Generation YES Comes to Socorro

Students Will Be Trained to Assist with Technology Integration

On Monday, Dec. 1, at 6:00 PM, NMSU’s Regional Educational Technology Assistance (RETA) webinar presentations for 2008 will conclude with Copyright III … Copyright Townhall. The two previous webinars about copyright laws investigated the many challenges facing educators in selecting audio, video, digital and printed materials for classroom instruction. This week’s webinar is an informal get-together for all educators to meet and share copyright questions and answers. Specific questions and examples are welcome.

You can access the previous copyright webinars, Copyright for Educators I and Copyright for Educators II from the webinar archives.

RETA’s webinar page includes its Webinar Series schedule for Spring 2009. In an effort to offer more content to technology-hungry educators, RETA is offering webinars on both Monday and Thursday evenings. The Spring webinars (beginning with iMovieon Thursday, January 22) promise to be extremely exciting, engaging and informative.

The Tech Team is pleased to announce the inauguration of Generation YES at Socorro Consolidated Schools. The YES in the program’s title is an acronym for Students and Educators Succeeding. GenYES is an innovative program that creates 21st century leaders and learners. GenYES students help teachers use technology in classrooms, supporting effective technology integration school-wide. Eleven years of research proves GenYES empowers students and changes the way teachers integrate technology in their lessons.

This program promises to be a favorite among students but, more importantly, it is an ideal mechanism for giving students the technology opportunities that they crave. Michael Torres of AIM High School will be leading the implementation of this project with his middle school students. There are two essential components to GenYES. First, selected students will receive instruction and training in the many aspects of classroom technology. While the trial run will begin with a somewhat small class of 15, other teachers interested in either developing a GenYES class or providing opportunities for the GenYES students will be welcome.

Generation YES has supplied SCS with a complete curriculum … one that includes full lesson plans, documents, assessments and impressive digital content. Socorro High School has already been set up with the SHS Generation YES page that has several special features for students (including a Wiki and individual student blogs). It is our hope that GenYES can also be implemented later in Spring 2009 as one of the very first completely online (distance learning) courses at Socorro High School.

However, training students in classroom technology is only the first step. Once the students are trained, they will participate in the TAP. The acronym TAP stands for Technology Assistance Program. While School Dude will remain our primary mechanism for technology work orders, teachers and school-based administrators can request classroom technology assistance through the SHS Generation YES page. Until advised otherwise, please continue to use School Dude for all technology requests … we will make an announcement when you can submit a TAP.

Based on the complexity of the request, the TAP will either be assigned to a student or a technologist. The requests assigned to students could range from simple (i.e., replacing a bulb in an overhead projector) to complex (software training). Generation YES is a powerful tool that empowers both teachers and students. This innovative, leading-edge program has been purchased by school districts, schools and libraries across the country, but comes to Socorro FREE, thanks again to the great folks at RETA and the Open Light Partnership.

For more information, or if you would like to participate, please contact the Tech Team