NetDay
CEO Julie Evans visited several schools to meet the students
who participated in Speak Up Day 2003. Her conversations confirmed
the results in the survey and gave students another opportunity
to share their views. If your school has an interesting story
to tell, contact us at info@netday.org.
 Annandale High School
Annandale High School students wanted to know, “What took
you so long to ask us?” Business and technology teacher Julie
Healy used class time for Speak Up Day and 66 students in her honors
business technology course participated. She programmed the survey
into Blackboard and led activities suggested by the lesson plans.
When school data became available, she shared it with students
and teachers at her school.
Students were very interested in how their answers compared to
the national data. They used the information to write articles
for their award winning student newspaper, prepared a presentation
for the school board, and talked about creating their own survey.
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Annandale High School
Fairfax County Public Schools
Annandale, Virginia
Grades 9-12
Enrollment: 2370
37% free and reduced-price lunch
16% African American
22% Asian
21% Hispanic
41% White |
|
According to Evans, their results were a close match to the national
data with some differences.
- To the question how do you usually learn about using technology,
64% responded I learned on my own, compared to 48% nationally.
- Students at Annandale also were much more likely to use technology
in a classroom than their peers (48% vs. 28%).
- With an
assignment to write a report on a topic they know little
about, 87% of Annandale students search the Internet or
go to a bookmarked Web page compared to 67% of all students.
“
Most of the teachers are in awe that our students are that sophisticated,” said
Healy. “The rest of the business department wishes they had
done it. We’ll have much better response next
time.”
Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Yvette Goslee teaches business education at Eleanor Roosevelt
High School and 144 of her students completed the individual
surveys during class time. She saw Speak Up Day as a unique
opportunity for students to give their ideas freely and have
a voice in the future of education.
Evans spoke to 12 of the students, most of them members of the
Academy for Information Technology in classes that emphasize
technology integration. They expressed particular interest in
how they compared to other high schools around the country. They
wanted to know if they were really as advanced as they thought
they were. They were serious about using technology to accomplish
their goals and all had access outside of school. One student
ran his own web hosting business.
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Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Prince Georges County Public Schools
Greenbelt, MD
Grades 9-12
Enrollment: 2928
17% free and reduced-price lunch
56% African American
10% Asian
4% Hispanic
30% White |
|
Roosevelt students tended to be more advanced than the average,
but were similar to Annandale.
- 61% of the Roosevelt students consider themselves advanced
tech users, compared to 26% nationally and 30% at Annandale.
- Almost identical to Annandale, 65% say they learn about using
technology on their own and 47% use technology in a classroom
at school.
- If they are having trouble with a homework assignment,
35% responded that they would go online to their IM buddy
list to see
who can help. Only 26% of Annandale students and 12% of all students
chose this option.
Goslee believes that other teachers “might be surprised
at how much students already use technology as part of their
lives and thinking process.” As the chairperson of the
technology committee, Goslee plans to use the school and national
data in her next technology plan. By sharing it with teachers,
she hopes they will see that technology is not going away and
it may be the best way to reach students. |
