As the third year of serving as the facilitator of the Burlington High School Help Desk comes to a close, I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize and thank all of the Help Desk students, especially the graduating seniors, for everything they did throughout the year to support our 1:1 iPad, Google Apps for Education learning environment. This year, our unique program, and the efforts of my students to support technology at BHS, received special attention from the media when we were featured on WBZ’s Eye on Education segment. That experience was definitely a highlight of the year, as was their collaborative blog post “12 Students Speak Out About Digital Citizenship” which to date has received 1,033 views world wide! In total, the BHS Help Desk blog is just shy of of 235,000 views and serves as an incredible model of how student voice can be shared with the use of technology.

Help Desk students not only demonstrated their ability to problem solve, think critically, communicate, and collaborate on a daily basis, they also continued to provide meaningful, authentic examples of what it means to be a responsible citizen, both on and offline. Whether  my students were moderating a Twitter chat, leading tours of the high school, facilitating an episode of Help Desk Live (see all 32 of our season 1 and 2 episodes here), narrating an educational technology screencast, or presenting in-person at education conferences, they consistently represented themselves, and the entire Burlington district, with professionalism, confidence, and maturity. To say I am proud of my students, and the real-world skills they have developed as a result of the Help Desk program, is a huge understatement!

I wish my graduating seniors all the best as they pursue the next phase of their education. I am confident they have the skills and abilities to achieve their personal and professional goals. The highlight video below showcases the experiences of  my students over this past year. It serves as a reminder that when you give them the opportunity, every student has the potential to emerge as a genius!