Information Technology (IT) Education

Former Maine Governor Angus King speaks on education

At the CREST Summer Institute

30:00, MPEG

Former Maine Governor Angus King speaks on education in a changing & technological world, at the CREST Summer Institute held at Bowdoin College in June 2010. CREST is a technology education program of the Island Institute.

CREST at the Capitol – Part 1

9:56, Embed Code

On March 18, 2010, participants in the Island Institute’s Communities for Rural Education, Stewardship, and Technology (CREST) program traveled to Augusta to show off their work to their legislators, and to see Maine political process in action. As a part of the poster session in the Hall of Flags, each school showcased their student work through displays and interactive projects on laptops, and legislators, CREST teachers, students, and others spoke about the CREST project and technology in Maine schools. Part One of this video includes an introduction by Shey Conover of the Island Institute, Speaker of the House Rep. Hannah Pingree, Deputy Commissioner of Education Angela Faherty, and Deer Isle Stonington High School Teacher Kimberly Larsen.

CREST at the Capitol – Part 2

9:56, Embed Code

On March 18, 2010, participants in the Island Institute’s Communities for Rural Education, Stewardship, and Technology (CREST) program traveled to Augusta to show off their work to their legislators, and to see Maine political process in action. As a part of the poster session in the Hall of Flags, each school showcased their student work through displays and interactive projects on laptops, and legislators, CREST teachers, students, and others spoke about the CREST project and technology in Maine schools. Part Two includes St. George Elementary School teacher Joshua McPhail, Mount Desert Island High School student Adam Perruzzi, and Bette Manchester of the Maine International Center for Digital Learning.

Bridging Culture, Community & Science

Inside ITEST Summit

5:44, Quicktime

A comprehensive project for students and teachers, CREST networks 11 island and coastal schools in rural Maine with academic institutions, community stakeholders and IT professionals, to integrate STEM into community-based curriculum projects. Most of CREST’s target population lives in Maine's most remote areas, where opportunities for IT learning are rare. The program’s interdisciplinary approach aims to get students from rural areas excited about how they can use technology to improve their community and how they can apply their love of technology in a future career. Each individual CREST project weaves three focus technologies – web design, ethnography, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into a curriculum addressing the community’s unique challenges. In the featured profile students work with the State marine conservation agency and local fishermen to track critical changes in the lobster population. Students experience first-hand how to apply marine biology, data collection and GIS mapping skills acquired in a formal setting, to support the struggling commercial lobster fishery – the heart of their community’s economy and culture. Another strand of the project artfully weaves sophisticated GIS technology and mapping, Web design, and boat building into a student-inspired ethnography research project to tell the proud story of their ancestors – the Deer Isle Boys.