The Wire
The Educon Effect: Give the Mouse Network Your Projects
On January 28th, 2008 by Anonymous
This weekend I learned why every student should learn how to program, how teachers are developing their own personal networks for professional development, how identity online changes our lives in the real world, took a guided tour of second life and shadowed a warrior in Warcraft. All the while I was tweeting (microblogging) about what I was hearing and am still trying to make sense of it all. Here's a short list of what I've taken away for Mouse.
The endless stream of web technologies provide new and exciting opportunities for project-based learning. Whether the project is a short story written by students around the globe using Twitter or connecting kids with Free and Open Source Software projects so that they can hone their programming skills there are a dizzying array of ways to tap into student interests, have fun and learn along the way.
Project based learning is challenging to do in school systems dedicated to raising test scores but possible and most important--worth the effort. In short, because students learn and are excited about learning. Mouse Squad and MouseCORPS are all about project based learning. Bring a group of students together with a committed educator and work at solving the school's technology problems. We've enshrined these ideals in our curriculum but it reminded me that much depends upon our faculty advisors and students--on your interests, desires and of course, you have to get it done in a cramped school day.
Mouse Squad and its student-led help desk model offers a process for involving students in solving the inevitable problems that arise when schools work to integrate technology in the classroom. A concern that I've heard when I'm in the field is from Faculty advisors who are unsure about what to do with their Mouse Squads. This weekend got me thinking that the Mouse community would do well to create an project cookbook and index.
What might this cookbook look like? It might begin with a story of a project that you and your Mouse Squad completed. Did you refurnish a lab? Find a better way to do Smartboard training for teachers? Produce a podcast? My guess is that your projects exceed my imagination and that your ideas will inspire others. So I am asking you to take some time to stop, reflect upon an activity that worked well or had promise and share it with others here in the Mouse Squad community. So here's a challenge to the Mouse Squad Community--let's get 15 project ideas posted by February 15th. Every Squad that participates will get profiled on MouseSquad.org.
Looking forward to your ideas.
PS - have a blog? We'd like to link to you from our website--send us the link, tag it for:mousenyc in del.icio.us or send an email to help at mail.mousesquad.org. We'll get some some traffic and help make your site more of a conversation.
