Three New York schools have been named the winners of the second annual ISTE Media Specialist Technology Innovation Award, which recognizes collaborative technology innovation projects created by elementary, middle and high school teachers and library media specialists.
The award is sponsored by Follett Software Company, Linworth Publishing Inc./Library Media Connection magazine and the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) SIG for Media Specialists. The first-place winners in the individual categories are as follows:
· Elementary School: Karen Kliegman and Noel Forte, Searingtown Elementary School, Albertson, NY, for “Meet the Candidates,” a fifth-grade project focused on the 2008 presidential election.
· Middle School: Lindsay Cesari and Patrick Donahue, Durgee Junior High School, Baldwinsville, NY, for “Element Commercials,” highlighting the use of digital storytelling to produce commercials selling an element and then using the commercials to pitch their product in an “Apprentice-like” environment.
· High School: Belinda O’Brien, Susan Casement and Cindy Rubenstein, Minerva DeLand School, Fairport, NY, for “People Who Changed the World,” a program where students read biographies and autobiographies of people who changed the world with the goal of having the students analyze where they could apply similar qualities and ideas to their own lives.
Each of the three winning teams will receive $1,000 cash award for the school media center; $500 travel stipend for the winning teams to attend NECC and conference registration for each team member; a one-year standard ISTE membership; a commemorative plaque; $1,000 in professional library resources from Linworth Publishing; and a one-year subscription to Library Media Connection magazine.
