East Lansing Public Schools Technology Bond Promotional Video

In February 2013, the ELPS community supported the passage of a $5.3 million Technology, Security & Communication bond. Since that approval, the District has been very busy updating and improving on projects that were advertised, including structural technology that directly impacts the classroom. Please watch the following video and direct your attention to the Bond Updates webpage on the ELPS district website for more information. Stay tuned for more information on the technology advancements in the district!

http://content.screencast.com/users/TechSmith_Media/folders/ELPS/media/5d401bd9-d976-4a38-95e2-d7950cf187aa/East%20Lansing_GoestoELPS_Final.mp4

East Lansing #EdTech Teacher Spotlight

Last month, Amy Sayers’ Pre-Calculus class had the opportunity to speak face-to-face with Pardis Sebeti, a Harvard Professor at the Center for Systems Biology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease at Harvard School of Public Health.

“We have been watching her videos about Statistics and Probability this semester in my Pre-Calculus classes. She has a series of videos on Annenberg Learner titled ‘Against All Odds.’” - Sayers

A student in the class, Savannah Sodeman contacted Pardis to see if she would be willing to Skype with her Pre-Calculus class. Pardis and Sayers began a correspondence of setting up a Skype call for the Pre-Calc class.

On Monday, October 27, the class Skyped with Pardis using their Epson document camera and projected the conversation onto their classroom whiteboard. Amy and her class said it was great to see her on the big screen. They were able to move the document camera around the room for Pardis to meet the entire class and Pardis could hear them clearly through the microphone.

“As I told Savanah, I was so thrilled that she reached out. I so enjoyed speaking to Amy and her class. With everything going on, it was just such a great joy to see smart, fun, and just great students. It really really made my day! And it was so clear that Amy is a wonderful teacher. They are very lucky to have her.” – Pardis

Pardis is a Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. She is well known for her current research work on the Ebola virus in Africa.

“The students learned a lot more than just statistics from her; they learned how she has been working on the Ebola virus and other viruses in Africa, and predicted this outbreak was going to happen a few years ago. She is working with the CDC and is in the news often about what she is finding. She even told the students to be aware of another virus called the Lassa virus which should be making news headlines soon. It was a great way for my students to see how math concepts can be applied in real world scenarios.” – Amy Sayers