Local seventh graders in Kelly Stevens' social studies class at Rogers-Herr Middle School recently went on a treasure hunt armed with GPS devices and clues from a swashbuckling pirate.
"Oh my God, they loved it," recalled Stevens, who is a member of the PepsiCo K-12 Technology Mentor Program.
Last year, Duke Libraries launched the program to increase technology use in Durham area public schools.
The initiative's roots can be traced back to the mid-1990s, when IBM and AT&T gave large grants to Duke Libraries to teach schoolchildren how to use the Internet, explained program coordinator Dorothy Black.
"[The current program] is just a natural progression of that earlier status," Black said, adding that it was PepsiCo's $1-million donation last year and her subsequent appointment as the program's coordinator that got the technology mentor program off the ground.
"It's a really valuable tool," Stevens said, noting that the program creates opportunities for her to constructively integrate technology into the classroom.
And when Stevens' seventh graders are not hunting for chocolate coins with GPS devices, she said they are busy posting blogs, creating WebQuests and taking tests with electronic clickers.
The program provides funding for teachers to attend technology conferences and for schools to buy new equipment, such as headphones, digital cameras and software for Claymation movies, Black said.
She added that the program is aimed at helping teachers and students become comfortable with the changing technology of a fast-paced world.
"The best teachers are the ones who continue to learn themselves," said Andy Scott, Duke's assistant diving coach.
Scott, who is a science teacher at Rogers-Herr Middle School, said he hopes to use the program to help his students develop long-term use of the scientific method with a modified hydration backpack his seventh graders would experiment on using a respirator.
"It's funny because it's something I came up as a sort of harebrained idea several years ago," Scott said. "This project gives me a chance to test the waters."
The program also allows Duke Libraries to participate in the university-neighborhood partnership, said Ilene Nelson, director of communications for Duke Libraries.
In March, Claymation short films of African proverbs made by third graders from E.K. Powe Elementary School were showcased during an African and African-American dance and music performance by the Collage Dance Company at Duke.
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