Engage Pilot

Mr. Jenkins this year began using lessons from Common Sense Media, which cautions students to consider their online behavior before they get into trouble.

“We can’t make the awareness of Web issues solely person- and relationship-centered,” said Joseph Turow, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Children should learn things like what a cookie or a Web virus is, and how corporations profit from tracking consumers online, he said.

Financed largely by foundation money, Common Sense will offer a free curriculum to schools this fall that teaches students how to behave online. New York City and Omaha have decided to offer it; Denver, the District of Columbia, Florida, Los Angeles, Maine and Virginia are considering it.

Case Study 3: Honors Spanish in East Grand Rapids High School, MichiganKim Ibara is a French and Spanish teacher in Michigan. She descibes how she is using ipadio below:As a pilot classroom for our district 1:1 netbook program, I have been trying out many Web 2.0 programs with my high school students. I came across ipadio during a professional development seminar, and have found it to be an incredible resource! For example, in my Honors Spanish class, I have students record their oral exams on ipadio. I can listen to each exam at home and make notes in the comment box as the exam is playing. Because each file has its own URL, I can make this available to the students individually and they can read my comments as they listen again to their own exam, which gives them much more useful feedback than a simple verbal comment after they have finished speaking. They can also listen again later, and compare exams as the semester moves along to see their progress.I have also used ipadio as a brainstorming tool. In groups students discuss certain issues and record their thoughts using ipadio during the group discussion. I then access my ipadio site and have the whole class listen to each group's ideas, using this as a springboard for more discussion.The students are very comfortable with the technology, and they are very engaged in the process. There are several other teachers in my building who are beginning to use ipadio as well, and it will be exciting to see all the different applications!