We're winding up our Global Warming Student Speakout project with a full-page ad in USA Today (11/27/06). This project was in many ways an experiment: can hundreds of students of all ages and from all around the world kick out ideas on combating global warming...in real-time...in record time...and do it online using Google Docs & Spreadsheets? The answer is a resounding YES, I am very happy to say.
We got super-positive feedback from the 80+ schools who participated in the project, and of course all the kids are excited that their schools and ideas will be in the spotlight in the ad. (I'm not sure what page the ad will be on...all I know is that it won't be in the sports section ;-} ) I'll be raiding my local newspaper stand to pick up all the issues I can carry back to the team first thing tomorrow AM!
Check out this example of one Romanian school's brainstorm results in a published Google document...complete with student artwork that complements the class' ideas. And here's a nice anecdote from (coincidentally) another Romanian teacher who organized her class' participation in the project:
"I must confess that they [the students] were extremely enthusiastic. They really liked the fact that they had to brainstorm during the classes and then edit the document on their computers at home. During the brainstorming, which was indeed a real "storm", they came up with a lot of ideas."
-- Ioana Pecheanu, a high school teacher at Vasile Alecsandri National College in Galati, Romania
Many thanks to all the participants in this fun and fruitful project. Please check out the full list of the students' top 50 ideas on the Google Educators site.
