netTrekker Blog

netTrekker Hits the Hill

This week was an exciting one for the future of educational technology.  “The Future of Learning: How Technology is Transforming Public Schools,” the first in a series of Congressional hearings, was held on Capitol Hill to showcase the role that technology plays in improving education and student achievement.  Those of you who work with students every day are well aware, I’m sure, of the powerful impact technology has – especially when it comes to engaging students in the learning process.  And when they’re engaged – they learn, right?  Aren’t we all more active participants in whatever we’re doing or learning when we truly feel connected and engaged.  Technology is that key to making a connection with today’s digital students – and this was a great opportunity to get these points across loud and clear (we hope!) to policymakers and education leaders.

The hearing was followed by the “Bringing the Future of Learning to Schools Today” showcase where the policymakers and education leaders were able to see first hand how technology is transforming education.  They heard from educators and students about how technology is helping them in their classrooms every day.  And, companies who are dedicated to the mission of helping every student achieve with technology were also able to demonstrate what their solutions are doing to support students. netTrekker was honored to be invited to participate in this event and to share how we’re working to use technology and digital resources to support differentiated instruction to help every student learn.

This video from the hearing explains what Delaware is doing with technology and why it’s so important to keep educational technology as a top priority in improving education.

If you had the chance to speak with these important decision makers on Capitol Hill, what would you tell them about why technology in education is so important?

Tags: Capitol Hill, congress, educational technology, netTrekker

St. Patty’s Day

One of my favorite days to celebrate, St. Patrick’s Day, is coming up next week on March 17th. According to U.S. Census Bureau 2009 release, there are 36.5 million U.S. residents who claim to be of Irish Ancestry. This is 32% of our total population. It’s the second highest reported ancestry, with Germany being number one.  Now as a daughter of an Irish father and an Italian mother, I was shocked by this number. I would have expected Italy or England to be #1.

But I digress. I want to share with you more than just confounding numbers! I want to share some ideas for St. Patrick’s Day. After all, this green holiday is coming up next week!
I searched the elementary netTrekker tab and found  28 resources for “St. Patrick’s Day”. I selected the BBC  (British Broadcast Corporation) site that had an interactive book about St. Patrick. I learned something new! In all my 35 years, I don’t once remember being told that there never were snakes in Ireland to begin with and that the snakes were more a symbolic reference to other evils. As someone who is terrified of snakes, I’m now ready to move to Ireland.

Of course I didn’t stop there, I went on to learn more about the festivities and how they got started in America, the reason for the shamrock association, and many more interesting trivial facts. The reason we wear green, pinch each other, drink green beverages or enjoy corned beef and cabbage became lost from the original purpose of the holiday.

Some ideas for the classroom:

• Have students write 3 facts of St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations or St. Patrick the person on a 3 leaf clover, listing one fact on each leaf.
• Students can write a limerick about St. Patrick’s Day.
• Create an Inspiration (or other diagram) comparing the traditional St. Patrick’s Day festivities to today’s festivities.
• Print out a map (you can find these in netTrekker d.i.) and track St. Patrick’s journey from Britain to Ireland and his trek afterwards. Add facts for each trek, such as when he was kidnapped into slavery and when he escaped.
• Introduce other Irish symbols or characters, such as leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold, and blarney stones.  Have students create a PhotoStory about one of these symbols, the myth, the truth behind the myth and how they are thought of today.

Of course, netTrekker d.i. has all the resources to find the information and background on each of these projects. I would love to hear how you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day –just make sure it’s a way that we can share with the kids.