Service Learning - December 1st

This week in service learning we had a lot of fun with the teachers and students. The teachers have been very interested in Skype and the school finally got web cams, so we helped them install them and get the program up and running. In our prep session before going to the school, my co-manager and I taught our students how to install and use Skype. The biggest obstacle while doing this was the middle school's bandwidth. Skype needs a good internet connection in order to run and play audio/video well, but the schools network seemed to struggle when using Skype. However, when we did get it working the middle school students, along with the teachers, were very enthusiastic and entertained by using Skype between classrooms. The school was limited to only two web cams, but fortunately all of the people in my program brought their laptops so they were able to lend them to the students to let them see what Skype was all about.

Service Learning - November 24th

This week in service learning was the culmination of all of our tutorials and presentations that we have made. These presentations were mentioned and linked to in my post on my November 3rd. My students presented their work to the class of the teachers that they have been working about. The original intention was to do this in the beginning of the semester so that the students could use these tool in there course projects. Unfortunately, things did not work out that way and it was pushed back to this later date. The good news though is that the teachers really liked the presentations and the students seemed to have a positive response to the material presented. The blogger tutorial that I created will be used by one of the teachers once the permission slips were received.

End of Semester Reflection - November 16

On November3rd, we held our end of semester reflection. During this session we gathered all our students from the different days of service and looked back at all that we achieved, along with the failures of this new Service Learning Program. First, the head managers of all of service learning held a presentation that covered some impressive facts about this semester's service learning such as how it is the largest student program and campus. A slide show was then played that consisted of photos of students at their service learning locations along with their community partners. Quotes of Bentley students in the program were also integrated into the presentation that showed how service learning impacts both Bentley students and the community partners.
After the head managers presentation we broke off into our separate service learning groups. Within our cluster challenge group we asked each student to say something they learned about Web 2.0. Each student surprisingly had unique things to talk about. Some of which i hadn't even heard of before. Despite the many problems throughout this semester it was very gratifying to know that our students were able to take something away from the program. After that exercise we broke the class up into groups and had them write down a few positive and negative things that we later discussed and kept for use to improve the program next semester. Overall this semester went really well so far and we still have 2 more days of service left!

November 3rd and 10th Service Learning.

November 3, 2009

This week we met with Sandra Roby the Director of Instructional Technology/Library Media. The purpose of this meeting was to get the program back on track. As I have talked about in previous posts, it has been a bit of a struggle getting this program up and running. A lot of the problems come from poor teacher participation and an unclear definition of what Bentley University Service Learning Students are at the Middle School for. One of the resources that we talked about at this meeting is the Cluster Challenge Wiki.

This wiki services a repository of information about web 2.0 tools for both teachers and students. Since a wiki is never really ever “finished” it is hard to say when this wiki is nearing completion. However, now that people have started inputting information into the wiki it is starting to become an excellent source of information about Web 2.0. In the following weeks we will assign each of our students a web 2.0 tool and have them add to the wiki. A key factor to web 2.0 is collaboration and by getting the Bentley students in my program to participate in the wiki, it will give them a better understanding of what web 2.0 is. My students have also created their own Blog and posted some of the tutorials and work that they have done to it. These will serve as presentations for the students at the middle school. Another one of me students created a short presentation to give to the class he works with because the teachers want Bentley students to inform the middle school students about web 2.0 tools to use for their Ancient Rome course projects.

The tutorial i have been working on is a step by step walk through of how to create a blog using blogger. You can view this Here. Another class is using a home building program. Through this program the students create a house from the ground up and then try to sell it. For their final "auction," we are suggesting they use Voicethread. By using this tool, students can upload pictures of their home along with information and then other students can leave their bids for the home around the picture. This is both interactive and fun for the students.

Summary of Service Learning as of October 26th 2009

Things have been a bit slow while getting the Cluster Challenge Program up and running. A big part of the success of Service Learning is communication with your community partners. Unfortunately, communication hasn’t been the best and in the beginning visits to the high school, we basically had nothing to do in relation to web 2.0. Now that the channels of communication have finally been established, real improvements in the program have been taking place.

On our first visit to Kennedy High School, we were presented, along with the middle school students, the course project that we would be assisting on. Before the next visit to the High School, my co-project manager and I taught our Bentley Students about Web 2.0 and gave them examples of things that are web 2.0 such as blogs and wikis. After we instructed them on how to use a variety of these applications, we went to the high school. During this visit we worked with the middle school students and helped them find ways of implementing web 2.0 tools in their projects. For example, instead of making a diary on old fashioned paper they could use a blog, or instead of making a poster board they could use Glogster (web 2.0 application for creating digital posters).

To help the middle school students learn how to use blogs, I created a step by step guide of how to create a blog and make posts to it. The teachers will use this tutorial as a guide for them, and also for their students. Another project that two of my students is working on is creating a video tutorial with voiceovers to inform and illustrate how to use Glogster for the teachers and students.

Introduction!

The Bentley Service Learning Department consists of over 65 functioning programs each semester. The Computer Assistance Program allows Bentley Students to interact with multiple community partners in various ways by utilizing information technology.

As a sub-division of the Computer Assistance Program, The Web 2.0 Cluster Challenge Program has been designed for Bentley Students to assist teachers and students at the Kennedy Middle School that are part of the Cluster Challenge Program. Through the Cluster Challenge Program, students will be exposed to internet-technology that will enable them to further their learning in the classroom, such as the use of Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts. To incorporate these Web 2.0 tools, students will be using these tools as a main piece, or supporting part for their course project. For the students I am working with, their project is based on ancient Rome. Each group of students must make a creative presentation about things such as entertainment, art, architecture, music, military etc. For example, to track their progress or create a digital journal, students can use a blog or they can use glogster to create digital posters instead of creating an old fashioned poster board. My role is to facilitate creative thinking and help the teachers and students implement Web 2.0 tools into the student’s projects.