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NetGen Education Testimonials
Eric Brunsell
Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin, Oshoki, Wisconsin, USA
I used this project with my pre-service teachers. These undergraduate students are all in school to become K-12 teachers. They participated as judges and expert advisors. It was a fantastic opportunity for my students to (1) learn about collaborative web tools, (2) participate in an inquiry project and (3) interact with K-12 students.
Reflections from my students:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMuNwSIyKaw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPMaoZty0cg
This project helped my students understand the power of using collaborative projects and immersed them in an innovative project that they can replicate or participate in when they have their own classrooms. Their participation was very valuable in terms of preparing them to teach in the 21st Century.
Reflections from my students:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMuNwSIyKaw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPMaoZty0cg
This project helped my students understand the power of using collaborative projects and immersed them in an innovative project that they can replicate or participate in when they have their own classrooms. Their participation was very valuable in terms of preparing them to teach in the 21st Century.
Clare Rafferty
Teacher, Ringwood Secondary College, Melbourne, Australia
For my students it was the best part of their school week. They loved having the opportunity to work with others around the world and even though the concepts of things like semantic aware stretched then and challenged them in ways they still can't believe. They went home and discussed their topics and involved their parents in the project too. This was the first time students had connected to others around the world in similar ways to what they do at home. They rushed to class, something year 10 students never do and they worked very well independently and taught each other. They loved working differently and every student was engaged in the project. Something that did not happen before the project.
The project really increased the effectiveness of the "research" component of my curriculum. Students were engaged in authentic research to answer real questions. Working with other students really motivated them in a way that I would never have been able to.
The project really increased the effectiveness of the "research" component of my curriculum. Students were engaged in authentic research to answer real questions. Working with other students really motivated them in a way that I would never have been able to.
Erin Hollowell
Teacher, Cordova Jr./Sr. High School, Cordova, Alaska, USA
The NetGen Ed Project really sparked a revolution in my school. First, our very isolated students got a chance to interact with other students from around the world. Second, the students really starting taking interest in their own education, and how it might be changed to be more relevant. Third, several of my students were recognized for their videos and it changed the way that they look at themselves.
The project really increased the effectiveness of the "research" component of my curriculum. Students were engaged in authentic research to answer real questions. Working with other students really motivated them in a way that I would never have been able to.
The project really increased the effectiveness of the "research" component of my curriculum. Students were engaged in authentic research to answer real questions. Working with other students really motivated them in a way that I would never have been able to.
Anne Mirtschin
Teacher, Hawkesdale P12 College, Hawkesdale, Victoria, Australia
The projects are effective. Students must communicate and work in groups, using discussion tools for asynchronous team work on the wikis. Project managers play an active role and the projects appear more effective, when these students encourage the teams to complete their tasks on the wiki.
Stress levels run high when the pressure of time commitments are imposed upon groups to finish their part of the wiki and then to complete their videos for final judging. Many extra lunchtime hours are spent in the lab or at home in order to complete them. Yet, once finished, students are proud to see their work up on line. Students who are successful in the video competition, burst with pride when they find out about their success. One quiet student who rarely excels in any subject, proudly tells any visitors to the class that she received a placing in the competition. A proud parent of another quiet achiever, ‘ran’ across the supermarket to tell me how wonderful it was for her daughter. She had also told most of the local community.
Students start to use some of the tools studied and their possible application to education in other classes. Storing their work in google docs means that students can be more efficient in proofreading, drafting and retrieving their work.
Global connections have been actively sought, for all my information and communications technology students from years 7 through to year 11. Being involved in the Flat Classroom projects has made me more highly skilled in using wikis, learning how to connect, communicate and collaborate more effectively and given me greater confidence to continue to find other projects for the younger year levels. The fabulous outcomes that I have witnessed from the flat classroom projects has inspired me to continue globalize with Skype, discoverE, live blogging and Voicethreads.
Stress levels run high when the pressure of time commitments are imposed upon groups to finish their part of the wiki and then to complete their videos for final judging. Many extra lunchtime hours are spent in the lab or at home in order to complete them. Yet, once finished, students are proud to see their work up on line. Students who are successful in the video competition, burst with pride when they find out about their success. One quiet student who rarely excels in any subject, proudly tells any visitors to the class that she received a placing in the competition. A proud parent of another quiet achiever, ‘ran’ across the supermarket to tell me how wonderful it was for her daughter. She had also told most of the local community.
Students start to use some of the tools studied and their possible application to education in other classes. Storing their work in google docs means that students can be more efficient in proofreading, drafting and retrieving their work.
Global connections have been actively sought, for all my information and communications technology students from years 7 through to year 11. Being involved in the Flat Classroom projects has made me more highly skilled in using wikis, learning how to connect, communicate and collaborate more effectively and given me greater confidence to continue to find other projects for the younger year levels. The fabulous outcomes that I have witnessed from the flat classroom projects has inspired me to continue globalize with Skype, discoverE, live blogging and Voicethreads.
John Langley (full blog post)
Teacher, Pleasant Plains High School, Pleasant Plains, Illinois, USA
The NetGen project culminated in the PPHS Student Summit. The Summit was an online web conference using Elluminate. The Summit was treated as a formal business web conference. Among those who attended the Summit were Honor Moorman and her class from San Antonio, Texas; Josh Piper and his class from Farmington, Illinois; Kim Caise, a NetGen veteran who stood by to assist if necessary; and Maureen Talbert, superintendent of Pleasant Plains School District. Each student prepared for the Summit by creating a slide that was displayed while he/she identified himself/herself, specified with which NetGen group he/she worked, and explained what he/she got out of the NetGen experience. After all students had given their presentations, the Summit was opened for questions from the audience.
My worry throughout was that I would not see the "light bulb" moment. However, the Summit provided that moment! The students and I were all excited and nervous on the day of our Student Summit. To add to the nervous excitement, we learned on the day of the Summit that a reporter from the State Journal-Register, Amanda Reavey, would be with us in the classroom.
I am proud of the manner in which the students spoke and text chatted in a professional manner. Not only did "light bulb" moments shine through during their individual presentations, but they also demonstrated proficiency in the concepts of the project during the question and answer segment of the Summit. Students fielded questions from the online audience by volunteering their answers either over the microphone or in the text chat area.
On Sunday, May 16, 2010, I was excited to see the article in the State Journal-Register titled "Speech Students in Program Study Benefits of Technology" written by Amanda Reavey. The students got much more news coverage for their project than I had anticipated.
In reflection, I am excited to see that the "light bulb" moment happened for almost all of the students. That made the process all worthwhile to them. I knew that they would eventually have the moment (sometimes the moment doesn't happen until well after the class is over), but I had hoped I would be able to be there when they connected, and I was rewarded with a surplus of "light bulbs."
My worry throughout was that I would not see the "light bulb" moment. However, the Summit provided that moment! The students and I were all excited and nervous on the day of our Student Summit. To add to the nervous excitement, we learned on the day of the Summit that a reporter from the State Journal-Register, Amanda Reavey, would be with us in the classroom.
I am proud of the manner in which the students spoke and text chatted in a professional manner. Not only did "light bulb" moments shine through during their individual presentations, but they also demonstrated proficiency in the concepts of the project during the question and answer segment of the Summit. Students fielded questions from the online audience by volunteering their answers either over the microphone or in the text chat area.
On Sunday, May 16, 2010, I was excited to see the article in the State Journal-Register titled "Speech Students in Program Study Benefits of Technology" written by Amanda Reavey. The students got much more news coverage for their project than I had anticipated.
In reflection, I am excited to see that the "light bulb" moment happened for almost all of the students. That made the process all worthwhile to them. I knew that they would eventually have the moment (sometimes the moment doesn't happen until well after the class is over), but I had hoped I would be able to be there when they connected, and I was rewarded with a surplus of "light bulbs."
