Student Technology Projects that Demonstrate Learning!

This was a full week of interaction with amazing

teachers who shared projects their students created that inspired innovation and met standards. ISTE standard 1: "Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology." ISTE standard 2: "Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively..." using technology.
Between Tech EDGE 16, TEC21, 
EdCampOmaha, and my 880J UNL graduate course, I was privileged to collaborate with teacher leaders who are integrating technology in their classrooms in meaningful ways. Let me share just a few of them with you in hopes that they may stimulate ideas for you as you encourage your students to communicate their learning using multimedia.

One teacher has his students planning the perfect vacation! Students were allowed $4,500.00 to plan their dream vacation. The teacher created a template with links to guide students' research for best dates, flight, hotel, cab, restaurants, and activities. Students calculated the cost of each item for each day of the vacation. Then they used Google Tour Builder to create the vacation and view these locations at street level. This inquiry project required critical thinking on the part of students using technology to take them virtually to the locations of their dreams, going far beyond a hand-written paper.

Two kindergarten teachers from different schools connect their classes weekly via FaceTime to study vocabulary. They use the Mystery Skype format with one class asking yes/no questions to guess the vocabulary word. That class continues asking questions as long as they get "yes" answers to their questions. When they get a "no", it's the other class's turn to try to figure out what the "mystery word" is. This collaborative exercise helps young children see the possibilities of learning in 21st century schools that extend beyond the walls.

In TEC21 one week we experiment with virtual fieldtrips, YouTube 360 videos, and green screens, the next week teachers share examples of how they used these tools with their students! One teacher ordered a Google Cardboard and signed her class up for a virtual fieldtrip to Tokyo, a city they were studying in their social studies unit on rural and urban. The fieldtrip sent them a free Google Cardboard app so students could explore Tokyo before they joined the virtual fieldtrip via video conference with other classrooms from around the world. Another teacher had her students create green screen videos using TouchCast in a talk show format discussing the Revolution from historical character points of view.

At EdCampOmaha I attended an innovative session on student presentations hosted by Eileen Heller and Tony Vincent. Teachers shared student project ideas including: collaborative presentations at Sway.com, Thinglink.com for students to create and post an avatar to which they connect the video or other project they made to demonstrate learning, and Masquerade (MSQRD app) that allows students to put masks on their video image to record themselves describing what they learned. Tony live recorded all teachers sharing their projects using Periscope which lasts for 24 hours, another great idea for the classroom!

Seeing teachers excited attending their first EdCamp, watching them realize that they have great technology ideas to share with other teachers, and listening to the way they are empowering students to be 21st century learners excites me! Let me know about student technology projects you are working on with your class!