Two WMS Students Win State-Wide Internet Safety Contest
Derek Hamar and Walker Rathke Impress with Their Video Public Service Announcement
Winners in the 2008 Attorney General-Educational Service Units Internet Safety Contest have been announced, and ESU #2 has its FIRST state-wide winner. The video public service announcement, created by Wahoo Middle School student’s Derek Hamar and Walker Rathke, carries the message that you can make a difference in digital citizenship.
Teachers Linda Walker and Ann Egr, along with Technology Coordinator Vicki Jones, worked with seventh graders as they created various projects to demonstrate the necessity of having digital citizenship skills. Discussion in the class focused on such topics as identity safety, cyber bullying and being a helpful citizen. Students storyboarded their ideas, wrote the script, set up the materials needed for filming, filmed the event, and then brought it back into the computer to edit the project to its final form. Having the students work with the concepts in so many different ways increases the retention and creativity of the students on the topic.
ESU Technology Trainer Rick Williams indicated that digital storytelling has a powerful impact on student learning. Research shows that to learn 80% of new information, people must “touch” the material at least 20 times. This method of combining digital tools, creative thinking and collaboration makes the “touching” of the material so much fun the students really don’t think of it as studying. It produces a much longer learning effect than just taking notes and doing worksheets. Students also increase the complexity of their learning by having to apply the new learning and create new projects rather than just recalling knowledge.
To view Hamar and Rathke's video message, go to www.esu2.org and click on the article: 2008 AG-ESU Internet Safety Contest Winners
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