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Hamilton International Middle School’s digital cultural exchange program uses modern technology to connect students in Seattle with schools around the world. Our pilot program began in the Fall of 2002, establishing connections with Peru and Nepal and working with Chinese youth here in Seattle to document Chinese celebrations. The curriculum being developed will be a model for other Hamilton classroom connections being developed around the world. The objective is to promote cultural exploration and understanding while teaching students real-world technology skills. Web site content is typically student-authored. Students use digital cameras and sound recorders to create material for the web site. They use Macromedia’s Fireworks to prepare their photographs and other graphics for the web site, and Macromedia’s Dreamweaver to create their web site.
These web sites provide the foundation for discussions between the schools via email. Questions from peers motivate further cultural self-exploration. Students are encouraged to use their parents and other elders as resources. Non-verbal storytelling, using a series of still pictures combined with ambient sounds, is at the core of the curriculum. After students have developed basic web-building skills, they will be introduced to Macromedia’s Flash to put together their pictures and sounds into a sophisticated multimedia web presentation.
Three projects are underway, with examples shown on this website:
| Chinese Celebrations |
| Our Sister School in Nepal |
| Bridges to Understanding: An Exchange with Peru |
Photo of girls in Nepal (upper right)
courtesy of Tamara Plush, Smudge Productions, LLC