Research+and+Technology

**Technology and Research**


 * LOWER SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY **


 * Technology and Research (Standards 7 and 8) **


 * LS, MS, US: Elizabeth, Ellyn, Louisa (Karl, Kiki, Kathy, Bill) **

Standard 7: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

Standard 8: Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.


 * SIGNATURE STRENGTHS **


 * PreSchool/PreKindergarten **


 * Students collaborate with Broadcast Journalism students to videotape projects in the Broadcast Journalism studio.


 * Kindergarten **


 * Students use the SmartBoard for word sorts


 * 1st grade **


 * Students use Kidspiration software to prepare storyboards as a precursor to writing their own stories.
 * Students create bookmarks in Microsoft Word.


 * 2nd grade **


 * Students research their characters for the Wax Museum and download photos of their characters from the Internet.
 * Students work with the librarian to access valid print and online resources.


 * 3rd grade **


 * Students create a PowerPoint about a member of the community after interviewing them.
 * Book clubs using iPads are planned
 * Students use Voicethread to report about different subjects. They draw pictures and write about events, and then students and parents comment on it.
 * Students work with Microsoft Word in order to write English essays and articles.
 * With the guidance of the librarian and access to print and online resources, students research Christmas around the world.


 * 4th grade **


 * Students use Comic Life software to write their own comics
 * Students write “Reviews from the Heart.” These are online book reviews that are posted on the Sacred Heart website for others to see.
 * Students research a topic of interest using library resources and present their findings through inquiry-based informational writing.
 * Collaborating with the librarian, students learn the elements of non-fiction, how to access and evaluate information, and sources.


 * AREAS FOR GROWTH **


 * Support **

Lower School teachers could benefit from additional technical support about how to use and integrate the iPad into the classroom.


 * Resources **

Other schools that have a 1:1 ratio with iPads have had more success in integrating them into daily life. It would be beneficial to introduce a 1:1 program in some of the Lower School classroom as a pilot.


 * MIDDLE SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY- Louisa Polos **


 * SIGNATURE STRENGTHS: **


 * 5th and 6th grade: **

The fifth and sixth grade use technology primarily for word processing. The girls are required to type many writing assignments; word processing easily enables student revisions, facilitating the edits that are inevitably part of the writing process. Technology is also used as a means of collaboration for our students, most often using through the use of shared documents and/or wikis. Computer access allows the girls to research and access CSH Media Center resources from classrooms and from home.

The fifth grade’s myth project, an interdisciplinary social studies and English project, requires the students to develop a website that includes factual information, their own creative myth and a video of students acting out their own myth. This project requires research, writing skills, technology skills and adds a level of multimedia skills. We know that during this project, it is essential that students have access to computers.

Teachers often use the projector or the Elmo (a digital document presentation tool) to display grammar lessons and engage a class in a Reading Workshop mini-lesson or for other similar instructional purposes.

Students are also using e-readers more often. Many girls are using iPads, Nooks and/or Kindles during DEAR and Reading Workshop. These tools could also be incorporated into curriculum to engage students in reading. There are also applications that can be uploaded and used to support learning grammar, literature and writing.


 * 7th grade: **

The 7th grade English course uses technology when students write using digital notebooks and when the class uses the SmartBoard. The teacher uses the SmartBoard during class to teach writing, using it to display student work and then to model the revision process. It is particularly useful in showing the progress of a writing piece because the teacher is able to display several drafts in succession. Students do most of their writing on their notebook computers. The ability to quickly save different versions of a writing piece allows them to create a record of development for each piece, and the ease of editing on a computer allows them to easily practice the revision strategies taught in class. Students also use their notebook computers to contribute to the online class reading blog/forum on the Moodle site. They are able to read the postings of their classmates and comment on them, creating a digital community of readers and an ongoing conversation about reading that extends beyond the classroom. The course Moodle page is an important resource for all students, particularly as a repository for important handouts and information such as writing contest deadlines. The teacher is also able to have students post in-class writing assignments directly in Moodle for quick assessment and feedback. Additionally, students and the teacher have past efforts available for reference as progress is made and shared.

In Reading Workshop, an increasing number of students are using e-readers such as the Kindle, Nook and iPad. This has the unexpected effect of encouraging students to read longer texts that they would otherwise shy away from based on the size of the physical volumes. Students can also change font size, a feature not possible with regular texts.


 * 8th grade: **

Technology is used primarily for whole-class instruction: the projection of teaching materials from the computer screen onto the whiteboard.

With regard to reading, teachers enrich print reading experiences by showing videos or photos to expand on text. For example, when an 8th grade group was reading Elie Wiesel’s //Night//, the teacher showed the students multimedia relating to the book: a video of a speech that Wiesel gave about the lessons of the Holocaust, animated maps tracing the spread of concentration camps and the progress of combat in Europe during WWII, and various photos and websites related to Wiesel, //Night//, and the Holocaust.

With regard to writing, some PowerPoint slideshows are presented about various aspects of essays: writing leads, writing endings, aspects of strong personal essays, etc. The teacher also models a lot of revising and editing with passages projected onto the board – the teacher is able to put up a sentence or a paragraph, and either demonstrate how to do improve or correct the work as an example, or else the class and the teacher will work through revisions together as a group. Usually this involves traditional skills relating to writing, but sometimes the teacher will also teach the students a lesson on ways to use Microsoft Word effectively (this constitutes a lesson in technology). For example, when the class was working on their latest essay, the teacher put up a portion of an essay that was totally unformatted – just a block of text – and the teacher walked the students through the proper way to format an essay: where their name and date should go, how to center their title, how to indent the first line of each paragraph, how to get the proper spacing between lines and between paragraphs, etc. Students were fascinated by shortcut keys!


 * AREAS FOR GROWTH IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL: **

The challenge that the fifth and sixth grade face is that the laptop cart is in high demand. It is challenging for teachers to ensure that students have consistent access to computers. Teachers have expressed concern that students may be missing educational opportunities because of this inconsistency in availability of computers. The opportunities missed include but are not limited to compiling online portfolios, creating websites, making digital books, accessing information and creating multimedia projects. These types of assignments are engaging tools that motivate students; the integration of technology in projects often helps the girls become excited about writing.

If many students have their own e-readers, we need to consider how to handle this in the future. We also need to keep equity in mind, as some students’ families may not be able to afford such a device.

The eighth grade teacher is considering a SmartBoard for next year, but he is still assessing what it’s possible to do with one. The SmartBoard’s utility for math classes is obvious, but he is not sure it’s equally useful for English. It might be; he just doesn’t know enough yet to say.

MIDDLE SCHOOL RESEARCH
**__5th Grade__**

Nonfiction research project: “You Be The Expert!” Required resources are texts, databases, websites, etc. The students are required to use at least one book and/or website. Internet resources must be found through the Sacred Heart Media Center Website. The suggested digital resources include Kid Rex and Web Path Express. Collaboration (librarians, colleagues, interdisciplinary/interdepartmental) Fifth graders have been taught how to find information in our school library. The middle school librarian has provided an orientation to help students become capable independent researchers in the library. Students learned how to find books, and then how to evaluate their usefulness. They know to look through them to see if they are appropriate and applicable to their topic. They are also learning how to use the library’s online research tools.

**__8th Grade__** ====The 8th graders do an interdisciplinary research project in Theology and English. The librarian launches the project demonstrating the use of print and online library resources. Ebooks, texts, databases and pertinent websites are used. Students use Noodle Tools to create the bibliography and take notes differentiating between direct quotation, paraphrasing and original ideas. ====


 * UPPER SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY **


 * 9th grade **


 * Students conduct extensive research for the Odyssey Arts Projects which result in group Power Point presentations of works of art over the centuries related to Odysseus’ adventures
 * Students use our brand-new Smartboard for the presentation of material, for example, use of dictionary resources for vocabulary, including use of words in good sentences/phrases and the audio for pronunciation
 * Students use the SMARTBOARD as well for work on sentence structure and other written expression do’s and don’t’s.
 * Students watch all or part of some films to complement our readings: Romeo and Juliet (Zefferelli), The Odyssey (clips), Cry, the Beloved Country (clips)
 * Teacher demonstrates use of Voicethread to teach students to record their own reading of passage in order to improve oral articulation and comprehension.


 * 10th grade/11th grade **


 * Smartboard for interactive display
 * Smartboart for collaborative poetry analysis
 * Wordle.net Students make useful charts and word clouds of characters’ traits and values and compare them
 * Prezi and Powerpoint presentations, e.g. Develop a personalized education plan to re-integrate Ben (//The Fifth Child)// into his family and society.
 * Prezis to analyze and visualize Macbeth's soliloquies and the arc of his character.
 * Google docs and Wikis for collaborative analysis and interpretation. Frankenstein wiki https://eng10frankenwiki.wikispaces.com/ In the Time of the Butterflies Wiki http://eng10butterflies.wikispaces.com/
 * Wordnik.com- an online interactive, comprehensive dictionary
 * Noodlebib.com for research papers on //The Great Gatsby//
 * Jing for short video clips
 * Mindmapping and mapping: using technology apps to visualize textual information
 * Data visualization apps
 * Laptops for note-taking, in-class work
 * Students watch TED videos
 * Use RSA Animate to amplify theme of education in Mary Shelley’s time- show “Changing Education Paradigms” by Ken Robinson and Steven Berlin Johnson animated video about the history of innovation

Both 11th grade teachers use the Moodle extensively. It is an aggregated site for resources, wikis, forums, Reading Logs, blogs etc It is a resource for blended learning.


 * A class Moodle web site is a principal way that the 11th grade integrates technology. From that web site:
 * students find study guides
 * links to important web sites on authors
 * PowerPoints on the historical context of an era
 * film clips from the Discovery Channel on the Transcendentalists, short scenes from //Huckleberry Finn,// background on the Civil Rights Movement
 * discussion forums to post thoughts on different conversation threads
 * The Moodle was a great help last year during all the snow days because students could access even some of the short texts in the anthology.
 * Turnitin.com keeps students away from plagiarism
 * Students use the Elmo to review examples of good writing
 * Students watch films for several texts such as //The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby//, and //Death of a Salesman//
 * Students use the Broadcast Journalism Studio for a panel discussion on Thoreau
 * MP3 Audio clips of a few speeches and poets reading poetry
 * TV Broadcasts of Debates and Speeches (occasionally) to analyze rhetoric and argument from contemporary sources


 * 12th grade **


 * Moodle -- Well developed Moodle page with detailed outline of course
 * Use of Glossary function – students create glossary
 * Very active use of discussion forum by students
 * Sixties Album Project – several years ago, students produced “radio show” podcasts.
 * Last year they produced Blogspot pages on the internet. Blogspot projects included page layout, sound interviews, video interviews, embedding video etc…
 * Here’s the album project portal page which contains a link to the individual projects.
 * __http://sixtiesalbumproject.blogspot.com/__
 * Film Studies – in World Lit Honors, we do a fair amount of film study learning film terminology, some work on how films are put together. Recent films have included: “The Graduate, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest,” “Cry Freedom,” and “Crash.”
 * Music – in the sixties course, we access music files and react to music.
 * Lots of use of the Internet for basic research (i.e. in World Lit Honors, we use the highly substantive and sophisticated Dante Websites – //Danteworlds// and //World of Dante.//)


 * AREAS TO GROW IN UPPER SCHOOL **


 * Additional Training **


 * Ongoing weekly short informative sessions at lunch by technology (who is already doing this) on new applications that might be useful for our faculty. Diigo, for example (online bookmarking and resource sharing), Prezi skils, etc.


 * More Work in the Broadcast Studio **


 * Some teachers would like to devise more projects that the students could work on in the Broadcast Studio.


 * Finding the Balance between Tradition and Technology **


 * There was a strong feeling expressed by some of the Upper School faculty that there is a push to use technology for the sake of using technology when in fact the fundamentals of learning how to be a good reader or writer can be taught without the “bells and whistles” of technology. It is an ongoing challenge for department members to find the balance between staying true to the core methods of teaching English while also being open to the ways that technology might provide an opportunity to reach certain learners or for students to express their talents in a different way.

9th grade

 * Ancestor Narrative: When students studied //My Antonia// at the start of the year, the girls research their own families, concentrating on the generation which would have lived at the same time as Antonia (late 1800’s, early 1900’s). Their research consists of talking with their parents and other relatives (the best were grandparent contacts), consulting genealogies, scoping out major events of the time. Each girl then writes an essay, relating what she has learned and connecting it to the novel.
 * Images Project//:// The girls are currently working on their //Images of ‘The Odyssey’.// See attached project assignment.
 * Students explore the context of each of our readings – Shakespeare, ‘The Samurai’s Garden’, ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’, etc. Google is used in class to find information, for example, about immigration issues when we are reading //The Bean Trees,// or the girls will be given an overnight assignment to collect information.

10th grade
__10th Grade Honors English__ After extensive study and discussion, students read a selection of scholarly pieces selected by their teacher from The Bedford edition of Mary Shelley's //Frankenstein// in order to introduce them to different critical and theoretical perspectives about the text: Marxist, feminist, reader response, psychoanalytic, historical etc. In addition, they read excerpts from Umberto Eco on beauty and ugliness, and a selection of non-fiction pieces in order to come to some conclusions about this essential question: What is the monstrous? They incorporate these views and their own in a synthesis essay about the novel that includes a Works Cited page.

__10th Grade College Prep__ Through the study of //Oedipus Rex// and //Macbeth// students encounter two of the greatest Tragic Heroes ever created. They are the quintessence of what is human. They represent the greatness and the weakness in all of us. Students identify and discuss another tragic hero from history or recent times. A tragic hero is someone who is at the pinnacle of his or her life, but through some major character flaw, he or she is brought low. Students identify subject’s tragic flaw. Students discuss the circumstances of his or her life and explain how these circumstances contributed to his or her downfall. Students compare and contrast this tragic hero with Oedipus and Macbeth.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; text-align: left;">The Librarian launches the research project with instruction on search strategies, subscription databases, eBooks, accessing and evaluating information and plagiarism. Students use Noodle Tools to generate a bibliography, take notes, and differentiate among and correctly cite direct quotations, paraphrasing and original ideas.

11th grade
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">__11th Grade American Literature (College Prep)__ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">A guided and structured research process introduces students to scholarly research in literary criticism. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students develop a research topic related to the //The Great Gatsby// that synthesizes an argument and uses formal MLA documentation, including an annotated Works Cited page in which they evaluate their sources, key ideas, and the writer's bias.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students explore a topic of their own choice in literary criticism. They supplement their own ideas with ideas garnered from scholarly research and literary criticism on aspects of the novel.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">PROCESS: Students explore a possible topic of interest by reading deeply from selections of articles from scholarly databases and journals, provided by their teacher and the Library Director. These are aggregated on the Moodle. They are instructed in ways to develop an inquiry question and shape an argument. This guided and focused research project follows extensive close reading and analysis of the primary text. Students enrich their understanding by examining supplemental texts byliterary critics. They use the NoodleTools tech application to generate WORKS CITED |ANNOTATIONS | NOTECARDS, in which they paraphrase salient information, identify bias, and respond to ideas and claims of the author.Their teacher assists them in developing a focused inquiry question and a working thesis. They follow a scaffolded and structure timeline, step by step in order to practice and internalize the process of inquiry that is research.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">__11th Grade American Literature (Honors)__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Argument / Research Essay with MLA Documentation <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Rationale: One of the most important skills a student can learn is the skill of argumentation—to state a position on a controversial topic and to support that claim with evidence from facts, statistics, anecdotes, authoritative opinions, as well as with emotional and ethical appeals.Students choose a topic and spend a few weeks listening to the news, reading newspapers and magazines, etc. for which you can find enough information. Students consult the OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University for guidelines on MLA documentation, a sample research paper, etc. The librarian spends at least one class with the students, directing them towards appropriate library resources and demonstrating effective searching skills. Students accesss EBooks, databases, academic journals and websites. Students select and evaluate their sources, looking for bias and authenticity. Students use Noodle to create the bibliography and take notes.

12th grade
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">The Seminar in Literature and Thought culminates in a major research project that combines a 6-8 page research paper and a 3-4 page reflection on that research. The research project is closely linked to the student’s service work that she has committed to in her previous years at CSH. Students work closely with their teachers, Mrs. Kerry Bader in the Theology Department who directs and guides the project especially in the early stages, and Mrs. Elizabeth Fernandez, Library Director, who helps students with research skills and resources. The research project attempts to pull together elements students have learned across disciplines over the years and to reinforce a range or research writing skills. These include: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Research work in World Literature Honors and AP Literature is less formalized and usually involves the following focuses.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Use of a range of search engines and databases (i.e. OCLC Worldcat, ArticleFirst, CQ Researcher and so forth)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students required to use a large number of varied sources – both online and others.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students required to include an interview.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Review of basic library skills
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Emphasis on the importance of critical evaluation of sources, especially online sources
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Use of Noodle Tools as organizing rubric for notetaking, bibliographic construction etc…
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Students write proposal, annotated bibliography, drafts and final version.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">The formal elements of constructing a traditional research paper are emphasized.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Strong review of MLA style, citing sources, writing from sources through quoting, summary, and paraphrase.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Emphasis on what plagiarism is and how to avoid mis-paraphrasing
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Research writing with emphasis on critical thinking -- connections to life, to Sacred heart mission, and content of course.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Use of turnitin.com
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Experience of lectures on a range of topics that come from areas of expertise – Sacred Heart and speakers on urban housing, poverty, Voltaire, Book of Job, prison ministry, non-violence, Shakespeare, existentialism etc.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Review of mechanics of research writing – MLA style, quoting, works cited page etc.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Use of focused research, especially use of electronic media – film, music, video, online sources in World Literature Honors. Students do numerous tasks that require online research and reporting on research on the moodle discussion forum. The final project, which is usually creative and practical typically involves much of this kind of research, as well as personal interviews, often audio or video recorded. Students in past years, have constructed blogs, filmed or performed creative pieces, recorded radio podcasts etc…
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Basic research used for contextual analysis of research – i.e. research on a mythic story in order to make an analysis of how a giver writer uses that story or archetype.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Some exposure to secondary literary criticism/commentary (very little)


 * BROADCAST JOURNALISM SELF-STUDY **

**STANDARDS AS THEY APPLY TO BROADCAST JOURNALISM**

Broadcast Journalism is a unique program that prepares students to become effective communicators of the 21st century. This program encompasses nearly every NCTE standard. Learning is hands-on and student-centered. (standards 1, 3, 4). Students learn how to operate cutting-edge technology as well as communication skills such as writing and speaking effectively (standards 4, 7, 8, and 12). They experience real-world deadlines and learn about every aspect of production from operating the cameras to editing (standards 3, 7, 8). Students develop self-confidence as they learn how to share their vision of the world with others (standard 12). As the NCTE Commission recommends, “Media production in schools is an absolute necessity wherever possible, since students need to develop essential critical thinking skills that working with a medium provides. Students also need to tell their own stories in their own voices and through their own eyes, whether in print or in any of a host of other media.”


 * SIGNATURE STRENGTHS **


 * 21st Century Literacy **


 * Broadcast Journalism is a model of 21st century literacy. The program teaches the skills that students need to succeed in school and the workplace in today’s world. Students learn to analyze and present information across platforms, using the web and video.
 * Students are challenged to be active and critical viewers of the media rather than passive, un-reflective viewers. With so much of the world’s information moving towards visual text, it is increasingly important that students learn how to be critical thinkers about the visual texts that surround them.


 * A Resource for All **


 * The studio is a resource for all students in the school from every grade from PreSchool to twelfth grade. More than 580 students from Lower School, Middle School, and Upper School participated in Broadcast Journalism programs in the 2010-2011 school year. Projects ranged from a 5th grade science show that used the green screen to report from outer space to an 11th grade English talk show about transcendentalism. The studio supports a multitude of cross-disciplinary collaborations. Some of the most rewarding experiences in the studio take place when Upper School Broadcast students mentor 4th grade students for their news show.


 * Awards and Recognition **


 * The Broadcast program has been recognized at the local, national, and international level as one of the top high school journalism programs. Broadcast students regularly win recognition and honors for Convent of the Sacred Heart. 25 students have won national Gold Circle awards from Columbia University in the past 7 years. 1 student won a National Student Emmy award, and 1 student won Best Documentary in the nation from the Student Television Network. The Upper School news show, “Today from the Heart” has been recognized as the top show in Fairfield County for the past 5 years. Students experience goal 5 of the Goals and Criteria by realizing their creative potential.


 * Real-World Learning **


 * The Broadcast program offers students the opportunity to work with media professionals. The CSH Film Festival provides an opportunity for students to share their work with a wider audience and to receive feedback from judges. The 2011 judges included NBC Sports Announcer Dan Hicks; Creator of “Blues Clues” Angela Santomero; Emmy-award winning Creative Director Greg Santomero; and ESPN Sports Newscaster Hannah Storm. The judges wrote detailed comments for each entry, and they commended the students for their technical abilities and vision. More than seven alumnae of the Broadcast program have gone on to work in the media field.

**Giving Back to the Community**


 * Students are applying Goal 3 of the Goals and Criteria to meaningfully share their broadcast talents with the wider community. Broadcast students have volunteered more than 450 hours of community broadcast service to the School by videotaping and editing school events over the past few years. In 2010, freshman Lexie Miller developed a broadcast program at the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich. She and four other students met weekly with local Middle School students and taught them broadcast skills. For the past several years, Broadcast students have mentored 7th graders from the Arts Academy. Alex Root, a senior, provided her editing talent for a documentary about Sing Sing prisoners. This video is being shown to at-risk youth to encourage them to avoid a life of imprisonment.


 * Admissions: Helping to Attract Students to Sacred Heart **


 * The broadcast program plays a pivotal role in many parents’ and students’ decision to choose Sacred Heart over other schools. As one incoming parent who chose Sacred Heart said, “We went to a lot of other independent schools, and they all had a gym and a swimming pool, but when we left Sacred Heart on our first tour, all we could talk about was the broadcast studio. It really made Sacred Heart stand out from the other schools."


 * AREAS FOR GROWTH **


 * Resources: There is tremendous interest in all divisions and grades for more integration of the studio with classroom projects. With nearly 600 students using the studio each year, it would be ideal to have an additional full-time staff person to support media projects.


 * Time: An obstacle for some teachers using the studio is time taken from their regular curriculum. Administrators and teachers can work together to carve out pockets of time to take advantage of this unique opportunity.


 * Outreach: Currently, the Broadcast website is hard to find on the website. Many other schools feature videos on their home page. Parents, faculty, and students have shared that they would like to have the broadcast videos be more accessible and prominent on our website. The broadcast program is a signature program at our school and should be highlighted accordingly on our website.


 * Staying Current: An ongoing challenge with Broadcast Journalism is that technology is always changing. The studio was built in 2006 using an analog setup. Since that time, nearly the entire industry has shifted to digital media. The control room and studio cameras will need to be re-configured or replaced in order to remain current. This update will require additional funding beyond the yearly Broadcast budget.