Bringing the dream to Wallenberg Hall

It is easy for Stanford students and professors to take for granted the extensive technology tools that make Wallenberg Hall classrooms a center for innovative teaching and instantaneous interactive collaboration. But a recent visit by elementary school students from the "I Have a Dream" Program provided a vivid reminder of the impact technology can have in engaging young people in the process of learning.

Gathered in one of the first floor advanced resource classrooms, eight youngsters who are participants in the Costano School program from East Palo Alto tried out Webster boards, videoconferencing and Webcam technology under the guidance of Academic Technology Specialist Dan Gilbert. SCIL researcher Cammie Huang brought her experimental software program on nutrition, giving the third and fourth graders first-hand experience with the strategy games on classroom laptops.

With their feet not quite touching the ground, the youngsters were quickly engrossed as they answered a series of questions about what the human body needs to meet its nutritional needs.

"This visit gave younger students the chance to think about what might be possible in their learning careers," said Gilbert, who gave the students a chance to use the technology in Room 127 of Wallenberg's first floor. "It's great to give kids a chance to learn about learning in a setting that is not school. Hopefully they left Wallenberg Hall with the idea that learning can be meaningful and fun."

The Costano Elementary School program began in 2001 when the "I Have a Dream" Foundation (IHAD) "adopted" the entire first grade of 60 students, referred to as "Dreamers," some of whom visited Wallenberg this summer. By focusing on family/school relationships, the foundation hoped to provide crucial support and incentive to see the first graders through successful school careers. Visits to sites such as Wallenberg, where exciting educational activities take place on a daily basis, are meant to inspire the children. A homework club, assigned mentors and after-school programs augment the program.

IHAD was founded to help children from low-income areas reach their education and career goals by providing a long-term program of mentoring, tutoring and enrichment with the goal of seeing the participants through to college.

"Most of the young people in our program haven't had much exposure to computers and technology" said Stacy Bluth, who brought the IHAD visitors to Wallenberg. "This was a wonderful opportunity for them to learn about something new and to give them a sense of a whole other world of possibilities and opportunities."

For more information on the I Have a Dream Foundation programs visit: http://www.ihadepa.org/Costano.php

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