Technology and Education
Beverly T. Bearden, College Park Elementary, Atlanta, Georgia

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 significantly raised expectations for states, local school districts, and schools in that all students will meet or exceed state standards in reading and mathematics within twelve years.  We all understand the need for our children to meet or exceed state standards, but it is equally important for them to compete nationally with other countries. In doing so teachers must somehow come up with a comprehensive system that effectively uses technology in elementary schools to improve student academic achievement.

On November 11, 2005, I was given the opportunity to attend the Georgia Educational Technology Conference. The purpose of this conference was to promote initiatives that provide schoolteachers, principals, and administrators with the capacity to integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction that are aligned with challenging student academic achievement. I attended several sessions related to digital technology (cameras, videos, camcorder, etc.).  The two sessions most interesting to me were Photo Story 3, presented by Tony Brewer and Susan Walraven.  Until that day I had not heard of Photo Story 3 and was enthused by it’s easy and user friendly approach. As a Media Center paraprofessional with various skills pertaining to technology, I have assisted many teachers and students with using power point.  Power Point has been very useful in presenting various projects.  Power Point has many features that you may never use.  Unlike power point I found Photo Story 3 to be precise and very easy to use and learn.

The project that is being presented is one that involves the teacher and students.  With Photo Story 3 you are able to allow students to take part in the photography, the editing, deciding what they want to say and the music they want to use.  Here is an outline of what was done.

• Kindergarten class visited the pumpkin farm
• Pictures were taken (included all students that attended)
• Pictures were download from the camera by the teacher
• The students reviewed the pictures with excitement
• The students remembered what they saw and repeated it in the microphone to be recorded
• The students with the help of their classmates and teachers wrote the captions that were read and recorded them on each picture
• The students picked the music they wanted from the selection of music in Photo Story 3
• Finally, the Photo Story was complete

Photo Story 3 included all the students in the classroom.  No one was left out.  The students shared the responsibility of deciding what music was used.  Photo Story 3 allowed them the ability to combine pictures with their recorded voices while telling about their pumpkin farm experience. Everyone was able to read the typed story by learning or just by memorizing what each student said.  They were able to return to the experience by viewing digital photographs, and shared their memories by writing or dictating captions. Dictating their words helped them to develop an understanding of how spoken language connects to print.  The most important thing was that students had fun while learning and celebrated their creativity as a group.

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