December 2006 — Features
Print this articleClick here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal
2006 Innovators
:: ON THE CUTTING EDGE
Innovator: Arlene Anderson,
Saugus Union School District (CA)
Breakthrough: 21st-century infrastructure
From the outside, Saugus Union School District, tucked away in the Santa Clarita Valley, just north of Los Angeles, looks like your typical K-6 school district, consisting of 15 schools that serve about 11,000 students. But a peek inside the classroom walls tells a different story. Unlike most elementary school districts, Saugus Union has remained on the cutting edge of technology with school-site TV broadcasts streamed over the internet; interactive whiteboards and PDAs used in classrooms to expand curriculum; teachers utilizing podcast lesson reviews that can be downloaded to student MP3 players; and implementation of a districtwide voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephone system.
FORWARD THINKER Arlene Anderson (right)
credits the use of open-source programs for Saugus
Union’s improved technology services.
Thanks to a forward-thinking IT department that has embraced open-source programs, and a technology specialist who delivers ongoing professional development, the district has created a comprehensive and flexible infrastructure to meet the needs of its 21st-century students. “What sets us apart is how we leveraged the latest technologies to improve communication, collaboration, and resources between students, staff, parents, and the community,” says Arlene Anderson, educational-technology curriculum specialist for Saugus Union. “Open source has enabled us to provide more services and quicker support at a significant cost savings.”
The district’s technology plan initially looked at its infrastructure standards, data interoperability standards, and scalability, before deciding to choose a VoIP telephone system, a multimedia system from Dukane, and Red Hat servers. And Anderson is proud to report that the open-source server program, Red Hat, and the VoIP telephone system are both 100 percent operational. She also touts the multimedia system as a phenomenal success because it lets the district utilize video on demand, allowing zonal broadcasts of videos from a single location on each campus so students no longer have to cram into one classroom to watch an instructional video.
“The driving force behind these choices was the district needs as a whole, including enhancing the classroom environment,” Anderson says. “Awareness of the funding and its limits was a considerable factor, along with facilities issues— some school sites had electrical and air conditioning needs not considered earlier.”
Next, Saugus Union will be looking for additional opensource opportunities to provide its students, teachers, and even its administrators with advanced blogging and podcasting experiences to keep up with the digital generation.
“The important thing to remember is that it takes time to create a realistic, workable plan that includes all stakeholders,” says Anderson, who also points out the importance of being flexible, such as making allowances for delays as a result of both installation and learning curves, and arranging lots of professional development for those using the systems and equipment.
:: ON THE AIR
Innovator: Caroline Faure,
Highland High School (ID)
Breakthrough: Live student broadcasting
Chances are that if you own a television in the vicinity of Pocatello, ID, you are familiar with Highland High School’s closed-circuit television station, Ram TV. The concept for the student-run station came from instructor Caroline “Smitty” Faure, a former TV news reporter and sports anchor who has brought authentic, real-world journalism training to her students, with an emphasis on live broadcasts.
“Media technologies and broadcast journalism play such an important part in learning and education,” Faure says. “Although viewed as an elective, mass communications and technologies hit all disciplines. And what better way to get students excited about learning than to breathe life into these disciplines by actually presenting the material live?”
Faure got the program going two years ago, with 20 students. Due to limited funding, she relied heavily on relationship building with various community leaders, using equipment donated from a local TV station, which also provided technical support. Next, Faure created a full-scale broadcast journalism curriculum, utilizing a multidisciplinary, hands-on approach in which Highland students write, edit, and produce the entire Ram TV news broadcasts and morning TV announcements. It wasn’t long before the station started attracting positive attention throughout the area, transforming the program into a genuine community gathering. The local cable company eventually provided free cable access to help the students broadcast school basketball games.
While the old analog equipment was a great start, it limited productions to the school’s TV studio. So Faure took to writing grants, and within three months secured funding to obtain live production (TriCaster) and real-time editing (VT[4]) systems from NewTek.
With the new technology at her disposal, Faure is taking her program a step further by exploring another medium with her students: streaming live broadcasts over the web, reaching far beyond Pocatello. “Bringing events live to the community makes my students feel like they are contributing to history on a daily basis,” she says, “by capturing important events that impact our community, and hopefully beyond now with streaming technology.”
And thanks to the students’ relationship with the local cable company, they will continue to expand their remote productions to include more athletic contests, band and choir concerts, drama productions, and even elementary school plays. Ram TV news will also be broadcast live to the entire Pocatello community, and parent-oriented shows will begin production.
“This program is about more than just broadcasting,” says Faure. “It’s the epitome of the three R’s for the next generation: rigor, relevancy, and relationships. Our broadcasting program is doing this: It’s rigorous, incorporating reading, writing, science, and math. It’s relevant, providing students with content that stresses real-work experiences. And it’s about relationships. Because of Ram TV, the high school learning experience has become more social and more personalized.”
