TEL.A.VISION | It's Your Story

My experience with TEL.A.VISION was excellent!

Posted on 01. Feb, 2010 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Power of Vision, TEL.A.VISION Stories

By Eric Paquette

Dunwoody Academy students at their computers

I am a high school writing teacher with a large special ed. population in my classroom. I found the visionary aspect, the creative freedom and hands on approach empowered previously unengaged students.  Since the project I have seen that by referring back to the goals set in the video students are connecting daily work to long term goals in a more concrete manner.

From the first day that we started using TEL.A.VISION there seemed to be an instant connection between the students and the program.  The special ed. students in my class seem to be more comfortable writing, and processing information on the computer than with a pencil and paper.  TEL.A.VISION allowed them an opportunity to have success in the classroom in a format that permitted them to focus on what they were saying rather than the format that they were using.

I would recommend TEL.A.VISION to ANY teacher trying to get students to rise to their full potential

Here is a sample video by one of the students.

Digital Story Telling with Homeless Students

Posted on 02. Jan, 2010 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Power of Vision, TEL.A.VISION Stories

Lanise Block enjoyed using TEL.A.VISION in her classroom and decided to use it in a “Digital Story Telling” project with the homeless. She was surprised by how well the project was accepted by her students.

Use in a High School Classroom

Posted on 02. Jan, 2010 by Ringmaster in All Posts

We caught up with Lanise Block, a teacher at Henry High School in Minneapolis, at the recent TIES Conference. Here is what she had to say about about using TEL.A.VISION in her classroom.

7th Graders realize ” I Can Make A Difference in the World”

Posted on 28. Dec, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Power of Vision

Mr Amaral, a Global Concepts teacher,  is beginning his third year of bringing TEL.A.VISION to every 7th grader at Oakland Junior High. Here is what he had to say about TEL.A.VISION. “TEL.A.VISION makes my students think about themselves in the world. It helps them think about what they could be. It is an opportunity for them to take control of their lives and realize they can make a difference in the world.”

“I see past students in the hallways almost every day who tell me how cool the vision video assignment was and how they still watch it. One 9th grader told me she watched her video the other day and has decided not to be a lawyer but instead wants to become a teacher.”

Here are what some of Mr. Amaral’s students said in their blog posts:

“I learned I have the capability to do whatever I hope and dream for my life.”

“I was so proud of my telavision!! I encourage others to do this to, it is a great experience.”

“My mom and dad were very proud of me when I did my tel.a.vison project. My Mom’s eyes got a little teary.”

“This was our best homework assignment we did all year.”

“Now that I put it out there for everyone to see my goals and dreams there are more people who are believing me and cheering me on.”

And finally there was the girl who had not completed an assignment all year who completed her TEL.A.VISION. She wrote in her blog,”It’s about time that someone asked us what we think.“

Native American Alaskans Make Transitions With TEL.A.VISION

Posted on 28. Dec, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts

Dustin Madden is a teacher at Bartlett High School in Alaska where he strives to teach Alaska Native students in a culturally responsive way. Dustin is excited to learn new ways to help students. One new way became apparent when he learned how to use TEL.A.VISION, web-based software that is designed to help students clarify their personal goals.

Dustin states, “I decided on this project for myself because I felt that the students in my Transitions class would really benefit by doing a project that encouraged them to reflect on how they want to live their lives.” This Transitions class is designed to help the Alaska Native / American Indian students that are currently going through a “transition” in their lives. From class discussions it seemed that many of these students felt uprooted.

Dustin believed that “by helping them to clarify their goals, it would help to think about the life they personally wanted to live, and to start working towards that ideal.” Using this Tel.A.Vision website, students used media tools included text, music/audio, video, and special effects to create a vision of their future, writing down their goals as if they have already happened.

“The benefit of the Tel-A-Vision software is that it the basics can be learned relatively quickly,” says Madden, “Using excellent built-in tutorials, a large number of stock photos, music, and video effects. This allows students to focus more on the “meat” of the project- their vision for their future. The projects turned out so well that Dustin took his class to the Alaska Native Charter School across the bridge from Bartlett and had them present to elementary students.“

Vision Videos Empower Students – District Administration

Posted on 12. Jul, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Media, Power of Vision, TEL.A.VISION News

A new Web-based tool, Tel.A.Vision, inspires young people to dream the possible dream.

By Mary Johnson Patt June 2009

District Administration Magazine, the magazine of School district Management, completed a three page article on TEL.A.VISION  in its June/ July NECC issue. Here is an excerpt: In early March, as he addressed the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., President Obama spoke at great length of the reforms he believes will give Americans “a complete and competitive education, from the cradle up through a career.” The proposals he laid out for improving early childhood education, K12 standards and assessments, graduation rates, teacher quality and college funding will be debated for months to come by thousands of school administrators, teachers, parents and politicians. It was the voice of a single teenager, however, that helped drive the president’s messages home that day.

At the end of his speech, Obama quoted Yvonne Boroquez, a California student whose high school class recently made a video exploring the impact of the economic crisis on their dreams of higher education and professional employment.

“It was heartbreaking that a girl so full of promise was so full of worry that she and her class titled their video ‘Is Anybody Listening?’” Obama said. “I am listening. We are listening. America is listening,” the president assured Boroquez and her classmates.

“We have a huge vision deficit in this country,” Johnson explains. “There is so much fear and negativity, especially in the media. I decided to start a movement about bringing more hope and possibility into the world, and to do it by helping kids create little three-minute visions of what they want their life to become.”

Enter Tel.A.Vision. Johnson’s free Web tool gives today’s tech-savvy youth everything they need to create and share “vision videos.” A Tel.A.Vision is essentially a highly personal montage combining a student’s written hopes and dreams with still photographs, music and computer animation—created with tools available online at www.telavision.tv.

Read the entire District Administration article here

Teachers Driving Web 2.0 Use in Schools Says National Research Survey

Posted on 30. May, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, How to Help!, Web 2.0

While many stakeholders are involved in developing policies on the use of Web 2.0 technologies in K-12 education, new research suggests that teachers are the most important group driving adoption. This is a finding of a recent commissioned by Lightspeed Systems and Thinkronize Inc.

There is a persistent gap between how today’s “digital” kids learn in school and how they work and interact outside of school, a trend that underscores the critical need for districts to keep pace with technological advances and adapt to students’ learning needs.

“The research indicates that the movement toward Web 2.0 use to engage students and address individual learning needs is largely being driven in districts from the bottom up – starting with teachers and students,” said Dr. Jay Sivin-Kachala, vice president and lead researcher for IESD. “Furthermore, the results show that many districts are using or planning to use Web 2.0 tools in teacher professional development, which suggests that teachers will become increasingly comfortable with these technologies and better able to teach students how to use them safely and productively.”

Other key results of the survey include:

* The three most frequently cited reasons for adopting Web 2.0 technologies are: addressing students’ individual learning needs, engaging student interest, and increasing students’ options for access to teaching and learning.

* Online communications with parents and students (e.g., teacher blogs) and digital multimedia resources are the Internet technologies most widely used by teachers, and a majority of districts have plans for adopting these technologies or promoting their use.

These results reinforce what we have found with TEL.A.VISION. Teachers find that TEL.A.VISION is a technology that addresses student’s individual learning needs, engages student interest and teaches them about digital multimedia resources.

The full survey is available here.

TEL.A.VISION Video Leads to Minnesota Student Service Award

Posted on 14. May, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, TEL.A.VISION Stories, Vision Videos

When Heather Palmer, a teacher at Valley View Elementary School in Edina Minnesota, wanted to do a service learning project with her sixth grade class she first turned to the curriculum developed by the 6 Billion Paths to Peace Project. 6 Billion Paths to Peace is an effort to inspire people to focus on our interconnectedness and reflect upon the individual contributions that each of us are making to a more harmonious world.

Heather teaches in a French Immersion class and wanted the students to have a way to practice their French, while considering what they will do in their lives to bring about Peace.

To bring this all together she had the students develop a TEL.A.VISION video, where each student wrote their statement in French and in English and added a photo to their words.

Here is a look at their prize winning video:

Survey: Too many children fear end of Earth

Posted on 24. Apr, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Power of Vision

One out of three children, ages 6-11 years old, fear that the planet won’t exist when they grow up and more than half believe that the Earth will not be as good a place to live.

That’s according to a new telephone survey of 500 pre-teens commissioned by Habitat Heroes, the first global, social networking web site for young people, and conducted by CARAVAN Opinion Research Corporation.

The survey, conducted April 3-7, comprised 250 males and 250 females 6 to 11 years of age, living in private households in the continental United States.

Minority children worried the most with 75 percent of black children and 65 percent of Hispanic children fearing the planet was going to deteriorate before they grew up.

This is more evidence that TEL.A.VISION is needed to turn our children’s attention to hope vs. fear.

DIVAs aim for right notes

Posted on 21. Apr, 2009 by Ringmaster in All Posts, Power of Vision, TEL.A.VISION News

Project DIVA connects caring adults who act as mentors with girls planning where their lives will take them.

Photo by Neal St. Anthony

In a front page business section article in today’s Star Tribune columnist Neal St. Anthony features project Divas and the difference creating TEL.A.VISION  videos has made in their lives.

“I have a vision of my future that helps me stay on track,” said Caprice Whimper, 16, a student at Dunwoody Academy, a charter school. “I want to be an ‘A’ student. And I want to be an ‘OB-GYN’ doctor. I take care of young siblings. And I always have wanted to help women and kids.”

Teara Hinton, 14, another North Side resident and student at Armstrong High in Plymouth, also envisions a medical career.

“My aunt is a nurse,” Hinton said. “I want to be a doctor, a pediatrician, and work in the city with kids.”

The Divas were training other youth to do TELA.VISION  videos at the Wired for 2020 event sponsored by the Minnesota Mentoring Partnership, www.mentoringworks.org

Here is an example of one of the Diva’s videos: