By Karen Snedeker
Presently, I teach math and technology at San Lorenzo Valley Middle School. We are a small district in the big redwoods North of Santa Cruz, California. I have a diverse background including teaching Social Science, Language Arts, computer technology and math to students ranging from 6th grade through high school, including many years in alternative and continuation high school in Orange County. This summer, I am working as a Teacher in Residence at SRI International with the CIRCL team through an Ignited Summer Fellowship.
As a technology teacher, I am constantly on the lookout for contemporary topics for my students to research and then post their opinions in our class; I promise that Digital Promise blog is an inspiring site to spark anyone’s interest because most blogs include student testimonies. At the end of each article, readers are invited to leave a comment or email address to receive future updates. You can click “search this site” at the top and “start typing” your topic. Or alternatively, you can browse the categories and see topics specific to a specific audience. For example, I might have my students look at the blogs that are categorized for the “Student Audience” to research a specific subject such as math or science. Students can browse suggested articles relevant to them including “What Causes Mind Blanks During Exams?” a weakness that often prevents quality students from being successful in traditional education.
360 Filmmakers Challenge using VR might spark an interest with teen intrigued by creating with advanced media. Another topic that combines leadership development and the ever growing need to address technical issues on a school campus is how “Students take the lead with technology in their school.” After reading this article, fellow CIRCLEducator blog contributor Sarah Hampton commented, “Authentic school need + students learning valuable skills = win-win” As an educator, I may direct students on a specific topic, yet my joy will be to see what each individual discovers on his/her own time within the safe and inspiring environment that the Digital Promise Blog resides. The next step may be to motivate students to develop their own blog through research and writing about interesting topics in a similar style discussed by Digital Promise (as in 360 Filmmakers Challenge Stories: “Breaking Barriers”).
Our district is considering transforming some of our library space into a Makerspace. I searched Digital Promise “Categories” and found 20 articles on “Maker Learning” and 9 under “Makerspaces” that focus on research that will be of interest to my school librarian. I read several articles including How a Middle School Library Promotes Maker Learning for All Students that features a video interviewing both students and adults from Greer, South Carolina. I adore this quote from the article, “I also noted the shift from students as consumers to students creating information and ideas. I think it’s fascinating how libraries are iterating from merely being repositories of information to incubators of creativity and making.” The video enhances the article as well as inspires the reader to want to integrate a Makerspace within their own school. A Primer on Maker Learning: Agency and “A Primer on Maker Learning and How You Can Get Involved” both include Maker language, school examples, and valuable links, including how to sign up for the Nationwide “MakerPromise.org” for schools that ready to make the commitment and discover valuable resources and information. Since MakerSpace is a recent trend across our nation, the Digital Promise Blog post can help districts, administrators, librarians, teachers, students, and those involved with the physical and cognitive shift necessary to integrate effective MakerSpace into the core of their school.
Final Thoughts
I also searched in the domains of mathematics and science and found some nice things, but I will save those for later. After pre-reading this article, Rebecca Doty, teacher at San Lorenzo Valley Middle School noted, “It definitely got me looking at Digital Promise. It does seem like a great resource that I could also get lost in for hours…or days.”
I look forward to spending more time within Digital Promise and will definitely share this online resource with others in my school district as well as have my students discover some exciting topics to spark their own sense of learning. Leave me a comment and let me know if you spend some time with the Digital Promise site and what you find that you like!