Technology Integration in 21st Century Service-Learning

By: Heather Wells

“Education is the foundation of our democracy -- the stepping-stones for our youth to reach their full potential.”
- George Lucas

It may not be an obvious fit for some, but technology integration and service-learning go hand in hand. Both capitalize on the 21^st Century Skills our students need to reach their potential to individually grow, socially develop, and create a better world.

At this year’s National Service Learning Conference there were clear examples of how students were embedding technology into their service-learning projects. Pioneer High School was one of the leading schools for utilizing technology and social media. As part of the onsite service-learning projects they promoted a mobile phone application to students and the conference community called Cause World that allows people to log “Karma Points” when visiting participating businesses. The points are then converted to dollars backed by corporate sponsors Citi, Kraft, and Proctor & Gamble the user can donate to charitable organizations, such as Carbonfund.org. This is just one example of how one technology tool can be used for service but it has the potential to go much deeper then that.

When thinking about technology integration, educators must think about changing the way they teach. The George Lucas Education Foundation, Edutopia, has some great resources to begin rethinking the process. Project Based Learning (PBL) is just one area Edutopia supports and provides one way for creating a richer experience for students. PBL offers the opportunity for educators to create lessons that are hands on and relevant to the students’ lives. Both technology integration and service learning are key components to successful PBL. Where traditional education is often irrelevant, applying both Service-Learning and Technology Integration gives students the 21^st Century Skills they need to be successful in the future economy.

There are many technology-enhanced, service-learning opportunities out there. Two projects that utilize h.323 videoconferencing are Alex’s Virtual Lemonade Stand and Stand up. Speak Out. Lend a Hand! These projects are coordinated by the Mid-Atlantic Gigapop in Philadelphia for Internet2 (MAGPI) and open to all schools that have h.323 equipment.

Global Kids is another fantastic organization that has some great tools and offerings for using technology with service-learning. They are on the cutting edge for the tools they integrate and are proponents for video game development that approaches global situations differently and with depth that engages students to creatively solve problems.

Other popular social media tools such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Flickr all are great for communicating and sharing resources. They are popular tools and utilizing them will get the word out to a larger community at a faster pace. There is a plethora of tools out there; it can be daunting to try to tackle all of the information at once. My advice to teachers just starting and considering the use of technology is to start with one tool for one purpose. And remember that your greatest resource for learning is your students – and also remember that all of this will not just go away, technology is here to stay.