MANHATTAN, New York - Like many teachers, Adam Kinory has gradually been introducing technology to his classroom. Teaching at a small public school called the School of the Future, the veteran high school humanities teacher started introducing word processing and spreadsheets several years ago. Later he added Internet research, and then digital portfolios of student work. "None of that was a leap. I didn't really change what I was doing in the classroom," he reflects. But during the past year, he has participated in a technology-integration project called the Digital Edge. "For the first time," Kinory says, "I have reconceptualized my teaching. Technology is no longer an add-on, but part of a whole different way of teaching and learning."

Digital Edge Learning Interchange is an online library of videotaped unit plans and supporting materials that demonstrate how to teach with technology. The project is sponsored by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Apple Computer, and AT&T*. All participating teachers have earned National Board certification.

Students learn to become more discerning consumers of film.

In a unit intended to improve student writing skills, for example, Kinory has blended digital video, film, and word processing, while incorporating active lessons in language arts, history, and media literacy. Called "iMovies: Films Come Alive," the unit is designed to improve the skills required to write a thematic essay by prompting students to think critically.

Kinory launched the unit by leading a class discussion about the 1920s. "Everyone knows a little about Prohibition and the flapper era," the teacher says, but he zeroed in on a watershed event in U.S. history. "During that decade, society made the decision to teach science as a discipline and religion as a belief." That decision didn't come about easily or without conflict. "There were a number of court cases, but one that symbolizes the era is the Scopes trial."

Before he showed students the classic film, "Inherit the Wind," about the Scopes trial, Kinory prepared students to be active viewers. "We talked about what's important in viewing. I didn't want them watching passively; that's behavior learned by watching TV." Instead, he asked students to take notes about key scenes that illustrated the major themes of the era. "I wanted them to be intellectually engaged, and to organize their reactions to the film around big themes.

Kinory made his own list of the scenes that students noted most often. Then, using QuickTime*, he downloaded the 30 most-cited scenes onto CDs. Each student received a copy of the CD to use for research. He explains: "I asked students to choose three scenes that were linked in their mind, then write a thematic statement explaining how the scenes are related." Having the film clips on a CD allowed students to "review infinite times. They could pause, go back, and compare one scene with another."

Next, students expanded their thematic statement into an essay. With a simple click-and-drag command on the keyboard, they could insert video clips right into their document, "in the same way you might use a paragraph of text in a literary essay," Kinory says.

For visual and auditory learners, this approach has obvious appeal. The assignment became more accessible than literary analysis that relies only on reading text. Appealing to additional modalities "helps to lower the entry barriers," Kinory explains, so that all learners can have a chance to be successful. His class includes students of wide-ranging abilities. About a fourth are classified as special education students, primarily because of learning disabilities. "The onus is on me to modify my teaching to accommodate their needs. I need to figure out how to reach out to them without lowering the standards."

For all learners, the writing assignment became more challenging when Kinory asked students to analyze not only theme, but also the artistic elements of the film scenes. "We examined dialog, camera angles, lighting, and how scenes were blocked. For many students, this was the first time they were asked to incorporate those elements into an essay. It becomes a harder assignment with all the added stimuli," he admits, "but the analysis helps students understand that the director has organized certain scenes for a purpose. This was a new idea to many students."

Because he was teaching the unit as part of the Digital Edge project, Kinory also had to introduce his humanities students to the idea of having a video camera recording their classroom experiences. It wasn't an easy sell. "This class includes some students who have not been successful in school," he admits. "By eleventh grade, some are having self-esteem issues. They perceive a wall [when it comes to learning], and that further hampers them." So the idea of being videotaped made some students suspicious.

But soon, Kinory says, "the class was transformed. They saw they were being highlighted in a positive way. Their level of engagement was higher than ever before." Students who behaved differently at first soon forgot that the camera was on. "It became just another part of the classroom."

The students also realized that their teacher was taking some risks himself. "They saw I was trying new things. What came across was that I care about them," he says.

Using technology as an integral part of the project helped "keep the rigor high. It opened new modalities for learning. Students began to see the computer as a tool. This has shown me that it's possible to incorporate technology in a way that changes expectations and achievement. Students who never got it before were successful. At the end of the year," Kinory adds, " they wrote me a letter of thanks. That was a first."

The School of the Future enrolls about 600 students in grades 6-12. Kinory has taught here for 10 of his 12 years in the profession. "The idea is to keep the school small, and allow for personalization and differentiated instruction," he explains.

Participating in the Digital Edge project has prompted Kinory to be more reflective about his own teaching practices. "It's forced me to think more deeply about how I teach. What do I want to change? What could I do better?" Knowing that his work will now reach a large audience via the Internet has "forced me to think about what's significant. I realize that I'm part of a community that extends beyond my own building. That's a quantum leap for me," he adds.

To watch his class videos and learn more about Kinory's units on the Digital Edge, go to http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/deli/nav5.shtml*.

Photos courtesy of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and Digital Edge.