Chris Lehmann writes about the school Website model that he’s using at the Beacon School in NYC. He’s close to creating a “fully interactive portal for all members of the Beacon community,” and it’s a great model. Here’s a list of things that Chris is doing that I wish I could do:
There’s more, but I have to stop. This is what a Website should be, and Chris has the vision and the skills to make it happen. It sounds downright dreamy, and I’m jealous as heck…people shouldn’t be able to think it without the skills and the environment to do it. Not fair, I say… But great job by Chris and his kids.
“Here, we’d have to have review.”… This seemingly harmless little phrase creates as many huge impediments to the integration of new technologies as does technophobia. Technology coordinators too often worry about being liable ( or at least responsible ) for all internet content or they become control freaks who are convinced that the unwashed masses will spoil their little fiefdom. The rank and file either fear the new technology or determine that it isn’t worth the trouble. In my district, ANY change to a website is supposed to be signed-off by the building principal. That’s simply too much oversight. New technologies should be empowering teachers not encumbering them.
Wow. I mean, wow. And here I was all proud because I got a few teachers blogging this year, and set up a few staff e-mail accounts.
They’ve certainly raised the bar. Thanks for the info.
Thanks Will, for your comments… it’s funny, we’ve built it piece by piece for so long that I see all the stuff I still want to do, and it’s great to get the chance to step back from it and see what others see.
As for the questions / comments:
We do trust our PA to post responsibly, but I also check their comments after general meetings and such to read the minutes.
And yes, I don’t think that I have the restrictions that a lot of suburban districts have. (Of course, I don’t have the budget that you have either, I’m guessing…) Beacon was blessed by having really forward-thinking founder / administrators who had the vision to see educational technology as a risk worth taking. A lot of what I’ve been able to build come from talking to teachers, administrators, parents and students and having that “Wouldn’t that be cool if we could…” conversation, and then knowing that I’d always have the backing from my administration to try to make it happen.
Oh… and the 2004 Film Festival was out of this world. We’ve got almost two hours of original student short film work… it’s going up online within the next two weeks. Kate Reed, one of our amazing faculty, put in hundreds of hours of sweat work working with kids to get them all done, and they are as good as any student films I’ve ever seen.