Polk School District has recently launched a new program designed to increase student and teacher use of technology in classroom instruction.

The program, called Generation www.Y, was funded by the Technology Literacy Grant.

A review of the new program is scheduled to be discussed at the Feb. 13 meeting of the Polk School District Board of Education, according to Keith Cromer of the central office staff.

The grant is competitive and each application is graded and based on how it meets the four national goals for technology in education.

The foundation for Generation www.Y is the extensive involvement of students as collaborative partners with their teachers, their school, their school district and the local community to assist in restructuring education through instructional and telecommunications technologies.

Generation www.Y originated as a US Department of Education through Technology Innovation Challenge Grant (TICG).

Over the 18-week course, students develop their information and technology literacy skills as well as research, writing, presentation, mentoring, project development and leadership skills. These skills are then used in collaboration with one of their teachers to infuse technology into their classroom instruction.

After determining an appropriate project, each teacher/ student team creates a draft project proposal and submits it to a Generation www.Y consultant with content area and technology expertise.

The consultant provides feedback on a number of issues, including project feasibility, soundness of purpose, organization of proposal, alignment of project objectives, procedures and assessment as well as the written quality of the proposal.

The class started this current semester at Cedartown High School and if it proves to be successful it will be expanded to other schools in the system next year, Cromer says.