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Leadership
and Achievement through Technology Initiative:
Tech Camp prepares students to become peer mentors
 Ask
the students who attended STL Summer Camp why they were
there, and two common thoughts dominate the replies. “I like
computers,” and “I like to be able to help people.”
STL stands for Student Technology Leader, and the three-day
summer camp at HFM BOCES on Aug. 3-5 was conceived to help
prepare 18 tech-minded middle school students to become
classroom leaders.
The initiative is part of HFM BOCES’ Enhancing Education
through Technology program, designed to create technology
mentors among teachers and students in participating
schools. These digitally-savvy students hope to tutor fellow
students in technology-related projects, while assisting
their teachers in learning and using new technology as a
teaching tool. The program helps meet the federal goal that
all students will demonstrate technology literacy by the end
of eighth grade.
The second year of the summer camp had more of a home-grown
feeling to it, according to Dr. William Gokey, the
coordinator of the grant that funds the initiative.
“We had six local teachers facilitating the workshops here,”
Dr. Gokey said. “Last year we used consultants from GenYes,
the Washington-based company that is partnering with HFM and
WSWHE BOCES to facilitate the program.”
In addition to the HFM BOCES camp, a tech camp will take
place for a second group of 15 students at WSWHE BOCES.
The connection with GenYes remains evident. In addition to
providing student workbooks, the final day of the camp
featured an online Webinar with all the students and the
GenYes consultants.
Students teaching students
Another
change in Year Two was the presence in the camp of a veteran
from the previous year. Eighth grader Claire Sise, a student
at St. Mary’s Institute in Amsterdam, was invited to return
to camp to mentor the future mentors, and share her
experiences as a student technology leader.
It was a busy year for Claire, learning how to advise and
interact with students and teachers in the classroom, and
mastering new technology skills herself. The best part,
according to Claire, was teaching other students new things
with technology.
“It is cool to see the kid’s reaction when they learned
something, when they finally ‘get it,’” Claire said.
The camp agenda included hands-on movie making and exploring
the basics of computer programming through free educational
software called Alice.
Using 3-D graphics and a kid-friendly interface, Alice
teaches students about programming by allowing them to
create animations, videos and interactive games. The
intuitive interactivity of the projects teaches all the
basic constructs of production-oriented programming
languages such as Java and C++. The innovative software was developed
by a research team at Carnegie-Mellon University and is free
online at www.alice.org.
While
half the group created virtual worlds using Alice, the other
half grabbed camcorders and set to work creating their own
two-minute videos. Interviewing each other as subject
matter, the students then returned to the computer lab,
where Microsoft Movie Maker software allowed them to edit
their digital footage and manipulate it with additional
images, transitions and credits, and finally debut their
finished projects for the class.
As part of the camp, the students also talked about the
expectations and challenges of a student technology leader,
and discussed how to be a helpful resource for teachers
looking for ways to use technology as a teaching tool. Once
the camp was over, the students were certified as Student
Technology Leaders (STL), ready to assist teachers and their
peers in finding new ways to learn with technology.
Student
Technology Leaders are part of a state-wide network of
students committed to helping their schools prepare for a
world that uses more and more digital technology every day.
All middle school students in New York State will be
required to demonstrate their technology literacy by
completing two original, creative projects that involve
technology by the end of 8th grade. These technology
projects could fit into any subject area, or may relate to
several subjects. A student technology leader will assist
students in developing their ideas, and offer guidance in
carrying out the project. In addition, the STL will help
evaluate the projects to determine if they meet all the
requirements for certification.
For further information, contact HFM BOCES Assistant
Superintendent Dr.
Lorraine Hohenforst, or Coordinator of Instructional
Services Stacy Ward.
To learn more about the Enhancing Education through
Technology program, click
here. |
