December 17, 2004

LeyVa teacher takes students back to Pompeii

Lesson featured on television

By Van Tieu
Staff Writer

Some students aren’t fortunate enough to go on field trips across the ocean blue to experience archaeological sites and live excavations.

Luckily, for some seventh grade students, LeyVa teacher Addie Demedieros made it possible to go back into time through technology.

Recently, Demedieros was featured on a new television show and Web site, “Silicon Valley High,” which spotlights teachers who are using technology in schools in Santa Clara County. The show is soon to be nationally recognized, as “Silicon Valley” is a metaphor for anything technology. The episode will be re-aired in mid-January.

Laura Kinley, the show’s producer, says the PBS-KTEH show on Channel 54 is “directed toward teachers to show them how other teachers are integrating technology in the classroom. It shows specifically how technology can be used in the classroom.”

To convey this information, teachers are interviewed in the studio, where they describe their experiences with technology and the impact it has had on their students. The show’s audience also witnesses firsthand what happens in the classroom when the cameras capture the lesson.

Some additional features of Silicon Valley High are Tech Tips and Hands on Activities for Teachers. These features introduce teachers to certain types of technology that may be used in the classroom. For example, teaching instant messaging, which can become an excellent communication tool among teachers.

Benefits of Technology
“I don’t consider myself a computer expert, but I find children are very savvy with the computer; they seem to be in awe of the things they find on the Internet. Technology in the classroom basically empowers kids to utilize these skills and enforce learning by accessing information on the Internet,” explains Demedieros.

When the class was being filmed, students were finishing PowerPoint presentations on historical biographies. Demedieros recalls observing feverish activities among the students.

“We started with a reading from Pompeii, and the students visited archeological sites on Pompeii on the computers.

The interview [for Silicon Valley High] was centered on this interactive tour,” says Demedieros. “The information and excitement found in these live excavations wouldn’t have been possible through reading a textbook.”

Technology in Evergreen School District
“Technology is important, because if kids are doing a project, it goes beyond the purpose. They’re engaged, excited and are learning quite a bit more,” says Randy Hollenkamp, the technology coordinator for Evergreen School District.

“Technology is like another tool in the classroom, but it allows kids to create and collaborate,” Hollenkamp adds.

Examples of student-teacher collaborations are digital lockers, which allow students to store their work on a server.

This enables a student to use any school laptop and access their digital locker. Currently, digital lockers are being used by all three Evergreen School District middle schools—Chaboya, LeyVa and Quimby Oak.

“I think that technology is a learning tool whose time has come. This generation has grown up with this tool at their fingertips. It really is a tool of education that they find exciting. Books, by their nature, have not been interactive, but this new resource gets students engaged and active in the learning process,” Demedieros concludes.

If you’d like to see the episode of “Silicon Valley High” featuring LeyVa Middle School, contact Randy Hollenkamp at (408) 270-6800 or e-mail him at techlearn@eesd.org.