Sylvia Martinez
Involving students as partners and co-learners in the educational process, rather than as consumers—or worse, as “objects”—is not a new concept but it is certainly gaining currency in the 21st century. With information exploding, teachers can no longer hope to know everything about their subject. With changes in student lifestyles, fewer and fewer of them are content to be passive participants in the classroom.
GenYES is remarkable in how it brings student voice into the learning conversation. In this episode, Sylvia Martinez, President of GenYES, describes the project’s original program for bringing students and teachers together to co-plan technology-infused lessons as well as a newer program, TechYES, which offers a unique project-based learning approach to certifying middle school students as technologically literate.
Resources for follow-up:
- GenYES web site
- GenYES at San Juan Unified School District
- Kids Use (and Teach) Digital Storytelling
- B. Gale Wilson teaching nuts and bolts of computers
- TBLOGICAL: “Hey kids, what do you think of your teacher?”
- Find other resources
