Creating reflection activities for high school students working with technology

Abstract

At Quaker Valley High School in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, students participated in service-learning as part of Pennsylvania's Digital School District Initiative by creating public service announcements that address the topic of the digital divide. During the project, students kept online journals and then created a website showcasing outcomes, thoughts, and feelings. This effective practice was shared by Stephanie D. Gundry of AmeriCorps*VISTA and the Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance at the 2002 National Conference on Community Volunteering and National Service in Salt Lake City, June, 2002.

Issue

Looking for new, creative, and effective types of reflection activities for high school students working with technology.

Action

Sixteen students from the greater Pittsburgh area (eight students from Quaker Valley High School, four students from Peabody High School, and four students from Wilkinsburg High School) created digital video public service announcements (PSAs) focusing on digital divide issues.
Students were brought together for the project through the efforts of the AmeriCorps*VISTA, Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance.
Students from Peabody High School and Wilkinsburg High School met at Quaker Valley School to work on their projects.
Quaker Valley High School received a federal grant that enabled all students to be given a laptop for this project, equipped with software and wireless Internet connectivity.
Students were supervised and guided by the Service-Learning Center Director at Quaker Valley High School.
The PSAs focused on different issues relating to the "digital divide." Each student addressed the subject using a different approach. For instance, some answered the question, "What is the digital divide?" Another student offered solutions about how to address the issue. Each PSA was approximately one minute in length.
Concurrently, the students gathered ideas they would later use on a website — the creation of which they knew would come at the completion of creating the PSAs. This could be compared to keeping an online journal, and allowed for reflection to be ongoing during the project. This ongoing reflection activity enabled the students to learn something meaningful during each aspect of the service-learning project.
At the completion of the service-learning component, the students created a website detailing their service-learning project outcomes and their thoughts and feelings about the project.
The sixteen students worked together on design, content and other issues affecting the website, making the reflection a valuable learning experience in addition to the service-learning component.
A similar reflection activity could be duplicated, even if students did not have laptops, as long as they have daily access to a computer.

Context

The State of Pennsylvania enacted Pennsylvania's Digital School Districts Initiative with the aim of "revolutionizing education through the use of technology." Through a competitive grant process, three school districts in the state were selected to become pilot participants. The selected schools are charged with such tasks as developing a new educational paradigm around technology and increasing student achievement as measured by the State of Pennsylvania's academic standards. Schools are also mandated to use their grant in part to help to bridge the digital divide in the community.

Quaker Valley, located in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh, is one of the three designated digital school districts. Quaker Valley High School is home to an active youth-driven Service-Learning Center, which is involved with Pennsylvania Service- Learning Alliance's (PSLA) Digital Divide Initiative. The Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance's Digital Divide Initiative (PDDI) is a youth-driven initiative to coordinate technology resources and assets for the community. Students, teachers, schools, community members, and local organizations all contribute to and benefit from the collaboration. The Pennsylvania Digital Divide Initiative is made possible through a Corporation for National and Community Service digital divide grant.

The Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance is the training and technical assistance provider for the Department of Education's Learn and Serve America Program in Pennsylvania. The PSLA is committed to bringing the service-learning methodology to urban, rural, and suburban public schools throughout Pennsylvania and helps teachers in Pennsylvania acquire the skills they need to successfully develop, implement, evaluate, and assess service-learning projects in the classroom. The PSLA has offices at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pennsylvania.

Outcome

The completed website was a great accomplishment in itself. It gave the students another tangible result of their project. The students had ownership over the project, and a simple means to share their experience with others.

Evidence

The students' attitudes and feelings toward service and service-learning improved. During the project the students looked forward to reflection, which often is not the case, and the reflection became meaningful to them, not "something they had to do."