CREST - Community for Rural Education Stewardship and Technology

About the Integrated Technologies

 

Ethnography

Ethnography consists of the description of a culture or community based on firsthand accounts and observations. In the context of CREST, ethnography will be used to describe particular communities and activities that will be the focus of individual school projects. Students and teachers will have the opportunity to develop ethnographic skills such as collecting life histories, conducting one-on-one interviews, community and place name mapping, and documenting everyday life through direct participation. Increasingly technology, such as digital audio recorders, databases, GIS, video cameras and other multimedia tools, is being used by ethnographers to convey the rich history and character of communities and cultures. These technologies will provide an important link to the goals of the CREST project.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology is a tool that relates information to place. With GIS, students can study the Earth and their community in a whole new way. Using GIS students can arrange, display, and analyze information about place (including communities, natural resources, etc.). Using the software students can zoom in and out of maps freely, add layers of new data, and study details and relationships.

The largest benefit of GIS is its ability to help students understand and solve real-world problems. The technology allows users to overlay multiple layers of information and simulate real-world scenarios. By having layers of information attached to real-world coordinates on a map, students are able to visualize patterns, trends and ideas while gaining a better understanding of geographic concepts.

ESRI’s ArcView GIS software has been provided to participating schools by a grant from Tanglewood 4H.

Web Design

Web design is an excellent way to prepare students for the real world by giving them experience in digital communication. By integrating web design into existing curriculum, students can create a personalized web site while learning valuable skills such as communication, basic design and presentation.

In this increasingly digital age, more and more people use the web as a major source of information. That makes it all the more critical when designing a web site to make sure to understand your target audience and display information in a way that will be clear and meaningful for the intended viewers. By building a website from the ground up students will gain experience in design, communication, database development, and project management. While learning these important technology skills, students can be creating a website based on relevant math, science, or history lessons, creating an exercise in using technology to communicate information on a variety of subjects across disciplines.