It is my belief that children learn best when they are actively involved in the process. Learning is not always best accomplished by silently reading books and working independently. I believe children learn best when they are challenged to create, present, collaborate, problem solve, and share their work and knowledge. This may be through the use of technology, art, music, body movement, games, toys, nature, as well as books. The art of teaching is the art of planting the seeds for discovery.

Students love working with the Tech4Learning Suite of tools because they can create, make mistakes, change their minds, and collaborate in environments that are easy to learn and fun to use. With very little training needed on the software itself, students are able to better focus on the learning and the educational outcomes. This simulates real-life work and learning situations and prepares them for more difficult tasks ahead.

Last year a class of third grade students was working on a Frames project that demonstrated the multiplication tables (28 Scoops of Ice Cream). The students were having trouble with the placement of graphics. The trouble was that when they tried to add to each successive photo, they would end up not having enough space to put in the graphics required by the time they got to the end. They tried several times with different layouts but it would never turn out correctly. It was finally “Eddie” (fictional name) who came up with the solution.

Eddie’s IQ was tested at 74 and third grade level work was extremely difficult for him to grasp. Yet it was Eddie who came up with the solution – start with all the graphics and work backwards! The students, who were used to Eddie not knowing much, didn’t give his idea much thought and continued to work the way they were. But finally, they decided to give Eddie’s idea a try. And it worked! Not only were the students happy with their project, but also, more importantly, they were happy with Eddie!

The terrific result of this was, later that month, the students remembered and voted to name Eddie ‘Student of the Month’, an award he would have probably never been considered for. The students gave him far more credibility after that.

So the lesson learned from the making of the project was not only the multiplication tables, but also respect and self-esteem for a student who had never been given those attributes before. And that is truly a successful project in my book!

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