Sunday, December 14, 2014

17. End of the Year / Interview

The End of the Year is Here!

There is much to do at the end of the year.  This afternoon, I started answering the questions from the reporter from 'Administrators Magazine'  I thought, since this is your program, I'd list some of the questions below and see how you would answer them for this weeks blog assignment.  Some questions seem like they are directed at the teacher, so answer them from both our point of view -or- assume what answer you think I'd give.   Since, I give a lot of responsibility to you guys...go for it.  This is a nice recap of what we've done and after considering your answers, what we might plan for 2015...



Hello Debbie, I am a writer with District Administration magazine. I am writing an article about students in the role of tech support and Dennis Harper of GenerationYES said you would be a good resource for the article. If you are willing, I would like to schedule a half hour phone interview with you between now and Dec. 17. Below are the questions I would like to ask you.  I am on eastern time. The article will be published in the March edition of the magazine.

  1. Describe the overall setup of the program and how it works. Please include who handles what, with what funds, student training, help desk staffing hours, and who is in charge?
  2. Do you have any other student help desk programs, besides the GenYES one, in place?
  3. What is the benefit of having students in a tech support role? Include benefits to: students in the program, teachers and staff, and general student population.
  4. Is the district saving money with this approach?
  5. How has 1:1, BYOD, the proliferation of mobile devices, apps, cloud computing, etc. impacted the need for additional tech resources?
  6. What do you call your students who help with tech support, and how do you promote their availability?
  7. How could you handle tech support if you didn’t use students?
  8. What are the biggest challenges of having students provide tech support?
  9. What are the best features of the GenYES program?  What would you do differently?
  10. Would you recommend this to other school districts? Why?





36 comments:

  1. 1. The program is handled a bit like a club, and a bit like an actual class; the teacher, Ms. Kovesdy, is in charge of the class, but we have a student-elected president, vice-president, treasurer, archivist (I think that's the term), and while Ms. Kovesdy (lovingly named Ms.K) makes many of the important decisions, the students are still allowed to make decisions for the class.

    2. No, GenYES is the only technical support program that I am personally aware of at Shadow Mountain.

    3. For the students in the program, it gives them real experience with what they'll be needing to use in their future jobs; for teachers and other students alike, they have a large, knowledgeable source to go to if they need help with anything.

    4. I'm not sure if there have been any impacts to money saving by using this program as the school's tech help program.

    5. Bring Your Own Device has certainly lowered the need for as many devices in the system. There are still people who do not have their own devices that they are able to bring, but those that have their own devices do not need to use the ones provided by the school.

    6. The students who help with tech support are... just GenYES students, everyone can help their respective teachers with any tech problems they have; similarly, the availability is based on how many GenYES students are in a given teacher's classroom, and how available said students make themselves in their teacher's class.

    7. If we didn't have students in tech support around the school... we might have a full-time team of professional techs on campus which would, by extension, need to be paid.

    8. Some of the biggest challenges are the fact that, while there are many students in the GenYES program at SMHS, there are many more classrooms than there are probably students in the program, and many students are in classes together besides GenYES.

    9. One of the biggest draws to GenYES is technology (naturally), but one of the other major draws would probably have to be an extremely student-guided curriculum; whenever we are about to start a new unit, Ms. Kovesdy brings it before the class, and asks what sort of a project we should do for said unit.

    10. Without a moment's hesitation; it's a fantastic program that teaches students about the world of technology and can help prepare them for a future where there are machines in every single outlet, from agriculture to music. The uses of technology are taking over our world, and we need to be absolutely ready for it.

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  2. 1. The setup up at SMHS’s GenYES is unlike your regular classes that you might take during your four years at Shadow. GenYES is mainly student run, as they can be elected for different positions and put in their input to better improve the program. Our teacher, Mrs. K, is essentially just an overseer of the class.

    2. GenYES in the only class at Shadow Mountain that is heavily technological based, as far as I know.

    3. During today’s ages, lots of kids are extremely smart when it comes to technological issues, and this why GenYES is a necessary class to have at schools across the country. This class allows students to get a real taste of the adult work force that we will soon take place in, in a few years.

    4. If GenYES is saving PVUSD any money, it’s very miniscule at this point, but will hopefully save the school district lots, in the near future.

    5. BYOD has and will save the school lots of money, but there’s the issue that a fraction of students do not own a device of their own, to use during schooling hours.

    6. The students, who handle tech support at SMHS, are of course the GenYES students. A large majority of tech related issues are thrown to the students of GenYES, unless more advance IT workers are needed.

    7. Tech support would have to be handled by the IT workers of PVUSD, if students were not available. If we let IT workers do everything it would take much more time to report the issues and have them come to Shadow.

    8. The biggest challenge of having students provide support, it that not all students who appreciate tech are not in GenYES.

    9. My favorite part of GenYES is that the students are allowed to take control, and provide support and ideas that will actually be used! Personally, I feel we should have a little bit more support on our projects if we need the help.

    10. I would recommend the GenYES program to every school district to further advance this wonderful program.

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  3. Describe the overall setup of the program and how it works. Please include who handles what, with what funds, student training, help desk staffing hours, and who is in charge? Ms. K is in charge of the class, but we have and elected president, vice president, and treasurer. The IT desk is always manned by the media centre staff and students are trained in class.
    Do you have any other student help desk programs, besides the GenYES one, in place? If and teachers or staff have issues they contact Ms. K and she sends one of us to help and get TAP time for a grade.
    What is the benefit of having students in a tech support role? Include benefits to: students in the program, teachers and staff, and general student population. Both students and teachers learn more about the tech used on campus, students learn real world connections, and students can help other students.
    Is the district saving money with this approach? Yes, they do not have to pay an outside source to come in and teach the staff.
    How has 1:1, BYOD, the proliferation of mobile devices, apps, cloud computing, etc. impacted the need for additional tech resources? With new tech come a new need for tech support and the students here are getting the knowledge to help with tech issues.
    What do you call your students who help with tech support, and how do you promote their availability? We call them students, Ms. K tells the teachers if they have issues that we can help so in turn the teachers can ask for help.
    How could you handle tech support if you didn’t use students? Overwhelmed, short staffed, probably pay an outside source for help.
    What are the biggest challenges of having students provide tech support? They don't know everything. And still need to improve people skill per say.
    What are the best features of the GenYES program? What would you do differently? Teaches students valuable resources for the future. Have speakers from big tech companies come in and tell the students how they can apply for a high paying job at big name tech companies.
    Would you recommend this to other school districts? Why? Yes, would save everyone time and money and promote tech usage and teach students valuable skills.

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  4. 1. GenYES is a self teaching group of students, with an over-watching teacher to provide assistance when the group goes off course from the original plan. Knowledge is pooled in the classroom, if a student knows more in one area than another student, they teach one another the basic knowledge to further understand the obstacle they came across before. Students teach each other how to overcome a challenge, and as a group can accomplish anything. Money is received by various businesses funding the program based on how impressed they are with the program. As more amazing projects take place, more businesses fund the process for the students' success.
    When people around the facility need help with technology, they contact the GenYES program. Students are able to help any teacher in need, and register their time spent on TAP time. TAP time constitutes how much work you have done to help outside of the classroom, and affects a students grade depending on if they have reached a certain amount of hours. Nothing limits the students from helping, as there is always a need for technological help around the building. Many teachers will even reach out to the class to contact help instead of waiting for the absent district techs. GenYES offers an easy and quick solution for technological help, and both parties benefit from the experience.

    2. GenYES is currently the only student based technological support group at Shadow Mountain. The district has its own field of paid tech support, but they are rarely on campus. There absence makes it vital for the GenYES group to continue its support throughout the building, and many don't even contact the district tech support when they are available because the class often is able to help much faster.

    3. Shadow Mountain's staff and students both benefit from the GenYES support in the facility. While students may have an error with technology, they know which students to contact for an immediate fix for the issue, without any pay required. When teachers and staff require assistance, they contact the class directly, or ask a student in their classroom who also is in GenYES. The instant method of support available to the school allows a much faster delivery of education to the students. There is never a long wait that delays classes or students from doing work, as a great support team, which is always willing to help, is always available to repair the technology.

    4. The GenYES class is saving a great deal of money from the approach of free technical support. By allowing the class to work on any project imaginable, and go on several trips across the country, the students enjoy being able to help others. They work knowing their free work pays for the class by impressing large businesses around the country. Those businesses allow the class to buy the latest technology, as well as make large class trips to technical conventions. The class is more than just tech support, the minds inside the program bring even more money into the district with the funding of others, all from the students responsibility and knowledge of technology.

    5. ------(out of time, will finish later)-------

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  5. 1. As Cole said, the class is a mix of a normal classroom and a club setup. Mrs. Kovesdy, the teacher, provides the class with a basic structure and instructions, and from there we are to make the class into what we want. There is a student elected president, vice-president, and treasurer, who help lead and handle everything that goes on, including the CTE club. Mrs. K has full authority if need be, but she enjoys letting us lead the class, and turn it into what we want as a whole, as long as work is being done, and learning takes place.

    2. I do not believe that we do here at shadow mountain.

    3. Having students in roles that are actually important teach responsibility, patience, and work ethic. Kids are more likely to receive help from other students, and often students are more tech savvy, so they can help the teachers. This lessens the load on teachers to always be helping, when instead students can help each other.

    4. I feel that they save a little bit of money because it can be very expensive to train teachers on how to use technology, and there is no better training than experience. With all of the devices kids have today, we dont need training in order to help with most things, because we are already experienced.

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  6. 1.) A class is a place with a group of people there to learn from the teacher. The teacher provides instructions and a set of rules for each one. GenYES is not a class. While Mrs. Kovesdy makes important decisions, she simply says it's OUR classroom. The students make the decisions in GenYES, instead of the teacher. That's what makes GenYES at Shadow Mountain so unique.

    2.) I don't think we have that at Shadow Mountain.

    3.) Generally, the students in GenYES that want to pursue their dream at technology masters like they did when they joined GenYES, get to become that because they have the knowledge from Mrs. Kovesdy and their work ethic.

    4.) I honestly haven't been following up in their financial issues if they had any.

    5.)
    |
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    v

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    1. 5.) It saves us loads of money and teaches us at the same time! How great is that?

      6.) GenYES ranks themselves from their skill level and experience in computers.

      7.) The campus wouldn't have technology as much because people would think it was too hard and stressful and eventually fail.

      8.) Students that participate in such activities usually have other activities and other hobbies such as sports, homework, and family issues.

      9.) The best thing about GenYES is the fact that you learn more in this class than you do from college professors and from universities. Dual enrollment would be extremely smart in this class.

      10.) GenYES should be taught in all schools because people need to know more about technology since it's becoming such a big part in our daily lives that we can't put it down.

      Delete
  7. 1.Some of this you can only answer Ms.K but from being in this program for 1 and a half years 74% of this is run by the students. We get the assignment and then we do it by our self with a tiny bit of advice and guide from Ms. K. This allows us to be on our feet.

    2.There are no other programs in the school like ours.

    3.It allows the student to help the teacher learn technology and the questions that teacher asks goes back to the student and keeps them on there feet.

    Genyes
    student< Then teaches leadership
    | /
    Helps /
    v /
    Teachers /
    Students /
    Staff

    Hope that web helps explain it. With the students on there feet but learning leadership from help and sometimes new tings.

    4.Ms. K can answer this the best. I can't say either way but it is helping the students.

    5.It increased it that so our curiosity can show us and teach us new things. This allows us to be ready for anything.

    6.Everyone is a genyes student. No promotions unless end up being a officer for the club. This means that a genyes student ranks himself to how well at technology them self.

    7.The staff would be even more stressed and the campus might not have so much technology.

    8.The biggest challenge is keeping it organized and everyone a chance since their are so many students.

    9. The best is that you explore some engineering to software which gives you a lot of experience in your future. Also the student controls their learning experience because we study to do a project mostly only Ms.K gives us a goal.

    10. This is a great program to teach tech and leadership that can spread and help with coding to hardware.

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    1. my graph got taken away :[

      Delete
    2. https://sites.google.com/a/pvlearners.net/david-shupe-s-site/tech-thoughts check it out here!

      Delete
  8. 1♢ In GenYES the students or more to say tech leaders work, create, and figure technological items, projects, coding, games and many more. The tech Leaders help teachers, students, strangers or even their own families with technology issuses. The Person In charge is mainly the Tech Leaders but the overall person is no other then Debbie Kovesdy or Ms.K for short.
    2♢ From What I know I don't believe theres no other program like GenYES.

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    1. 3♢ The benefits of students in the tech support are endless. The students could learn so much and teach it to many people around places because they get around faster.
      4♢ Well I dont know how to really answer that because how would I know if the district is saving money for the approach, But I believe they are only saving money for themselves.
      5♢ If we do the BYOD it will save the school tons of money, and with that they could get more techonology classes up.
      6♢ Around here GenYES Students or I like to call it Tech Leaders of the Future help anyone in need if they are having trouble with technology, or they want to learn about it.

      Delete
  9. 1. GenYes is very different from other classes at shadow mountain high school. GenYes is run quite a bit by the students because we get to chose what to do and how man points it's worth but only sometimes.

    2. GenYes is the only technical program at shadow mountain high school.

    3. With the technology that we have these days, it is important that we the students know about it and that with our knowledge of this technology we can help others like the staff and teachers.

    4. I'm not sure weather or not the district is saving money or not but they are making people very knowledgeable and creating new people that are great with technology to help them out.

    5. This makes it so that we will need to be very aware of technology and BYOD will definitely save the school money.

    6. The students at this school are just average GenYes students that help whenever we can. A lot of the problems with technology at this school fall to us, the GenYes students unless of course, it requires a higher authority.

    7. If we didn't have students to help with tech support then we probably would have a team of technicians for PVUSD but that would require a lot of money to pay them.

    8. The only risks of having students help with tech support would be that they wont always know what to do so they might need help from others. Also it would just costs a lot of money.

    9. I think it is great that students are involved in helping with technology and that it will definitely help them with the future. The only thing I would change if anything is that it might be better if Ms. K helped us a bit more.

    10. I would recommend this program to other schools and districts because I think it is great that the new generations are taking a liking to technology and that they can help others out.

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  10. 1.I don't know who runs the actual generation yes program but i can tell you that ms.k is the person who runs the genyes class in my opinion it's 50% students 50% ms.k honestly its a great class to take and learn about technology

    ReplyDelete
  11. Describe the overall setup of the program and how it works. Please include who handles what, with what funds, student training, help desk staffing hours, and who is in charge?
    The class of GenYes is composed of three classes/periods. Ms.K is really more of an overseer the class runs itself and the students lead the way we learn and handle the funds and all of that
    Do you have any other student help desk programs, besides the GenYES one, in place?
    yes we have autos and people can email the sutos teacher Mr.Lopez and we can fix their car
    What is the benefit of having students in a tech support role? Include benefits to: students in the program, teachers and staff, and general student population.
    The benefits of being involved in this business is that you can learn new tech and have the feeling that you have helped someone
    Is the district saving money with this approach?
    I
    dont really know if the district will save money Sorry for the inconvenience
    How has 1:1, BYOD, the proliferation of mobile devices, apps, cloud computing, etc. impacted the need for additional tech resources?
    it has impacted the student's/people that can't afford or own a tech device
    What do you call your students who help with tech support, and how do you promote their availability?
    We are just the “Techs” and we just put ourselves out there to help
    How could you handle tech support if you didn’t use students?
    it would take a while but it would get done it would just be one person always
    What are the biggest challenges of having students provide tech support?
    They mess around a lot and sometimes don't get their work done
    What are the best features of the GenYES program? What would you do differently?
    The best feature I think is by having a “personal” computer at school and I wouldn’t change a thing
    Would you recommend this to other school districts? Why?
    yes I would recommend this to other schools because it could give back to the school in the end

    ReplyDelete
  12. 1. The program is like a group and/or club, Ms. K is the admin or owner who sets up and gives ideas of activities or events for the program members to think about. The students can be the members of the club, being able to make decisions or vote on what activity they want to do at the time and if it is something that can be helpful in the future. Their is a co-owner, groups of students doing different activities with leaders helping with whatever and a student board helping with ideas for the program.

    2. No Genyes is the only one at the moment.

    3. Students being in a tech support role can teach whoever in a way that is their favorite way to learn in school. It can give someone the students perspective and help them learn in a easier way.

    4. Yes they are saving money, but a very little amount, nothing that is a game changer

    5. It is helping people who need a device, but students don't have a device for them to use. It helps people who need a device and can't bring in their own, but then again, students don't have one to use themselves.

    6. Students who help with tech support are people who enjoy motivating the community around them with tech skills and skills that will help them in the future. They can be in groups of people who have a certain skill set and when needed one of those students in that group can go and help.

    7. Another way to handle tech support is to use online computer programs or staff who have tech skills and are willing to help with the job at hand.

    8. The biggest challenge is a student could not have the right amount of tech skills to be able to give tech support to the person needing it, and that could either ruin a business or make that person lose the job. This is my biggest worry and i'm sure others biggest worry as well.

    9. In my opinion, the best feature of Genyes is how Ms. K give her students their free will to decide and make big choice on their own. She lets us decide which project they want to do and which will best benefit them the most, without losing a variety of projects for them to do.

    10. Yes, adding this program to other schools would REALLY benefit them. If it's added to other schools, students around the country would be giving major tech support to the communities around them and could be turned into a major program worldwide.

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  13. 1.GenYES is student runned with “help” from the teacher.

    2. Not really.

    3.The newer generations have more tech experience that anyone before.

    4.I’d say yes. We aren’t paid.

    5.With so much advancing technology, there is bound to be problems. More problems more tech people needed.

    6.They are just known as Genyes because everyone in Genyes has their own knowledge and ideas.

    7.Get friends in on it.

    8.Although experienced, students are still growing up and are can be quite naive at this point.

    9.CTSO, a club for GenYES that does many competitions and activities.

    10.I would highly recommend GenYES to other school districts. It gets students to think and be prepared for growing technology.


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  14. 1. I dont know who runs the GenYES program but I will tell you that Ms.K is the person who runs the GenYES class in my option is 50% students and 50% Ms.K. It is a great class to take and learn about technology.
    Do you have any other student help desk programs, besides the GenYES one, in place? That I do not know if others are doing desk programs expect the ones we use in GenYes.

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  15. 1.) Our GenYES club functions as a club, it is owned by Ms. K, but the students run everything. All the GenYES staff are students that are elected by the members of the group. Ms. K is like the referee, and we are the players.

    2.) GenYES is the only computer based program at the school, besides things like graphic design.

    3.) Having students as workers gives them real experience that they can use in the future for bigger things. Be it making a business or just working in retail.

    4.) I don't know how this impacting the PVUSD money. Ms. K probably has more information on this than us.

    5.) The BYOD certainly saves money from the club needing to buy their own devices, but for people who don't own a device but know how to use it it may be a bit harder to do the things we need to.

    6.) The GenYES students can help around with all of their teachers around the campus. Any teacher that needs assistance is more than likely to have at least 1 GenYES student that can assist them at any time.

    7.) If students weren't used we would need to hire professional techs that need to be payed more. There are also IT workers that could help out, but it would be awkward to make a business with the school workers.

    8.) Because there are so many students, its hard to dish out equally how much they can work.

    9.) I love the fact that Ms. K isn't this bad boss, the students run everything. Even though Ms. K is the over-seer, we choose what to do and how we are going to do it.

    10.) Now I would not recommend this to other districts. It's OUR thing. OUR THING. NOBODY STEAL.

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  16. 1.) GenYes is a self taught class. If the students are having too hard of a time, Ms. Kovesdy(Students know her as Ms. K) Will definitely help us. Ms. K is in charge and handles the funds, she always wants to hear our input. The students are referred to as the tech leaders and help with everything they can.

    2.) GenYes is a very unique program and there is no other like it at Shadow Mountain that I can think of.

    3.) The benefit of having students in a tech support role is that, nowadays, technology is being used a lot more than a couple years ago. This benefits the students as they will have an easier time in the future with finding a job and having above average knowledge with technology. This helps other people such as the teachers or the students' family because the students can help them.

    4.) I Believe that the school is saving money with this program because it counts as a class. In this case, the students do not have to spend money to be taught these things, and high school students use this kind of technology every day so we are more familiar with it.

    5.) Students bringing their own device to school decrease the amount of money the school needs to but whatever device is need so that they can spend it on something else that may come up at the last second.

    6.) The students that help with tech support are, of course, GenYes students! If a teacher needs help, with something technology related, a GenYes student will tell him/her that they are available to help.

    7.) If there were not tech support students on campus, all troubles would have to be reported to the district tech support and the problems would hover over our heads until they would be fixed.

    8.) The biggest challenge having students as tech support is that the students sadly cannot focus on only GenYes, we have to do work for other classes.

    Will continue later with #9

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    1. 9.) Some of the best features with GenYes is the independence, collaboration, and the overall uniqueness. I would not do anything differently.

      10.) I would HIGHLY recommend this to other school districts. I think it is a great idea to expand the knowledge of technology.

      Delete
  17. 1) GenYes is a program where students learn about technology, and help teachers or students with any issues they may have during class including technology. There is also a after school program we do, where we are trying to start up a business. There are 3 main branches in this program; the Techs, the Cashiers, and the Hosts. The main person in charge is Mrs. K, although we have students who are the President, Vice-President, ext. Everyone in the program helps make decisions by voting on ideas we present.

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  18. 1. GenYes is something in between a project-based class, a club, and the campus tech support. While the majority of time consists of having an abstract set of instructions for a project, and then (within reason) doing as we please. During school we also take on the role of tech support, helping teachers when they need it during class hours. Between class periods and before and after school, GenYES is run much like a club, raising money through water bottle sales to fund more ambitious projects.
    2. No.
    3. Having students in a tech support role not only helps the teachers and student with their problems, but additionally keeps students aware of tech problems and how to solve them if the same issue should occur again.
    4. Considering the fact that we don't get paid with anything but knowledge, yes.
    5. With more technology, there is a larger demand for knowledge of the vastly growing number of devices and how to use them.

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    1. 6. Students
      7. Much of the smaller level tech issues would likely remain unresolved, and student tech support is perhaps the best and only way to help everyone who needs it.
      8. Students aren't always necessarily willing to help with tech support at all times.
      9. One of the best features of GenYES is the individuality, uniqueness, and creative control given to the students. However, too much freedom can leave some students lost in the infinite world of possibility.
      10. Yes. Cuz I said so.

      Delete
  19. 1. Genyes is a U.S. technology education non-profit organization that works with schools around the world. Dennis Harper is the founder and CEO. Their programs focus on student centered, project-based learning "experiences that impact student's lives and increase student involvement in school and community through technology. In addition, all Generation YES programs improve the use of technology in the school as a whole." - dennis harper
    2. No at least not that i Know of
    3. This program all around benefits the whole school not only enhancing tech knowledge but also character. The helps kids because it opens up many jobs for the future, this benefit teachers because we can help the teachers that maybe do not have very much experience in the tech world and help them out with projectors and other tech equipment.
    4. In the long run i would say yes but but im not completely sure.
    5.

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  20. 1. The GenYES program is basically for students who actually want to get a head start on their career and their future in general. The kids in the program, myself included, are given an assignment and are allowed to do it in whatever way they see fit. The program is very much about how you can handle yourself when given different information and tasks that are out of your comfort zone. Mrs. K is basically the supervisor, but in actuality, we are the ones running the program and ourselves.

    2. We are currently setting up a full-fledged tech support business where people from the community can come and get tech help for $20.

    3. Students are able to take in more information than the average adult, however, they are not as mature as adults or teachers, which makes it hard to keep them all focused on a single goal for long periods of time.

    4. Yes, but they're stubborn about what we can and can't do.

    5. As we progress into the future, we will need to upgrade our tech to fit the modern age. It's just that simple.

    6. They are known as GenYES kids and they are tasked with a certain amount of technology service hours per quarter. They have a special website where they can keep track of these hours and get points for doing so.

    7. You could hire people with advanced knowledge in technology to assist around campus.

    8. They can forget what to do. They may go off task. They might not be interested in helping. Etc.

    9. The biggest feature of GenYES is the CTSO, which is an after school club that organizes parties, improvements for the school. and our current finances. I would like to make the CTSO less business focused and job like and more like a real after school club. We could have lessons in code, computer building, competitive gaming events, and practices. I just wish we could focus on more of this.

    10. Definitely. It's such a great program to have and a truly wonderful experience you shouldn't miss.

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  21. 1. GenYes is different than a normal class in its structure. Not only is it a class one can take in the school day, but also an afterschool club, with awesome projects and (soon to be) a business. Ms. K is the head of the class, but her goal is to allow the students to make as many decisions as possible- which means that GenYes students mostly learn from each other. In terms of the club, there is a president, vice president, and a treasurer.

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    1. 2. No, but we do have helpful students.
      3. I find that we as students learn a great deal from tech support. As a student, I am learning about computers from class, but it is easier to remember the information when I help others. I feel that the teachers also benefit, because they are given one-on one tech support without feeling hurried, since there are many teachers who need the support.
      4. I would say none that I know of, but the district might spend less time and money on tech support programs because of GenYes.
      5. As technology grows, there has become so much to learn that it is simply impossible to learn it all without additional resources. The world of technology has become so confusing that we need help remembering all of different positions of home buttons, or where the settings are on each device or app.
      6. I believe that we will call them techs, or geniuses, when we will open our business. At school, there is no set name for a person who helps with tech support because we all help. I guess if there was a name, it would be “GenYes student.”
      7. I don’t believe that it would be possible to handle the tech support at our school without students. There are so many teachers that it would be extremely impractical, if not impossible, for those who know the material to help every teacher with all of their tech problems.
      8. One of the biggest challenges is knowing the material. I know that I am not an expert with projectors, and so if there is a teacher that needs help with their projector, I cannot provide much help.
      9. I would say that the best feature of the GenYes program is its extreme flexibility. Truthfully, the class is what you want it to be. If you want to learn about picture editing, then you can. If you want to learn about electronics, then you can. GenYes is definitely what you make of it.
      10. I would definitely recommend it to other school districts because of how helpful it is. I feel that GenYes does a lot to help the school, and I think that it can definitely be useful at other schools and districts.

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  22. 1.Gen-yes is a computer program that was setup.So the younger generations can show their technological ideas with the world.
    2.No
    3.Its good to have students in the tech support role because we can connect and understand the other students and also most students now adays have been using technologie since a young age.
    4.When it comes to having to hire professionals yes it does save money but we can not sole everything and professionals are required.
    5.

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  23. 1: Mrs. K in the genYES program acts as much a teacher as a general supervisor. While she handles the funds and some organizing, she leaves much of the class up to us. She lets us decide where to take the class when it comes to learning things. She gives us much freedom in that sense. We talk and learn from eachother and use the internet to learn how to do things.

    2: In our school this is the only program that helps students like this.

    3: It helps students like us who are in the program by teaching us to do vital things that are becoming more and more prevalent in this world. It helps teachers by giving teachers somebody to help them with their computers and fix their technology problems. Other students also benefeit from genYES by having people who actually know how to fix things on the devices.

    4: The district saves money from this program because now they have techs who can more often than not fix the glitchy tech they would otherwise have to go to best buy to get fixed.

    5: All those have increased the need of people who know what they are doing with technology; without us there would be even less people around who know how to fix things.

    6: We call those students "techs" and we are working on a business that runs entirely off of people coming to us for tech help.

    7:

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  24. 1. The setup up at SMHS’s GenYES is unlike your regular class in the fact that GenYES is a mainly student ran class as they can be elected for different positions and put in their input to better improve the program our teacher, Mrs. K, is basic the overseer of the class.

    2. GenYES is the only program I currently know of.

    3. For the students in the program, it gives them real experience with what they'll be needing to use in their future jobs; for teachers and other students alike, they have a large, knowledgeable source to go to if they need help with anything.

    4. I honestly haven't been following up in their financial issues if they had any.

    5. Bring Your Own Device has certainly lowered the need for devises such as a desktop. There are still people who do not have their own devices that they are able to bring.

    6. The students, who handle tech support at SMHS, are the young minds of the GenYES students. A large majority of tech related issues are thrown to the students of GenYES so they can talk about the experiences.

    7. If we didn't have students in tech support around the school. We could have a full-time team of professional techs on campus which would, by extension, need to be paid and would most likely not be cheap.

    8. The biggest issue of having students run something like this is that they are not that experienced and also not very mature in many cases.

    9. My favorite part of GenYES is that the students are allowed to take control, and provide support and ideas that will actually be used. Personally, I feel we should have a little bit more support on our projects if we need the help.

    10. I would recommend this for other school districts because it will teach the kids how to manage their time better and learn what they need for the future.

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  25. 1.GenYes is not a typical class in terms of instruction.You are given a task and you make your project your own.It is much more student mandated than any other class and it is funded mainly by the water selling business.Although the big shots are called by Ms.K, students can directly influence what goes on.
    2.Genyes is the only tech program at shadow mountain at the moment.
    3.With the training students receive from GenYes can really help them in their future by gaining the skills that they need.Teachers receive plenty of help from the students on many tech related issues and of course the whole school benefits ,since they have this option for them
    4.By having students work as tech support,I am almost certain that district would be saving quite the amount of money which would be spent on hiring tech support guys were it not for us
    5.BYOD is a great and cheaper way to get technology to everyone
    6.All of us are tech helpers,However the more advanced students,juniors and seniors are the most common.
    7.Without students,the school would need to hire some tech guys,which would cost quite the amount of cash
    8.Experience is probably the biggest hassle.Some students lack experience so it can be a bit of a hassle to get them the training they need
    9.The fact that students just about run the class really makes it one of a kind and helps them get more involved.As far as doing things different, i have no ideas
    10.Yes,It is by a landslide the greatest way to learn about the field of technology and really helps get into a tech related career.

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  26. 1)The lab is set up with rows of macs and in the middle there is a larger desk(The Campfire). This layout allows us to easily move around the room and work effectively.
    2)Currently we are developing an after school tech help company.
    3)From having students in a tech support role we can benefit the students with a learning experience and a chance to see a teachers point of view. Teachers can call on these students for help with their computers and other tech items.
    4)This saves the school money as they dont have to pay for tech support.
    5)Bring your own device makes it easier for students with their own device. Students who dont have their own device would just use the schools material.
    6)Our techs who help with technology are Students in genyes. They are promoted through faculty.
    7)Our campus contains many tech savy teachers. Esspeccially Mrs. K who in fact teaches genyes.
    8)The biggest problem of having students as tech support is the lack of experience working with people.
    9)Some of the best features of the class has to be how immersed everyone is in the projects. Everyone works hard and it feels like a real business enviroment. I dont think there is anything I would change.
    10)I would reccomend this to other districts because it is a great learning experience for all of the students involved with it.

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  27. 1.I love this class. It's very free for the students and sometimes Mrs. K will let us vote on what our next project will be and how we'll do it.
    2. GenYES is the only tech program I know of. In fact, it's the only reason I went out of district to go to Shadow Mountain instead of Sunnyslope, where all my friends went to.
    3. That is the best kind of learning, in my opinion. Hands-on, fast-paced, interactive, etc. This prepares you more for business than any other class that I have.
    4. Yes. Instead of paying for a huge tech support group or something/someone like that, WE are the tech support and help teachers in our classes with problems for points in GenYES.
    5. All of the technological "advances" has further complicated technology, creating new worlds of possibilities for people to find and create. This leads to a growing world of computers and technology that we would need more people in.
    6. All of us help with tech support. We're still just students, we just know more about computers/technology than most do.
    7. The only staff I know that are good with technology is our teachers Mrs. K and Ms. Mills, so they'd probably be stretched thin if they were alone with all the problems of the school.
    8. The biggest problem would probably be that we don't have too much experience doing this in the field, rather than just in the class room and we're all on our own now.
    9. The freedom is definitely the best part. We are still pushed to succeed in class and pay attention, however we still have our freedom and can usually choose which we do (such as we can do this part of the project, a different part, the blog, etc.) and I like that. Plus, since most, if not all, of us are gamers, we can relate much better than a mixed normal classroom.
    10. I would definitely recommend this for other schools. It's an amazing class, and as I said before, this class alone made me come here (out of district) instead of sunnyslope.

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  28. 1.) The main lab that we always work in is set up with macs that have both Windows and Mac side operating systems, and there is a computer for pretty much everyone in the room, and pretty much the only thing we really use is the computers, there are no papers, aside from a few rubrics for some problems, and all of our assignments are listed on a calendar on the main GenYES site, so if a student misses a day they can easily see what they missed and get up to date.
    2.) We don’t really have any other tech support groups of people outside of those in the program, so we are pretty much the only one at the school.
    3.) The benefits of having the students be in the tech support role is that it gives us a lot more hands on experience in dealing with tech problems than some other stuff, and it also allows us to work with things outside of what we would consider normal work.
    4.) It would appear that the school is saving money because of this program.
    5.) In some cases it seems like some of these don’t have any really negative effect on the needs of additional technological resources, because at some points, if you use your own devices to do work, then that would mean there would be an extra computer or whatever device that someone else can use.
    6.) The names for the students that help with tech supports would commonly be something like Techs, and one way that their availability can be promoted would be the GenYES business that is coming into place, which allows these techs to work on technological problems that teachers might have.
    7.) Maybe another teacher or an actual tech support person that does that for a living, however it would be better to just keep the current system that we have going on.
    8.) One big thing would probably be that some students might not know the solution to a specific tech problem, however if this is in a place like the business or other such thing, then they could ask one of the more proficient tech helpers, and thus learning a bit more because of it.
    9.) I would say that the best part of the program is that it is pretty much a student based thing, because we get our assignments and then we go off on our own and if we need any help on how to do something we either look it up online or ask another student for help, and by doing the class this way, it gives a much bigger business like feel to it, as that is how Ms. K sometimes describes it.
    10.) I would definitely recommend this program to other school districts because the projects we do are usually a lot of fun to do, and it also builds up ways to communicate with your peers easier because of the amount of time spent on the group projects.

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  29. 1. Ms. K acts asa bridge between us and the school administration, getting resources and support. She also puts assignments together that help us to take advantage of our resources. The CTSO council handles decisions on what events we invlve ourselves in and what to do with funds. Students are in charge of how and who they help.

    2. No. GenYes is the only formal one.

    3. Students can involve themselves more on how technology works, teachers don’t have to wait for some trained tech lady like Ms. K to come and fix all of the problems, and the student body can use more reliable tech because there are so many kids working to keep it functional.hat is the benefit of having students in a tech support role?

    4. Money is saved because nobody has to be hired to do the jobs that Genyes kids take care of.


    5. wat

    6. We are called GenYes kids. I guess all the teachers hear about what the GenYes kids are available to do at conferences because they all know what it is.

    7. Hire several more Ms. K’s to cater to every teacher’s technical difficulties.

    8. We rarely know what we’re talking about. Unless you’re Callahan.

    9. All of the cool projects we get to participate in. Not everybody gets to build cars and design websites. To make it a better program, I would involve more active learning with how to set up projectors and stuff that we would actually help teachers out with.

    10. Every school should have a GenYes so that kids have the opportunity to learn about technology in an engaging way. GenYes is pretty much like the most of all that you can have inside of one beautiful goodness.

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