and Senior English Literature and Composition students accessed and read from the twenty-one-book collection of the Arthurian legend. Each student selected a book and two chapters to read, comprehend, interpret, and bring to life via audio performance. Each student prepared a written summary/précis of the first chapter content in contemporary language. For the second chapter, students wrote old time radio-style scripts to be performed and recorded using Audacity, a free/open source audio editor and recorder program. All three pieces (summary, podcast transcript, and rendered mp3 podcast file) were then uploaded to a class website designed using FrontPage for this purpose. The pedagogical goal was to harness the read/write web in the service of teaching and learning. In the process, state goals for English language arts, NETS standards, and performance-based objectives converged. You may visit the Arthurian Legend website at http://www.uhigh.ilstu.edu/english/arthur "Arthurian Legend" | "111 Eavesdroppers" | "Stories in Motion"]]> http://teachtechaward.org/bringing_the_arthurian_legend/ http://teachtechaward.org/bringing_the_arthurian_legend/ winners Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:49:44 -0500 Teach Tech Award 2009 2009 Teach Tech Award Goes to The School at Columbia University A team of current and former faculty members of The School at Columbia University in New York City will receive $5,000 as the winners of the third annual Teach Tech Award for their project, Integrating Educational Robotics in Elementary School Curricula. The announcement was made at the annual conference of the National Association of Laboratory Schools (NALS) in Memphis. A project from the Falk School in Pittsburgh, Gigapan School Exchange will receive $500 as an award finalist. The TeachTech Award recognizes creative uses of technology that enhance teaching and learning in the K-12 classroom with the goal of encouraging new and innovative uses of technology that support pedagogical goals and strategies. The annual TeachTeach Award recognizes projects that demonstrate pedagogical integrity, innovation, and efficacy as well as the potential for others to replicate them in part or in full. Eligible projects can consist of original software, re-purposing or integration of existing software, or publications for the facilitation of creative uses of technology in K-12 classrooms. Please see our call for submissions for information on how to apply. ]]> http://teachtechaward.org/teach_tech_award_2009/ http://teachtechaward.org/teach_tech_award_2009/ homepage Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:14:42 -0500 TeachTech Award Proposal Form Participant School:
Name(s) of Teacher(s): Contact Information Address:
Email Address:
Phone Number:
Proposal (Max 600 words per section; please enter directly, do not cut and paste from other programs) Project URL (optional):
Project Description (?): Project Rationale (?): Project Inspiration (?): Project Implementation (?):
Additional Information (optional): Questions regarding the award may be directed to ccnmtl-teachtech@columbia.edu. ]]> http://teachtechaward.org/submission_form/ http://teachtechaward.org/submission_form/ form Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:16:55 -0500 Dynamic Individual Education Plan Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto Proposal submitted by Judith Kimel and Richard Reeve The project described in this proposal is an ongoing project that was developed over a three-year period beginning in 2004. The main objective of this project was to develop a means by which all of those who are typically involved in the development and execution of a student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) could be “virtually” brought together on a more continuous basis. The concerned parties include the classroom teacher, special education teacher, speech pathologist, educational assistant, principal and parents. This team worked together on a continuous basis using an innovative on-line environment to help manage an IEP. Due to the fact that the IEP document by virtue of being became “dynamic” it was referred to as the Dynamic Individual Education Plan (DIEP). In this new on-line space the shared goals of all concerned were continuously addressed in response to the student’s evolving needs. The creation, evaluation and modification of educational programming for this student emerged out of the contributions of team members within the database. This stands in stark contrast to the way IEPs are normally only addressed at two points in year (e.g. beginning and end) and that these documents are only discussed in the context of face-to-face meetings at these end-points of the year. The initial year was divided into three phases of development. Phase I provided a space for home and school communication to occur and allowed team members to become familiar with each other and with the database. In Phase II, concrete and specific short-term goals were developed, documented and implemented. These goals were created collaboratively. During this phase, goals were assessed and modified in continuous response to the child’s progress. Phase III allowed team members to highlight a specific subset of goals (communication), devoting intense focus on programming in this area. Knowledge Forum (KF) was the shared problem space that was used. The innovation was the use of this existing software to support the process of group knowledge building. The main goal was to explore and expand best practices associated with the use of Individual Education Plans that serve to support student achievement and team communication. The central research question was, “To what extent can a Dynamic IEP be used to improve team communication and therefore student achievement using an on-line environment?” A related sub-question was, “What effect does a team approach and focus on common and shared goals have on student achievement?” 2007 Winners: "Long Jump Ahead" | "Dynamic Individual Education Plan" | "Poetry, Music and a Garage Band" ]]> http://teachtechaward.org/dynamic_individual_education_p/ http://teachtechaward.org/dynamic_individual_education_p/ winners Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:54:17 -0500 Poetry, Music and a Garage Band The School at Columbia Proposal submitted by Kate Chechak In a third grade classroom where reading, writing, math and social studies, as well as the arts, are taught in an integrated fashion, this class embarked upon a study of poetry. The unit began by reading and writing poetry. Students were asked: Why is this important? What does this poem really mean? In addition to reading and writing poems during reader’s and writer’s workshop, students were also learning interpretive dance in the Dance Studio. Each student memorized a particular poem by Langston Hughes and then recited their poem to the class. As they recited their poems, students spontaneously added interpretive dance to their poems. When asked: What did you just learn? They realized that poetry could be enjoyed through reading, writing and dancing. They then asked to record their own poems and use them for interpretive dance in dance class. They were showed how to use Garage Band (a software program that not only records voice but allows the user to choose from hundreds of musical instruments and sounds). Looking at lyrics to music they were singing in music class, for instance, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” students began to see that this song was not about climbing mountains and crossing rivers for someone. Upon further analysis: “What do you think this song is really about?” The students concluded it is about caring for someone so much that you would be there for them no matter what. Students began to see some of their own poetry as music. Upon being asked what they wanted to do next, students asked to put their poems to music. Listening to the artist, Air, students began to identify tracks in songs as layers. This laid the, groundwork for them to weave music over their poems. Students began to identify rhythm, through repetition and breaks in music. Using the software program Garage Band allowed students to mix in any genre, cultural music and instruments that they envisioned. Each child’s music matched the mood and added to the interpretive value of their poems. They requested the opportunity to work towards an album of published work. Using Garage Band allowed the children to explore the trimesters’ concept of movement through words, music and dance. They were able to record their voice, add music if they like and then produce a song that could easily be sent to the dance teacher and played that day during dance class. 2007 Winners: "Long Jump Ahead" | "Dynamic Individual Education Plan" | "Poetry, Music and a Garage Band" ]]> http://teachtechaward.org/poetry_music_and_a_garage_band/ http://teachtechaward.org/poetry_music_and_a_garage_band/ winners Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:51:54 -0500 Long Jump Ahead Institute of Child Study, Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, Toronto Proposal submitted by Richard Messina and Benjamin Peebles This project made innovative use of several existing technologies to support a deep classroom inquiry integrating science, mathematics and physical education curricula. Students in a combined 5th and 6th grade class were given an authentic challenge: to find ways to improve their performance in the track and field discipline of long jump. Through this inquiry, by fluidly integrating technological resources and content learning from three separate subjects, the idea was to foster deep understanding of how physical movements could be analyzed, considered and improved. Twenty-two students were presented with the authentic problem of how to improve their long jumps following a study on human body systems from the science curriculum. Over the course of six weeks in April and May 2006, students made several jump attempts. They were videotaped and converted to QuickTime files. These files were imported into software entitled Measurement in Motion (MIM) , which allowed students to critically analyze their movements and techniques. Students then used Knowledge Forum 4.6 (KF) to formulate theories on best technique, continue to seek ways to improve them, all the while sharing the results of their analysis with the classroom community. Children were reflectively collaborating with peers to build new theories and advance the community understanding. Students seamlessly integrated these two technologies, as well as their curricular knowledge in Science, Mathematics and Physical Education, in pursuit of addressing the problem of how they could learn to jump further. The evaluations from students’ postings revealed that they had skillfully combined detailed mathematical analysis of the long jump movements with application of that analysis to the scientific process of testing and improving theories, deepening their understanding of both the metacognitive possibilities of improving physical movements, and also of the application of scientific and mathematics knowledge to problems. 2007 Winners: "Long Jump Ahead" | "Dynamic Individual Education Plan" | "Poetry, Music and a Garage Band"]]> http://teachtechaward.org/long_jump/ http://teachtechaward.org/long_jump/ winners Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:47:30 -0500 About the TeachTech Award CCNMTL). The 2007 TeachTech Award selection panel included: Gardner Dunnan, former Associate Provost for Special Projects, Columbia University; Ryan Kelsey, PhD, Associate Director, CCNMTL; Robbie McClintock, Professor of Communication, Computing, and Technology, Teachers College; Frank Moretti, Director, CCNMTL and Professor of Communication and Education, Teachers College. The International Organization of Laboratory and University Affiliated Schools (formerly the National Association of Lab Schools [NALS]) web site. ]]> http://teachtechaward.org/about_the_teachtech_award/ http://teachtechaward.org/about_the_teachtech_award/ Sun, 21 Oct 2007 15:37:54 -0500 Past Winners TeachTech Winners 2009 The School at Columbia "Integrated Robotics Curriculum" Proposal submitted by Lisbeth Uribe, et al. Falk School "Gigapan School Exchange" Proposal submitted by Barbara Bianco

TeachTech Winners 2008

University High School, Normal, Illinois "Bringing the Arthurian Legend into the 21st Century" Proposal submitted by Kathleen Malone Clesson Burris Laboratory School, Muncie, Indiana "Dynamic Individual Education Plan" Proposal submitted by Emily Funk and Christy Wauzzinski The School at Columbia, New York, New York "Stories in Motion" Proposal submitted by Lauren Pemberton and Cheryll Hajjar

TeachTech Winners 2007

Institute of Child Study, Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, Toronto "Long Jump Ahead" Proposal submitted by Richard Messina and Benjamin Peebles Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto "Dynamic Individual Education Plan" Proposal submitted by Judith Kimel and Richard Reeve The School at Columbia "Poetry, Music and a Garage Band" Proposal submitted by Kate Chechak ]]> http://teachtechaward.org/past_winners/ http://teachtechaward.org/past_winners/ homepage Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:23:03 -0500 Call for Submissions October 2009. No submissions will be accepted prior to that date. All proposals must be submitted via the TeachTech Award Proposal Form. All entries will become property of Columbia University. The project descriptions of the finalists and winner of the annual TeachTech Award will be made available to all NALS schools. Only faculty members at NALS schools or individual NALS members are eligible to apply. All qualified faculty members are urged to consider entering the 2009 awards program. Winners and finalists will be announced at the NALS Conference and will receive their prizes: $5,000 for winner and $500 for finalists.

Proposal Guidelines

All project proposals should include, in addition to basic information about the project, the following sections. Project Description Describe the classroom project that you are proposing for consideration. In what educational setting was the project deployed (e.g. sixth grade science, third grade integrated art and mathematics)? What are the learning objectives and pedagogical goals? What was the project's duration? Provide a brief "use case" scenario--that is, a description of how the project was experienced from the perspective of a student or teacher from the beginning to the end. What were the activities in which the participants were involved? In what way did the students' experiences prepare them for independent exploration of technology? You may include demonstrations of student work emphasizing the achievement of the pedagogical goal. It may be in the form of schematic, flow chart, screen diagram, or link a video or other supplemental materials such as an appendix. Although this is not an absolute requirement, you are strongly encouraged to include it electronically. Project Rationale What opportunities, challenges or problems -- educational and/or technological -- did this project address? Why might this project be of value to teachers and/or students in other classrooms at other schools? What is the generic approach of incorporation of this technology in pedagogy in settings other/ different than yours (for e.g. if your project is targeted towards a fifth grade mathematics class, can it be adapted to a seventh grade history class, and how)? How did you measure the effectiveness of the educational value of the project? Project Inspiration What experiences and/or ideas led to your design and implementation of this project? Were there any similar or analogous projects that you investigated when designing your project? If so, how did it benefit your study? What technologies or technological concepts helped contribute to your project's design? Project Implementation Provide a detailed description of the technologies that were used to implement your project. Why were these technologies selected as opposed to other alternatives? What were the complications -- expected and unforeseen -- faced by the participants (students and teacher/s) during the implementation of the project? How were these overcome? Was the implementation seriously affected by any of these? Questions regarding the grant may be directed to ccnmtl-teachtech@columbia.edu.]]> http://teachtechaward.org/call_for_submissions/ http://teachtechaward.org/call_for_submissions/ Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:56:21 -0500 Funder Acknowledgement The TeachTech is generously funded by private donors. http://teachtechaward.org/funder_acknowledgement/ http://teachtechaward.org/funder_acknowledgement/ Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:55:02 -0500