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Snapshots of Techbridge Programs

Techbridge home >>   Techbridge Programs Joaquin Miller Edna Brewer Frick Bret Harte Montera California School for the Blind Fremont John Swett McClymonds Oakland Tech Berkeley High School Opportunities at Chabot

Joaquin Miller
With Joaquin Miller School, we extended Techbridge to the elementary school level. We discovered that fifth-grade girls are extremely eager to learn new software programs and especially enjoy working with their hands. Teachers, Kathy Moran and Laura Lee, started the program by introducing the girls to the draw program in ClarisWorks. With the skills they develop in Techbridge, these girls will be able to help create a classroom newsletter or a newsletter for an extracurricular group like student council or ecology club. Laura finds, "The girls have great technology skills and are fast learners. The technology skills the girls learn for making a newsletter will be building blocks for many future publishing projects as well as for learning new programs like PowerPoint." Kathy comments, "We know that Techbridge is a huge success because parents are asking that their daughters be considered for next year's program. Girls are also asking when they can join. The word is out!"

This group came to Chabot for a PowerPoint class and within two hours not only had they mastered the basics of PowerPoint but were designing presentations that showed flair and passion. They later met up with their families and were treated to a show in the Ask Jeeves planetarium.

Activities like this one build community spirit and encourage cooperation at Joaquin Miller.

Edna Brewer Middle School
Multimedia inspired the Techbridge program at Edna Brewer. Students made movies and learned a variety of software programs under the guidance of teachers, Ioanna and Sotiria Kollias. The projects were so popular, that the girls came by during lunchtime to work on their projects.

Ioanna and Sotiria have noticed that the program boosts the confidence of their students and that this confidence carries over into their regular classes. Techbridge girls take on leadership roles in their classrooms, helping classmates integrate technology into science and humanities projects.

Students at Edna Brewer receive personal attention from their teachers in Techbridge.

Frick Middle School
This group kept busy with projects on and off the computer. The girls' first project gave them a chance to develop skills—like reading directions and relying on teamwork—that help them outside of Techbridge. This lesson was an introduction to transistors and basic electronic circuit theory. The girls especially enjoyed learning how to solder. At the end of this activity, every girl had a working Blinkie, which was the result of working together step-by-step on the kits. Girls that finished early were encouraged to help those that needed help.

Next, the girls from Frick scanned photos from home to create PowerPoint stories about their families. With the skills they learned in this lesson, the girls are able to make professional presentations in their classes. Under the guidance of teacher Judy McGinty and tech advisor Jeri Countryman, the group grew proficient and confident in their tech skills.

Judy notes, "Getting together on Thursday afternoons with Jeri and the program members has become one of my favorite times of the week. The girls are supportive of each other, willing to try new things, and so creative! It's a joy to close the door and concentrate on our latest projects. I'm learning to turn over more responsibility to the girls for making decisions about what we do during our Techbridge time. They have committees for taking attendance, field trips, guest speakers, purchasing projects, parent events, treats, and clean-up. The only one that isn't going too well is the clean up committee!"

Students at Frick experience a sense of accomplishment with their completed projects.

Bret Harte Middle School 1
Lights, camera, action! Girls at Bret Harte worked on movies. Even though this class met each morning at 7:55 AM, some of the girls were so enthusiastic that they arrived early to get a head start on their projects. Teacher Anthony Cody, shares, "Each team was in charge of its own production from start to finish. The enthusiasm and creativity this unleashes is awesome!"

Anthony recognized the importance of encouraging leadership skills in his students and encouraged them to present their finished projects to peers, parents, and even at professional conferences. We find that these opportunities help girls develop confidence and comfort with public speaking.

Above: Students at Bret Harte learn new technologies through digital storytelling.

Bret Harte Middle School 2
Techbridge became so popular at Bret Harte that a second A period class was added. Julie Froehlig worked with this group on a variety of building projects. With LEGO kits, the girls learned about various simple machines like levers, gears, and inclined planes. With this knowledge, they worked in teams to create robots of their own. Who knows, perhaps one day these girls will be working on robotic systems for NASA.

Above: This team learns about simple machines and robot design with help from teacher, Julie Froehlig.

Montera Middle School

Girls at Montera were introduced to video production by role model, Jane Stevens. Jane, a multimedia journalist and teaching fellow at the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, showed her National Geographic specials. Jane returned the next year to follow up. But before the girls got started on storyboarding their own video projects, they spent several hands-on sessions assembling phone kits. This was one of the most popular activities in Techbridge and built the girls’ confidence with technology. In fact, after assembling her phone kit one Techbridge girl was able to repair the family’s phone. The Montera program was cohosted by computer instructor, Outi Gould, and tech advisor, Jeri Countryman.

Above: Teamwork helps this pair at Montera complete phone kits.

California School for the Blind
Ask girls in Techbridge at CSB what their favorite activity is and you are likely to hear about one of their field trips. Teacher, Marcia Vickroy, takes this group out for trips to help expand the girls' awareness of opportunities in the field of technology. The group hiked along the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, taking photographs of the wildlife and park. For girls who have been told that they can’t take photos because of their visual impairment, the experience was particularly empowering. The photos taken at the Refuge were part of their "See what I hear" journals. Marcia shares, "I will never again say what they can't do."

This puzzle was a fun way to introduce girls at the California School for the Blind to a challenging lesson with technology.

The girls also enjoy building kits. The girls assembled phone kits that included lots of tiny plastic pieces, screws, and nuts. The directions that came with the kits weren’t easy to read or understand, and many of the girls have had no prior experience with kit building. But these factors didn’t dampen the girls’ enthusiasm or ability to successfully put together the kits. Imagine their delight when they called home on the phones they built! This group has taught valuable lessons about kit building to our other Techbridge programs. Lessons like working together, reading directions in a group, and a slow and methodical approach are proving to be winning elements for kit building in Techbridge.

A major project for CSB girls is publishing a school newsletter, The Voice of CSB. The girls conduct interviews, write stories, and take digital photos for the newsletter and, in the process, develop confidence and leadership. This newsletter is distributed to schools for the blind throughout the nation and has a readership of over 400.

  More Techbridge Programs in Action

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD 0080386. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.