Student Support Teams to Support Tech Rich Environments

[The Innovative Educator]

How are they selected? When do they meet? What do they do? What is the most significant way these teams have supported teaching and learning in a technology-rich environment?

[gina]

Please look into the TOPS program (Training Opportunites Program). It allows two 8th grade students to get paid for an internship. I use two MOuse Squad kids and they get $ 5.75 an hour to teach them skills like ghostcasting, creating imaging, etc. It is pretty cook because they get paid for their time! Contact James Zimmerman for more information. I am not sure who is eligible, but it is worth a shot.

[Daniel Ackerman]

We currently use of High School Interns to supplement our tech support team. They attend WHEELS high school and are not our students, therefore we can trust them with the password as they do not know any of our students. We also have in class cart monitors that are responsible for maintaining classroom carts.

[Joe Pascarelli]

Since we restarted our MouseSquad this year, I selected students from 6th and 7th grade. These students will continue to grow throughout the years as MouseSquad members. We meet during the extended day. They are currently training to setup Smartboards and assist teachers with notebook software. The Mousesquad will help teachers in the classroom and provide support services such as classroom video creation and digital photography. In addition, they will support basic troubleshooting.

[Chris Burwell]

We've had an active Mouse Squad for three years now. There were about 10 - 20 kids. They met after school once and sometimes twice a week. The facilitator taught them things like SmartBoard set up and troubleshooting, configuring printers, Internet set up, etc. The students advanced through levels of training and when they reached a certain level, they were trusted with the Administrator passwords. Mouse Squad funds have been cut, so I'm unsure how we will proceed.
In each class we have 3 or 4 squad kids who are responsible for distributing and collecting the devices in the morning and afternoon. They are in addition to the Mouse Squad.

[Charles Boyce]

iSquad members are selected by their teachers (teachers are given a form asking for 4 students that they would reccommend). The students are then approved by me. We have about 20 members.

Each homeroom teacher selects 2-4 monitors that are responsible for giving out laptops and moving carts, if necessary.

iSquad meets during their lunch period(s). The iSquad is responsible for troubleshooting minor laptop/smartboard issues.
I find that the students in iSquad become very empowered by their knowledge and responsibilities. They have become the go-to people in the building and many are able to completely act independently.