Philadelphia

Another day in Philadelphia, and Adeniyi and I are thoroughly smitten with this city. For me, it’s coming home–but seeing Philly with new eyes. I’m reminded each and every day why there’s NO place like home!

Even Adeniyi, a Frenchman and (perhaps more accurately) a Parisian at heart, has fallen for the city, and the people who belong to it. On the car ride home today after another long day, Adeniyi and I both expressed our longing to come back one day (and in my case, stay).

Anyway, back to the task at hand–we are, after all, talking about teens and technology! Today we returned to Science Leadership Academy, where we spoke with Diana Laufenberg, a history teacher at the school. Diana is one of those teachers every kid wants, but few are lucky enough to have–energetic, engaging, motivated, fun, dedicated to education and even more dedicated to her students (did I use enough adjectives?). Five minutes spent with her, and Adeniyi and I knew we’d come to the right place to find and tell stories about Philly teens and technology.

You wouldn’t think a history class would be a place where teens are learning through technology–but don’t tell that to Diana. Her students use technology to not only learn about, but to live history in this most storied of cities. Check out her students’ self-produced history assignments, including a series of podcasts they did on Election Day ‘08, in partnership with a school in Texas. As an aside, the most interactive I ever got in history class was a paper mache model of the liberty bell.

Here’s an hilarious video one of Diana’s students created to illustrate how far technology has left behind the traditional textbook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkhpmEZWuRQ

The Election Day podcasts (scroll down to click and listen):
http://dlaufenberg.pbworks.com/Election+Day+2008+Project

How they did it (although Diana mentioned that the program is no longer free, as it was when her class used it):
http://dlaufenberg.pbworks.com/Using+GCast+with+a+Class

A blog from a fellow teacher at Science Leadership–it will give you a glimpse into the kinds of things the school is trying to do, and prove that Diana is not alone in her belief that technology is a powerful educational tool:
http://phoenixchase.blogspot.com/2008/02/untitled_10.html

That’s all for now folks! Good night!