In late October, a Digital Wish donor named John Lintner paid homage to his community by gifting needed resources to his children's elementary school. Earlier that month, Lintner approached Marianne Williams, the Principal of Willard Elementary with the intent of making a technology donation to the school. Upon doing so Williams suggested that there was one item that was in high demand among her teachers; it was a Flip video camera.
    "We had a vendor come in last year and show us the Flip camera and we were thrilled with it," the principal said. "At that time we cobbled together enough money to buy three or four of them for the building, you know how it is with budgets!"
    As soon as Lintner became aware of the schools videos needs, he immediately searched the web and found Digital Wish through Pure Digital's website.
    "I was extremely happy to find Digital Wish," Lintner said. "Through the site I was able to contribute more than double the amount of cameras to my children's school."
    When Lintner informed Williams about Digital Wish, she immediately told her teachers to register so they could continue fundraising for technology.
    "I thought that this would be a perfect organization for my teachers and I to get involved with," Williams said. "Teachers list specifically what they want for their classroom and donors can then view  a teacher's exact needs."
    Within a few days of helping her teacher to register on Digital Wish, Lintner had donated 24 Flip Camcorders to William's school.
    "When the teachers and students found out that they were going to be receiving flip cameras through Jon Lintner's donation they were absolutely beside themselves," Williams said. "Since receiving them they have been in constant use in the classroom."
    Through his experience donating, Lintner claimed that one of the largest benefits of giving through Digital Wish was knowing that 100% of his money was going directly towards putting Flip Cameras into Willard Elementary.
    "I would recommend Digital Wish to other donors for the same reasons I used the site; it's convenient, easy, and you know exactly where your money is going."
    Although Lintner said that his initial intent to donate to Willard Elementary was sparked by his willingness to pay homage to his local 'community.' Lintner's actions have in turn brought a new sense of school pride among the teachers and students that received his gift.
    "Although my intent was to donate to the school," Lintner said. "The true beneficiaries of this donation are of course the teachers and the students."

With great advances in educational technology, the traditional "instructor" is quickly morphing into a congenial classroom collaborator.  Much like the 'coach' of a unified sports team, this technologically savvy teacher triggers student engagement by offering a collaborative learning environment for their class. 

Brian Greene is a teacher/leader who considers himself to be the 'coach' of his classroom. At Prairie Crossing Charter School in Illinois, Greene educates his students using what he calls 'unconventional tactics.' Through his many hands-on lesson plans and classroom field trips, Greene claims that he motivates his students to take ownership of their knowledge by trying to have them physically 'experience' it.

"Constructivist learning and the multiple intelligence theory are utilized to allow students to think out of the box and push the envelope in education," Greene says.  

Within this atmosphere Greene claims that he is as much a member of his team as any other student, not only does he teach but he learns as well. In an effort to help his students share their growing knowledge and experience, Greene also strives to integrate technology into his classroom. Although his students actively navigate the Web and produce PowerPoint presentations for class projects, Greene hopes to start using webinars and podcasts to collaborate with students and teachers from around the nation. According to Greene, he is always looking for the next best way to engage his students.

"As the principal, staff, students and parents know that there is no challenge I will turn down if it means success for our students," Greene says. "We have so many 'cool' things going on at school; it is sometime hard to explain them all." 

Prairie Crossing Charter School also prides themselves on their ability to physically 'think outside of the box' according to Greene. Often times students will paticipate in an outdoor classroom where they tend to the school's garden and individual student food plots. Greene claims that this physical learning environment reaffirms his classroom ideology that students will take ownership over their knowledge when they are personally invested in it.

"Every student is a part of 'Farm to Table,' which teaches our students about sustainability and agriculture," says Greene. "Students in each grade are in charge of planting, cultivating and harvesting a crop that they will turn into a meal for their fellow classmates." 

Greene advises that the many teachers who still consider themselves to be  'instructors' should try and stimulate their students in new ways. He asks that teachers consider his teaching philosophy posted on Digital Wish, "We must put the power to think, create, develop and challenge into the fingertips of our children." 

 "The selection of Digital Wish provides a unique opportunity for the DITFG network to apply its expertise and thought leadership to support a promising organization at a critical stage of development"

DITFG focuses on leveraging Landmark's experience and relationships across the technology and financial sectors toward the support of deserving nonprofits. The program aims to encourage new methods of corporate social responsibility and increase the social impact of Landmark's company, community and network.

"The selection of Digital Wish provides a unique opportunity for the DITFG network to apply its expertise and thought leadership to support a promising organization at a critical stage of development," said Landmark Ventures General Partner Zeev Klein. "And through their work of connecting teachers and corporations to bring technology into local classrooms, working with Digital Wish will allow us to support an extensive underserved community of thousands of K-12 students."

"We are very thankful to Doing IT for Good for selecting Digital Wish as the grant recipient. We currently have more than 116,000 schools listed on Digital Wish, 26,037 educators and donor registrants from all 50 states, and source over 700 technology products from 54 vendors. This grant will help us increase these numbers and strengthen our foundation so we can continue to help today's students become tomorrow's leaders," said Digital Wish Founder and Executive Director Heather Chirtea.

About Landmark Ventures/DITFG

Founded in 2007 by Landmark Ventures, Doing IT for Good uses a unique model combining financial grants, network building, and ongoing organizational assistance to promote corporate social responsibility within the technology arena. Landmark Ventures is a leading strategic advisory firm offering a unique combination of venture development and global investment banking services, with a focus on serving growth oriented technology companies and their venture capital and private equity sponsors. www.landmarkventures.com

About Digital Wish

Digital Wish is on a mission to modernize classrooms and prepare students for tomorrow's workforce. Digital Wish promotes the early adoption of technology within schools by providing a platform for teachers and educators to develop wish lists, share project plans, collaborate on best practices, and purchase technology in a cost-effective manner. And by streamlining and targeting the process of giving, Digital Wish allows large and small-scale donors to directly impact their local schools. www.digitalwish.org

Contacts

For Landmark Ventures
Meredith Smith, 408-892-0574
Meredith@blendr-media.com

Jamie Mullenaux and her class of 4th grade students began their New Year with a resolution to put an Interactive Whiteboard on their classroom wall. In less than one month at Mechanicsville Elementary in Virginia, Mullenaux's students have raised nearly 70% of their targeted goal.

Mullenaux has been teaching fourth grade at Mechanicsville Elementary for nearly four years however this is her first year teaching an 'all-girls' class. According to Mullenaux, her school has been organizing single-sex classrooms since she began in an effort to better understand the achievement gap between genders in the elementary school. In turn Mullenaux has taken her new role as a personal challenge to engage and teach her group of eighteen girls using new technology.

"It is our job to prepare these students for the future," says Mullenaux. "This is especially important for me as an educator of an all-girls classroom because I feel that females aren't currently as prevalent in technology oriented jobs as some males may be."

Staying true to her goal of infusing technology around the calendar, Mullenaux continually booked the media lab so her students could use the school's only tabletop Whiteboard. Although partially broken, her students habitually returned from the lab asking their teacher when they could get a Whiteboard for their own classroom. Just before the Holiday Season, Mullenaux showed her students Digital Wish and asked them brainstorm ideas of how they could fundraise for their class. Soon after the students collectively decided to run a letter writing campaign asking friends and family for contributions towards their Whiteboard.

"It was great because it was also something that we could tie into our persuasive writing curriculum," Mullenaux says. "After I edited each letter, the kids sent them out and they immediately started seeing results."

Although Mullenaux admits that she didn't expect much of a response from the community when the letters first went out, she claims that she was beside herself when checks from local donors began rolling in.

"The first response we received was a check for $500 from one of the student's grandfather who owns a local business," says Mullenaux. "From that point on the kids kept receiving checks and we all began to realize that getting a Whiteboard was very possible through the support of family and friends."    

With more checks in the mail Mullenaux and her students are certain that they will be hanging their new Whiteboard on their classroom wall in the near future. When that day arrives Mullenaux claims that the first order of business will be to play Nintendo Wii with her students.

"Honestly, all of my recent Digital Wish success can only be attributed to my girls," Mullenaux says. "Needless to say this experience has definitely surpassed my expectations."

Mary Williams has been teaching chemistry to St. Mary High School students for nearly a quarter century. Although Williams has always loved her job, she claims that she has found new classroom vigor through the tech-tools she now uses with her students.  

As a guest blogger, Williams tells her classroom story:

I teach chemistry at the secondary level. I have been teaching for over 25 years, and have been re-energized this year by all the technology available to me, and my students. Not only does it make learning fun, but more importantly I believe it makes it more effective. Let me share a few of my experiences with you.

I found out about Digital Wish this fall and they made me aware of the Flip. A small video camera that is extremely easy to use. Since first acquiring this little device, I have had to lend it out to other staff, almost as often as we use it in class. I have had students whose usually run the other way when homework is mentioned, come in after school to make a Flip email card about a chemistry demo for the class. Students ask now to do projects involving video. Some students are natural "hams" and I take advantage of this by having them present chemistry ideas to the rest of the class. In the process they learn (when you have to teach you tend to really learn the material), and it helps the other students learn too.

One of the "hot" words in education seems to be Multiple Intelligences or MI. I'm sure many of you have heard of this theory and I see evidence of it everyday in my classroom. So the question becomes- how do you effectively teach to all the different MI's in one classroom, in one period? I don't know if anyone has a complete answer to this, but I have found that using multimedia- visual, musical, linguistic, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences all blend together and seem to help students.

When I assign a project involving a video, such as animoto, (if unfamiliar with animoto, go to their website and check it out: www.animoto/education.com ) the students really, dare I say, enjoy it! 
Projects that involve a visual, musical and even the limited written element not only reach several of the intelligences, but also allow students to express themselves, to process what they are learning, and often, to see how learning can be fun. Then, when we share the projects in class, we review the content multiple times. Think about it. I assign a 2 minute video on properties of acids and bases, and when we watch each others videos- we may review that concept 10-15 times. They enjoy making these little videos, as well as watching them and it takes relatively little time.

There are several other websites that I find allows me to address student's multiple intelligence's, and keep class interesting. One is www.blabberize.com . When you can get a picture of Einstein to tell the students what they should bring to lab- they tend to listen. Or if you can have a student do a first person biography of Antoine Lavosier (Father of Chemistry) and have Lavosier present his biography to you, it adds a little something to the report. 

Another interesting site that is a fun way to present material- either by the teacher or for a student presentation is www.goanimate.com .( link to http://goanimate.com/movie/0z3GjuMDFR2A?utm_source=linkshare&uid=0JzS0pHb8X-E for an example). This creates animations which you can use to present a new concept.

Do all these things replace the problem sets, lectures, review and traditional teaching methods? No, not at all, but they sure do add to them-and I believe enhance the learning process. For the students it's like coming to class everyday, and instead of listening to one note over and over again, they can listen to the whole musical scale- and maybe pick up a catchy tune they can't keep out of their head. 

The websites I mentioned- and many, many more are listed at www.boxoftricks.net Click on the resource tab for an alphabetically listing of many good websites. 

In less then one month, fifth grade teacher Stacy Yetzer campaigned for $500 in community donation by rallying her 19 students to behind her Digital Wish list. To help spread awareness of her classroom campaign, Yetzer worked with students to craft, stamp and mail hand-written letters to local business owners in Kersey, PA.

For nearly a decade at Fox Township Elementary, Yetzer has been committed to teaching students how to take ownership over their knowledge. As the 'facilitator' of the classroom, Yetzer says that she continually strives for an equal balance of student and teacher participation.  

"Finding a balance is difficult but I think once you do, it's well worth it for the kids," Yetzer said. "By showing them that I am willing to work with them and be one of them, they open up and really give me what they're capable of."  

Yetzer often turns to technology to enhance independent student study and peer evaluation. Since receiving an interactive whiteboard, Yetzer says that she has been on a mission to put more technology into her classroom.

"I haven't had my Promethean Board for too long, but hands down this is the best asset we have in our classroom," Yetzer said. "So I navigated through Digital Wish and read the instructions on how to actually start accumulating money for more technology."

Soon after, Yetzer decided that she was going to ask her students if they would like to participate in a letter writing campaign. When the students realized that their letters could turn into classroom tech they jumped at the idea.

"We started the campaign as an in-class writing activity," She said. "We brainstormed ideas around the technology that we wanted and then we wrote rough drafts and edited them before we sent them out."

Just two weeks after the letters landed in local mailboxes, Yetzer and her students started receiving donations. In total, the 19 letters sent inspired local business to give 4 cash donations and 2 product donations totaling $500 in funding. They raised nearly one donation for every three letters they sent.

"I found that the businesses that donated to us really appreciated the student's attempt and effort in writing letters," Yetzer said. "I also had several business owners tell me that they appreciated the fact that the students added comments about our classroom and how their money would be used."

Through the success of her campaign, Yetzer was targeted by her local PTO to speak at the next board meeting. According to Yetzer, Fox Township's PTO is looking to get more teachers involved in Digital Wish. Through the meeting Yetzer is also hoping to introduce the idea of PTO contributions to Digital Wish classroom campaigns at Fox Township Elementary.  

"I have volunteered to help get the other teachers in our school on board through Digital Wish because it has worked for me," She said. "It's a huge help, people truly don't understand the different costs a school has and how much we try to do with what we have."

Overall, e-Vermont's statewide partners will help local groups develop ways to take full advantage of the Internet for job creation, school innovation, providing social services, and increasing civic involvement. Digital Wish will provide essential training so that students, teachers, and parents can use the internet more effectively.  With sets of computers that travel from school to home, internet projects and community engagement will flourish.  When 21st century tools and teaching practices become an integral part of every day, at school and at home, student engagement, motivation, and participation rise across the curriculum.

In addition, by structuring the implementation of the program on the success of Digital Wish's pilot schools, we will further refine a replicable model for school technology adoption that can eventually be utilized by schools across the nation.

Community, connection, and classroom learning are keys to a successful future, and effective internet use will create a generation of students who will form the basis of a new knowledge economy.

Digital Wish embraces this opportunity to help prepare students for the 21st century workforce and ensure future economic development. We are looking forward to working in classrooms with students, educators, and administrators, as well as with parents and communities. We will share everything we learn, and all the tools we develop, freely through www.digitalwish.org so that all school statewide and nationwide can benefit. We encourage you to contact us with any questions.

For more information about the towns involved and general info about the e-Vermont project please visit http://www.vtrural.org/

We'll see you in the classroom,
 Heather Chirtea
 Founder
 Digital Wish
 (802) 375-6721 ext. 202
 heather@digitalwish.org

 Eric Bird
 Lead Trainer/Peer Coach
 Digital Wish
 (802) 681-8840
eric@digitalwish.org