Special Projects

Digital Storytelling

Visual Voices was a joint project with the Austin Independent School District sponsored by a TARGET grant from the Texas Education Agency. As part of the project, small teams of 4th and 5th grade students worked with their teachers to create a digital storytelling video. The IDEA Studio designed and delivered the professional development content for teachers to learn how to integrate projects of this kind into their curriculum to address state standards for language arts. Visual Voices took place in 2004 and 2005. (Learn more about Visual Voices and access the technology training materials)

Technology to Support Writing Skills - A Three-Tiered Training Model

Austin ISD Tech Camp extended the TARGET grant into the summer of 2006. The IDEA Studio worked with Austin ISD instructional technology staff to produce and implement a week-long camp that taught children how to write and make picture books. Three camps, held in different schools in low-income neighborhoods also brought in teachers. Attendees received instruction on how to put together their own technology camps or after school programs as well as integrate these projects into their classroom instruction. A small group of master teachers served as camp leaders and learned from the instructional technology specialists how to deliver technology professional development to their peers. (Learn more about the Austin ISD Tech Camp)

Desktop Video Conferencing - PROMISE

The Providing Multimodal Induction Support to Educators (PROMISE) program was piloted by the IDEA Studio in collaboration with the College of Education's career services office in the spring of 2005. PROMISE leverages the power of desktop video conferencing in support of novice teachers. As part of the program, university-based mentors use iChat and a secure server located in the College to observe and conference with teachers who are located in school districts outside of Central Texas. After an initial site visit and face-to-face classroom observation, the mentor use the free Mac OS X conferencing software, the Apple laptop the new teacher purchased as part of the College's Laptop Initiative, and a digital video camera to conduct a remote observation and follow-up discussion.

PORTAL (Providing Opportunities for Relevant Teaching and Access to Language)

Research shows the importance classroom observation has in teacher learning. In the PORTAL project, a group of student teachers specializing in bilingual education used desktop video conferencing to observe master teachers' classrooms. They were able to view what the teacher and her students were doing as it happened, and because they were located in another location, they were able to discuss with their instructor what was going on and how they might approach similar situations. After the class was over, the student teachers used iChat to debrief with the teacher - located across town - about her interpretations of student behavior and teaching strategies.

Virtual Fieldtrip to the Middle East

This project used an iChat connection between 6th grade students and a teacher in Kuwait City to support a slideshow about Middle Eastern cultures and customs.

"A Day in the Life" Virtual Exchange

In Spring 2007, the IDEA Studio is collaborating with Damon ISD and Eanes ISD in a virtual exchange project in which students from two schools create digital videos about life in their very different communities. Damon Middle School is located in a small town with a mostly rural population, and Forest Trail Elementary in Eanes ISD is located in Austin. The two groups are using iChat to show each other the videos, talk about what it is like to grow up in their town, and ask each other questions.

Electronic Portfolios

An ePortfolio system for the College of Education is currently under development by the IDEA Studio and External Projects office in the Learning Technology Center. The framework, based on the Drupal content management system, will support a combination of development and showcase portfolio strategies. When the first stage of the project is implemented, the system will allow students to upload files from class projects and use a what-you-see-is-what-you-get interface to make web pages that organize the information and reflect on the student's learning and development as a teacher.

Supported file upload formats include text, images, audio, and video. Three levels of user access will allow the student to choose which parts of the portfolio to keep private, which parts to allow an instructor to view, and which parts to open up for viewing by others such as potential employers who have temporary guest accounts. Additional features that allow for instructor and peer feedback are being planned for future versions. (email Karen French at kfrench@edb.utexas.edu for more information about the ePortfolio initiative)