1+Overview

//__Overview:__//
//1. Provide a one page summary of the project or initiative being proposed for the 2008 National Best Buy Teach Award.//

"Students can either be passive receivers of media messages or they can be digital content creators and critical thinkers." - Matthew Needleman, (credential)

The use of technology still lags in Shawnee Mission schools. Many students have the technology at home to create videos and post on social networking sites such as the popular MySpace, YouTube, and Facebook, but schools are not using this technology to create curricular-aligned student-driven projects. School districts and teachers need to adapt as technology evolves and use this new digital media to excite, interest, and best meet the needs of this first generation of students born into a digital world. While the school district provides diverse instruction for multi-cultural students and students with special needs, it is the district's duty to provide equipment and instruction to close the digital divide. While students currently have access to computers with software, such as PowerPoint and Microsoft Word, at school, they are unable to expand their creativity and skills to other applications without enrolling in a specialized media course. Additionally, teachers will use this technology to facilitate a variety of assessment techniques to best measure the student's learning of subject matter.

With this grant, Shawnee Mission School District will develop a series of technology-driven student-centered projects which encourage students to be productive creators rather than passive receptors of information. Each student, regardless of economic status, will be able to enter the digital world by accessing digital cameras and video camcorders in the classroom. The integration of this digital equipment will have many applications within the classroom, and its many benefits for the individual student will be apparent in the renewed energy and focus on learning.

The technology program the district will implement involves the three tiers of the educational structure: elementary, middle, and secondary. This digital plan is increasingly complex at each level. At the elementary level, students will become aware of technology in our world through a variety of integrated activities. Students will use digital cameras and scanners to capture still images and create projects using much of the software currently available on existing district computers. At the middle school level, students will explore concepts of technology through a variety of student-centered experiences. These experiences includes the integration of both digital cameras and video camcorders. In addition, students will begin using microphones and audio programs to enhance these projects. At the high school level, students will investigate a variety of applications of technology and apply technology in all content areas. All students will have access to digital cameras, video camcorders, and fully-equipped editing bays. Having learned key photo and video skills at the elementary and middle levels, students will develop more advanced projects on editing programs that include special effects, animation, and the seamless integration of other media. Students will complete the process by publishing their works on DVD or producing a podcast. This publication will be viewed by fellow students, parents, and community members, giving students authentic assessment of their multi-media projects.

The goal is for Shawnee Mission School District to educate and prepare all students to live, learn, and work successfully in an increasingly complex and information-rich society.

ORIGINAL MATERIAL > //Our goal is to expand on the outcomes identified in Shawnee Mission Northwest English teacher Lindsay Kincaid's $10,000 Best Buy Teach Award application. We would like to replicate her plan to the other high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools in our district. We plan to provide each secondary school with one video camera, web camera, microphone, tripod, mini-pro roller bag, transfer/capture software and hardware, multiple storage devices including CD/DVD and flash drives, and some i-Pods. We would provide similar access to our 35+ elementary schools by purchasing 15 each of the above items, available through check-out from the district staff development department upon completion of the required training.// > > Training classes would be taught by staff development and teacher mentors, funded by the school district. Teachers would have the opportunity to learn to use the equipment supplied by Best Buy, discuss educational applications, and develop a lesson plan to utilize the equipment. Elementary teachers would be able to check out the equipment upon completion of the class and secondary schools would have them on site. > > This initiative would also allow us to expand our staff development courses so staff could log in from any internet access point to take part in valuable staff development. This would reduce the amount of time teachers are out of the classroom, yet increase the amount of staff development opportunities. Staff could download podcasts, view streamed videos, participate in live webcasts, etc. This increased teacher learning would also unltimately impact student learning. > > > At all levels, students will be able to reach a wider audience though videoconferencing, podcasting, or publishing on CD/DVD. (this changes the focus of the overview - maybe put in later?) >
 * There were a total of 22.4 billion views of User Generated Content (UGV) in 2007, including professional, semi-professional and partner channel video views on UGV sites
 * The market grew by an estimated 70% in 2007, up from a total 13.2 billion views generated in 2006
 * The UGV video segment is made up of several top tier brands which capture large chunks of viewing share, particularly **//YouTube//** and MySpace, as well as many second and third tier sites that contribute significantly to overall market vibrancy "User Generated Video 2005 - 2008: Mania Meets Mainstream," __M2PressWIRE__, Jan 16, 2008
 * "The number of new videos uploaded daily on YouTube.com jumped from 20,000 in the beginning of 2006 to 65,000 in the beginning of 2007. iTune usage grew 47.5% in 2006 alone. 9.2 million Americans have downloaded a podcast; 5.6 millioin download video." Point of Disconnect: Internet Traffic and the U.S. Communications Infrastructure, by Michael Kleeman, __International Journal of Communications__, 2007. [|http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/207/106