Industry Education Website www.genyes.org Type Nonprofit organization | Products See program listing. Founder Dennis Harper | |
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Key people Dennis Harper, Founder & CEO. Sylvia Martinez, President Headquarters Tumwater, Washington, United States Founded 1995, Olympia, Washington, United States | ||
Generation yes digital opportunity symposium
Generation YES (Youth and Educators Succeeding), is a U.S. non-profit organization that works with schools around the world to empower underserved students and ensure that technology investments in education are both cost effective and meaningful. Dennis Harper is the founder and CEO. Generation YES programs focus on student centered, project-based learning "experiences that impact student's lives and increase student involvement in school and community through the use of technology. In addition, all Generation YES programs improve the use of technology in the school as a whole."
Contents
History
Generation YES was founded by Dennis Harper in 1995 when he was a technology director for the Olympia, Washington school district. He wrote a government Technology Innovation Challenge Grant proposal to develop an initiative to involve children in the acceptance of technology in curriculum. The grant was approved in 1996 for five years, concluding in 2001.
Currently, the organization is a 501(c)(3) supported by schools and partnerships with other organizations to develop customized student technology programs.
Programs
Today, Generation YES provides K-12 schools across the U.S. with two foundational programs. GenYES (originally known as Generation www.Y and Generation WHY) has students assist teachers as they integrate technology in classrooms. These students are denoted as Student Technology Leaders. Student Technology Leaders are then partnered with teachers to support efforts to integrate technology in classrooms by doing hardware and software support and even designing professional development.
TechYES focuses on students completing project-based learning activities demonstrating their technology literacy and Common Core competency. In this program, Student Technology Leaders assist other students with the technology elements and initial assessments of projects.
According to Generation YES, more than 1,000 schools are currently using their programs.
Awards and recognition
In 2000, GenYES was awarded one of two "Exemplary" designations by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) Educational Technology Expert Panel. The ED then wrote a publication about Generation YES and its status, reporting that,
Reviewers were impressed by the creativity of [GenYES in] creating a role reversal in which students help support the school's technology infrastructure and partner with teachers in curriculum development.In 2003 Generation YES was named "Rookie of the Year" at the EdNET Industry Awards. Founder Dennis Harper has also received numerous accolades due to his work related to Generation YES.
The company and its programs have been featured in numerous important education publications, technology industry magazines, and academic journals. Edutopia, a respected progressive education magazine published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, has interviewed a www.Y program support specialist in 2001, and subsequently featured Generation YES twice. Other publications, including Educational Leadership and T.H.E. Journal, Curriculum Review have highlighted GenYES as well.
In 2005 the Encyclopedia of Distance Learning wrote that,
Generation YES... prove[s] that the nearly 50 million students in our schools are ready to become our nation's most plentiful and critical resources for educational reform and improvement... Students in GenYES have worked magic... they have made schools places that students want [original emphasis] to be...