I just checked out the Russell Street School blogs. They are incredible! I was especially impressed with the variety of posts found on this school site, as well as the amount of freedom given to teachers and students, especially in the area of design.
When I first entered the school's main blog, I found everything from school news to a fantastic "Street Talk" video created by students to a cartoon math problem to numerous links to more information about the school, class pages and more! What a great way to be introduced to a school! From just this one page, I felt like I had been teleported straight to Australia. Without reading the scshool's purpose statement, I could feel its caring atmosphere and emphasis on developing well-rounded students who are prepared for the 21st century.
Class sites were just as exciting to visit, as were those of individual students. For example, the student sites of Room 9 ("Cloud 9") included photos of class activities and student artwork, videos, quizzes created on Quiz Revolution, reflections, answers to teacher prompts and more. Although students seemed to be required to follow the same format, each child was given the opportunity to design his own blog site and add a personal touch to his blog. The opportunity to share beyond the realm of their class or school and potentially obtain feedback from others around the world was fantastic! I was so excited to see this that I left feedback myself for one of the students...
It is obvious that Russell Street School definitely spends time doing much more than technology. The students spend time learning basic subjects (i.e. math, a space unit), participating in sports, participating in fine and performing arts, and more. I am curious to find out more about when they fit the technology component into the school day. Are cameras always around to document every move they make? Is there a special elective class that produces Street Talk videos or is it rotated amongst all students in the school to do on their own "free" time? How and when are students taught basic technology skills? Does the staff feel that they are lacking time to teach other subjects due to the school's strong emphasis on technology skills?
Finally, why did Russell Street decide to use the blogging format? Why not a wiki or a school LMS? How did they manage to get parental permission to post all that they have up in a public place?
Even with all my questions, I cannot help but applaud Russell Street School for what it is doing and where it is going. WOW! What an awesome place.
Susan, I can answer some of these questions for you.
ReplyDelete1. Are cameras always around to document every move they make?
There were about a half dozen digital classrooms that were very well equipped and technology was simply there and available and integrated into everything that the students did. It was seamless. Each year, one new digital classroom is added so that as the first digital class moves through the school they always have access to the tools they have become accustomed to using. Eventually, all of the classes will be digital classrooms, this was just a way to do it economically without breaking the bank.
Beyond the digital classrooms, there were two or three computer labs and two or three laptop carts for the other classes to use. If you look at all of the different classes, you'll see some differences between the level of blogging (and technology use in general) from a digital classroom (like Room 9) and some of the non-digital classrooms. This is not to say that the non-digital classrooms are disadvantaged when it comes to technology. Only that they have to specifically schedule it because there isn't enough in their classrooms all of the time.
2. Is there a special elective class that produces Street Talk videos or is it rotated amongst all students in the school to do on their own "free" time?
My understanding was that it was a single class (i.e., Room 9) that was responsible for it. I believe it was done both during school time and on their own time (e.g., they showed me a segment on the cross guards and obviously the video for that would have been shot in the morning before school or during recess or lunch). I'm not sure about the hosting (i.e., the video of the two hosts) or the editing, although my gut tells me that it was on their own time (which may mean I was told that, but I can't say for sure).
3. How and when are students taught basic technology skills?
From the day they walked into school. My understanding was that technology is introduced to students from the beginning and the same way we teach kindergarten students to write and sit and listen and play with each other and to put their work in a specific spot, Russell Street add to type and operate the basics of a computer and save a file, etc.. As they progress through the system, in the same way your students become more sophisticated learners, Russell Street students become more sophisticated digital learners.
[I had to post this as two comments because of the length.]
ReplyDelete4. Does the staff feel that they are lacking time to teach other subjects due to the school's strong emphasis on technology skills?
No, because they aren't teaching technology. They are using technology to teach all of the other subjects. I should mention that unlike the United States, New Zealand doesn't have a standards-based system that is measured by punitive state-wide testing. There is a national curriculum that has competencies that students must achieve, but how the students get there is largely left to the individual schools. Russell Street and its staff have made the conscious decision to use technology as that medium (and it is really a medium for them, not a subject).
5. Finally, why did Russell Street decide to use the blogging format? Why not a wiki or a school LMS? How did they manage to get parental permission to post all that they have up in a public place?
When they made the decision blogging platforms were just becoming the VERY user friendly platforms that you are accustomed to, it allowed the students to have individual tools (whereas a wiki is really designed to be a group tool), and they were able to customize it to the level they wanted as an educational organization. In terms of parental permission, all parents sign a permission form. The less than ten that haven't (and I think the actual number was six or seven), the blogs for those students have the permissions set so that only the student, their classmates, the teacher, and their parents even see their blog (i.e., you wouldn't have seen them in the list that you looked at). In the group activities, the teachers simply have to make sure that these students aren't on air personalities in the videos and that they faces aren't shown in pictures.
Hope this answers some of your questions...
Copying my previous blog onto this site:
ReplyDeleteChristina D. says:
July 11th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Walk the walk, talk the talk! Love the catchy phrase. You send a strong, speedy message that communicates clearly to your readers about the green house effect. You’ve done a great job by not inundating your readers with information that s/he would likely ignore and see as less important, but instead you challenged your audience’s attention with a message that was catchy and fun.
Sorry, still not good at using Blogger compared to WordPress. When I visited the site: http://www.russellst.school.nz/?p=3044, I was privy to watch the video about children learning the basics about basic subjects, while integrating technology. The children that displayed familiarity with the technology on hand presented a great understanding of the natural world and their surrounding environments. The experience that the students displayed on the YouTube sample, provides an example of how students digitally learn, such as Quiz Time, Statistics for Go-Kart Races (Boys Win!!), and Fitness Education is just to name a few of how information can be shared rapidly and follow up answers to the quizzes. This is one example of how students can rapidly share information with one another to teach digital knowledge about selected subjects.
ReplyDeleteChristina, are you trying to comment on Susan's blog entry or create an entry of your own? If you're trying to comment on Susan's entry, than you've done it right.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if you were trying to create your own entry, you need to accept the invitation to join the blog that I sent. Then you should be able to go to http://www.blogger.com and login to this blog using that account information (i.e., the one you accept the invite from). Then simply click on NEW POST and it will be similar to WordPress.
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ReplyDeleteThanks, Michael, for answering all my questions about Russell Street School. They are truly doing wonderful things and the way that they integrate technology into everything they do in a seamless manner is fantastic! You are very lucky to have had the opportunity to visit their campus and see them in action.
ReplyDeleteWhen I mentioned basic technology skills, I refer to things like keyboarding and video editing skills. I agree that these skills can and should be taught through subject matter, and not as stand alone skills, but they still need to be taught and this takes time...
Although most rewarding, projects that involve a technology learning curve for students tend to take longer to complete than those that do not. Not all teachers are willing to give up the time for this. It is wonderful to see that those who work at Russell Street are, and that they more easily can than their American counterparts who need to deal with more State enforced demands.