Edutopia Online(r), the Web Site of George Lucas Educational Foundation, Announces Redesign, Success Stories of Public Schools 1/21/2004
From: Milton Chen, 415-444-8902 or mchen@glef.org, or Diane Demee-Benoit, 415-444-8920 or diane@glef.org; both of The George Lucas Educational Foundation SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Jan. 21 -- The George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF) announces a major redesign and new stories for its award-winning Web site, http://www.glef.org, publishing documentary films, articles, and multimedia features about the nation's most innovative schools. "Improving our schools and bringing them into the Digital Age is the most important task facing our society," said George Lucas, Chairman of the Foundation. "Our Foundation is dedicated to taking the best ideas from educators in real classrooms and disseminating them to everyone who can use them." Edutopia Online(r) contains a deep archive of relevant, practical ideas and resources for educators, policymakers, parents, business leaders, students, and community members. The site complies with usability standards, serving, for instance, users with low- and high-bandwidth Internet access and a variety of Web browsers and platforms. It offers: -- An extensive online video library of innovative, successful programs with short documentaries of the best classrooms in action; -- Video interviews with experts from education, government, business, and community groups; -- Articles and multimedia presentations on topics such as project-based learning and assessment, emotional intelligence, school-to-career programs, and technology integration; -- Professional Development Modules organizing site content for use in courses and workshops by teachers and principals. The new format is easy to read with faster video download and search capabilities, updated links, and revised "Getting Started" pages. The high-quality videos play in both Windows Media Player (tm) and QuickTime (r) formats. New success stories include: -- The Maine Event -- Known as the nation's largest technology project, more than 30,000 middle school students and 3,000 teachers received laptop computers and Internet access. With portable computers enabling them to engage in community-based projects, Skowhegan, Maine, students joined with their library and historical society to research and record local history for the town's Web site. -- Laptops on Expedition -- Helen M. King Middle School students in Portland, Maine, produced a CD-ROM about Maine's endangered species for sale in bookstores, receiving high praise from state environmentalists. Interdisciplinary projects such as an aquarium design, a guide to local shore life, original music CD-ROMs, and claymation video explaining Newton's laws took advantage of the laptop program. -- Students Who Know Their Own Minds -- Based on the pioneering work of Dr. Mel Levine of North Carolina, the curriculum at Gateway High School in San Francisco, enables students to study the psychology of learning and identify their own learning styles in order to capitalize on their strengths. -- The Little School That Did -- At ASCEND -- A School Cultivating Excellence, Nurturing Diversity - a K-8 school in Oakland, Calif., -- seventh graders studied media coverage of the Iraq war and e-mailed pen pals in Baghdad. Their views, expressed through poetry, artwork, and a silent march in San Francisco, were reported on NBC's Today Show and CNN. The Foundation (GLEF) is working with KRON-TV, an independent station in the San Francisco Bay Area, to broadcast a series of weekly reports, titled "What Works," based on these stories. Reported by Noel Cisneros, Emmy Award-winning education reporter, the segments air Monday evenings. Dr. Milton Chen, Executive Director of the Foundation, noted, "With all the news coverage of what's wrong with our schools, it's time to learn from the success stories in order to improve the schools." The George Lucas Educational Foundation, located in San Rafael, Calif., is a nonprofit operating foundation, created by the filmmaker. |