Multimedia
Programs Expose Students to New Careers
By Linda Seida at Bridges.com
A lot of times, kids have their books packed way in advance
of the bell, looking like sprinters at a starting block. But
some teachers have the opposite problem. Their students are
actually begging for more time to finish their work.
How did those teachers pull off that
level of excitement? They stepped into the relatively new
arena of a multimedia classroom.
Their students are becoming intimately
acquainted with computers. The teens learn everything from
Web design, graphic design and video production to animation,
filmmaking and script writing.
"Teachers would be surprised by
the level of quality of many of the students -- not all, though.
Their dedication and drive to do an excellent job is quite
amazing," says Paul Doyle, a department head at a high
school.
"You don't often see this in other
areas. In fact, it is hard to get them out of the class sometimes!"
Some schools, such as New Technology
High School in Napa, California, actively seek to overlap
newly learned computer skills with other subjects. The kids
are responding with enthusiasm.
Multimedia instructors talk enthusiastically
about their success stories. Art Wolinsky, a retired teacher
from New Jersey who works as a staff developer, still recalls
one incident that happened about a decade ago.
"I had just loaded the project of
a student I'll call Max. His English teacher just happened
to walk into the room and saw Max's opening screen and said,
'Oh, Max. Getting a sentence out of him is like pulling teeth.'
I began clicking on the screen and watched the changes of
expression on the teacher's face as I moved through 20 screens
of text and pictures."
In Michigan, Joe Elliott's students are
knocking the socks off admissions officers. He teaches at
Henry Ford II High School in Sterling Heights. Even the bigwigs
behind Apple Computers are impressed with what his kids are
doing.
"I have been fortunate enough to
have taught a student in the visual arts system for the full
four years that he was at our high school. The growth and
learning factor for this student was off the charts,"
he says.
"He has completed the program well
above the other students and has authored a DVD digital portfolio
that is truly amazing. When he went to show it to colleges
for scholarship consideration, they had to ask people if they
could even view DVD at their school before accepting.
"Also, Apple Computers was very
interested in this because they are responsible for the technology
that allows high school students authoring capabilities. They
actually asked for a copy to show Steven Jobs [president of
Apple]."
None of these advancements come cheap.
Almost $7.5 million was doled out for public school computers
in 1998 alone, according to the New York Times. Instructional
technology for kindergarten through high school increased
$3 billion in six years starting in 1992, hitting $5 billion
before the end of the decade.
If you think only the best and brightest students benefit
from these changes, think again. Elliott notes that special
needs students also benefit from technology. "We have
experienced a breakthrough in communication with special education
students," he says.
"Our school system has a very strong
inclusion program for special education. All students are
afforded the opportunity to use the school technology as well
as take electives that might seem inhibiting to students of
special needs. The breakthrough has come in the students'
ability to communicate.
"Using the technology has opened
up an unbelievable ability for storytelling and creative writing."
Technology also motivates kids who are
borderline or poor scholars. "I have kids who are falling
through the cracks in regular studies come to school so that
they won't miss these classes," Elliott says.
"Some of the students have told
me that they enjoy using the technology more than sitting
in a room listening to a lecture. I tell them that they have
to pass their regular classes to stay in technology classes.
It drives those students."
All of these high points demand some
flexibility from teachers. Some of your students will know
more about the technology and software than you do. Others
will surpass you and leave you in the dust. Classroom time
will not be orderly.
Elliott describes such a class as organized
chaos.
"Most teachers aren't ready for
what it might take to run multiple forms of communication
and technology at the same time. Preparation and organization
are critical, but the true nature of multimedia is chaos under
control," he says.
Ferdi Serim spent 15 years as a technology
instructor in New Jersey schools. He now lives in New Mexico
and is the author of From Computers to Community: Unlocking
the Potential of the Wired Classroom. He also co-authored
NetLearning: Why Teachers Use the Internet. He serves as the
director of the Online Internet Institute and editor of the
magazine Multimedia Schools.
"The hardest project is your first
project," he says. "Learning in a digital age is
a team sport...so don't try this alone! There are many places
you can find help and partners."
The cost of keeping up to date is another
headache. "It is really a rather rewarding experience
in general to see students who genuinely enjoy working in
your class," says Tony VanderLee, a high school teacher.
"It can, however, be a bit daunting
in that you need to work hard at trying to keep up with the
latest software and techniques being used in the industry,"
he adds.
"It can be an uphill battle to try
to get the hardware and software that you need to do a decent
job as it can be quite costly, and once you get it, it is
even harder to try and stay current or keep up with trends
in multimedia, upgrades in software, repairs of equipment,
etc. It is, however, generally a very personally challenging
but rewarding and energizing experience."
At Eastview High School in Apple Valley,
Minnesota, textbooks are another issue. The multimedia program
doesn't use them. The nontraditional method seems to be working.
Newsweek named the school one of the top 500 in the U.S. in
2000.
Tyler Krebs, the school's video and multimedia
specialist, explains how he goes about instructing students
without a textbook.
"I need to sit down and learn the
software and then figure out how to teach it to my students.
I learn as much from them as they do from me," he says.
"They are given the freedom to explore
the software on their own. I often ask them how they did certain
steps and we work through the software together. You can't
pretend to be an expert because the students know so much."
What kinds of careers will these students
be prepared for? "Since the Internet has become so prevalent
in all fields, a person with Web design experience can work
almost anywhere," says Krebs.
"More specifically, these students
are getting a great foundation for a marketing or advertising
career. The most direct careers would be graphic arts, graphic
design, video production, animation and Web design."
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