D-20 students showcase 21st century technology

Academy School District 20 will host the fourth annual Share Fair April 7 to showcase how they are learning 21st century technology in the classroom. The fair will take place prior the board of education meeting.

“It originally started with us sharing with the board about what we are doing with technology,” said Michael Doub, D-20’s director of educational services.

Since that very first presentation it has now grown to something where students and teachers bring in their displays and exhibits to show the board and parents how they incorporate technology into their learning. “Every school can highlight what they want to showcase,” Doub said.

Doub said through a collaboration, teachers, building technology coordinators and librarians are able to set time aside for training and to collaborate on units of study to be used in the classroom. The training and the use of substitute teachers while they are collaborating are funded through a Title IID grant. Units are posted on the district’s Missing Link website at www.asd20.org.

D-20 has put 21st century learning skills into six categories and aligned them with the Colorado Department of Education. The categories include invention, technology literacy, collaboration, information literacy, self direction and critical thinking and reasoning.

Some of the different exhibits include Invention Convention, Claymation, Earth Movement and Journey North. In the Journey North exhibit elementary students show how, along with participating schools across the United States and Mexico, computers are used to track the migration of Monarch butterflies.

Middle School students will show how the inventions of the Industrial Revolution benefit people today.

At the high school level students will show what they have learned to do with Google Earth.

“Every school can highlight what they want to showcase,” Doub said, adding that the the Share Fair is a way for students to see what is being done at other schools.

Doub said the district has submitted footage as part of a Promises and Practices video. The video, put together by the Council on 21st Century Learning, highlights what schools in Colorado are doing with technology and distributed to every school district in the state.

The Share Fair will take place 4-5:30 p.m. April 7 in the Atrium at the Education and Administration Center. Families are welcome to attend.