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21S In Action

Middle School Students Use Technology to Document Hurricane Katrina Recovery

With digital and video cameras in hand, Harris Middle School students in Jefferson Parish set out in April to document Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Two busloads of students visited neighborhoods throughout the New Orleans area that were hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, such as Bucktown, Lakeview, Gentilly, the Upper Ninth Ward, and the Lower Ninth Ward.

Teachers Ruth Brewington, Suzanne Nugent, Laura Dauterive, Betsy Almerico, and Digital Opportunity Trust intern Holli Willis designed the field trip as a way to integrate technology and student-centered learning principles." This project aligns well with the Jefferson Parish Public School System's goal for delivering 21st century education to its students," said Cisco Fellow Marna Owen. "It requires students to be creative team players and employ multiple academic and technical skills. And the project is something they care about—rebuilding of local neighborhoods."

Students were organized into teams that focused on specific neighborhoods. Teams documented what they saw and learned by working on digital media projects, including podcasts, digital movies and slide presentations.

"This type of project-based learning inspires the students to be more creative and engaged and to collaborate with each other", explains Brewington.

"The students wanted to share stories from Katrina, the project was interesting to them, and they wanted to complete it before the end of the school year. They wanted to be involved. Students from other classes also wanted to get involved", said Dauterive.

Some students went above and beyond what was asked of them, such as James Siebert and Curtis Cunningham, who were not able to participate in the field trip but inspired other students by helping them understand what they could do with technology. Ryan Arcenaux contributed his artistic eye and Chris Bazile demonstrated leadership skills by acting as team captain of the bus.

In addition to learning new technical skills, Brewington believes that the students have more awareness about disaster preparedness, a better understanding of levees and flood planes, as well as acquired compassion for those who lost their homes and for those who continue to rebuild. Several students had not visited these neighborhoods since Katrina and were surprised by how much there is left to be done. "It looks like Katrina happened one week ago," commented one student.

Next year, Harris Middle School teachers plan to expand the program by adding a science component to incorporate weather and wetland protection and social studies to study socioeconomic and gentrification issues.

View one of the final projects, http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=755f5ddcea74d5488ec7.

21S Principles in Action

The Harris Middle School Katrina project reflects these principles of the Cisco 21S program:

• Align pedagogy, curriculum, and technology to fully engage students in 21st century learning.
• Provide authentic, student-centered learning.
• Use technology to teach and encourage problem solving, collaboration and communication.

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