Todd Loffredo

Challenging Our Fears

by Dana Radanovic

For this week's innovation spotlight, Dana Radanovic has written about Todd Loffredo in a way that can't be translated directly onto a blog. So please click the link to view the file. Don't worry - no viruses! Just a little puzzle for you to work out.

Todd Loffredo: Challenging Our Fears

Pauline McKean

Closing the Distance

by Mark Davies

This summer, The Hun School’s new Global and Immersion Programs will be offering students the opportunity to participate in three very different Experiential Learning opportunities. Students can choose from immersive living experiences in China, Ecuador or the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. Pauline McKean, Director of Global and Immersion Programs, needed to introduce the programs to as many prospective families as possible and offer them the chance to get their questions answered. 

There were three significant problems. First, there was the challenge of getting parents and students to show up for an evening meeting, on campus. The second problem was that representatives from our China program partners, Where There Be Dragons, were two time zones away, in Colorado. The third potential impediment was the fact that the installation of our brand new high tech classroom’s video conferencing system was not going to be completed by the date of the meeting.

The solution: Google Hangouts On Air.

Hangouts On Air is similar to other video conferencing services such as Skype or FaceTime except it allows users to live-stream their video to the world via YouTube. All you need is a digital device with a camera and mic, a Google Plus account, and a good internet connection. Additionally, Hangouts On Air has built-in features like the ability for anyone viewing the video online to remotely submit questions to the people who are in the live conference. Also, Hangouts On Air automatically posts the video of the conference on YouTube so it can be watched after the fact for those who could not see it in real time.

After a quick test run with our Colorado partners, Ms. McKean got the word out to the Hun community via the weekly ebulletin and Schoology to let students and parents know that the Experiential Programs Info Session would be held at 6:30 in the new classroom in the Global Commons and available online for anyone who could not attend in person. The fact that the new classroom’s high tech video conferencing system was not yet operational was inconsequential. Ms. McKean had a working laptop with camera and mic and a solid internet connection. The session started on time at 6:30 and ran for about an hour as she introduced the Hun faculty trip leaders and our partners from Where There Be Dragons, explained the programs, and fielded questions from the audience in attendance - both online and in person.

Knowing that our new Global Commons high tech classroom would offer us access to real cutting edge video conferencing capabilities, the Experiential Programs Info Session seemed like the perfect opportunity to connect local, on campus students and families with other families who couldn’t make the meeting in person, and connect with our experiential learning partners off site, across the country. It also seemed like a great opportunity for Hun to showcase our new facilities and cutting edge technology. When we realized that our new classroom audio and video systems would actually not be online in time for the meeting, the easy and - some would argue - prudent thing to do would be to remove that remote participation aspect entirely. But when offered the chance to leverage earlier successes in her classroom using Google Video Hangouts and extend that by trying a Hangout On Air for the information session, Ms. McKean embraced the opportunity despite the discomfort that was inherent in being an early adopter and in taking a risk. 

You can watch the video yourself at the link below:

View info session on YouTube

The video has been viewed more than 60 times in the two months since it was first posted and multiple families have submitted applications for the three experiential programs this summer.

Lisa Yacomelli

Putting Hamlet on Trial

by Tiberiu Dragoiu-Luca

This week, the Blue Sky Project features two classroom innovations by Lisa Yacomelli: her Senior Trial and her iMovie project based on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Students who participate in the Senior Trial are engaged in the creation of a legal hypothetical based on literature they read, and they then choose either the prosecution or the defense based on the legal issues. Class members demonstrate collaborative problem solving as they assemble textual evidence to support and present their arguments in a collectively written “brief." They share responsibility and learn to work effectively and cooperatively as they present these arguments orally in the culminating trial. This project teaches students to work collaboratively as they critically examine world issues as related to the literature, plus it gives them a bit of a glimpse into a real-life working situation. Past trials have examined Hamlet’s sanity, Victor Frankenstein’s parental neglect, and literary censorship by the Republic of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale.

The second project is a hybrid between Student Centered Learning and Digital Literacy. The class progresses to an open-ended essential question discussion, conducted in the Harkness method, during which students identify themes they can then relate to their own lives or apply to situations and problems they may encounter. The students divide into four groups, and each group selects one of those themes. Then each group uses an iPad or laptop to demonstrate its understanding of the theme, and then extend this to contemporary life. For example, one group examined superstition in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and then included movie clips demonstrating modern superstitions, as well as interviews with students and teachers regarding whether or not they have superstitious beliefs. The entire unit takes about a month, and culminates in a popcorn and movie day! The project helps promote not only student understanding of the book, but also increases students’ ability to express themselves through digital media.

Below is a video interview with Ms. Yacomelli, including one of the Huck Finn student projects.