Amethyst Technology Night

Last night I had the privilege of participating in the annual technology night at the Amethyst Demonstration School here in London.  My role was to assist with the Bitstrips demonstration, so I was there to answer questions while people were trying out the program and point out some of the possibilities.  The presenter I was helping, Anthony Friday, gave a short talk about the history of Bitstrips and reasons why teachers should use it in the classroom.  We saw six groups of people for twenty minutes each, and most of the time that people spent in our lab was hands on, creating avatars and starting a three panel comic.  I saw some of my multi-literacies classmates there, which was awesome!  Hi guys!  Wasn't that fun?  There were many other technologies that were being demonstrated that night, including Dragon, Kurzweil, and iPads.  I think what was so valuable about the activities were that it was a chance for people to learn about these technologies by actually trying them for themselves.

The night ended with a panel of students talking about how much their lives were changed by attending the Amethyst School.  I feel sappy just thinking about it, just because the amount of confidence that these kids have gained through literacy is so incredible and inspiring.  First of all, for those not familiar with the school, the students all have LDs and are only accepted to the school if they are reading two or more grades below grade level.  The technology and direct instruction used at Amethyst transforms the students' lives; one student said that he started out reading at a grade three level, and was reading at a grade nine level the following year.  The kids who spoke in the panel obviously loved their school very much and were proud of their progress.  The school is a great example of how literacy is about so much more than text on a page.  Technologies that incorporate visual, aural and digital literacy are proving to be effective in helping students achieve their literacy goals.