The ShoWare Center may have been crowded Feb. 3, but the crying cut through the noise like a knife.<\/p>\n
It was a baby needing to be fed.<\/p>\n
Only instead of food, this baby needed a touch to the lips by a \u201cbottle\u201d equipped with a computer chip.<\/p>\n
Programmed to cry every few hours for sleep, food and having its nappies changed, this baby is a small part of a technological revolution taking hold in Kent schools and connecting with students on just about every learning topic.<\/p>\n
In the case of the crying mechanical baby – a part of the Kent School District Technology Expo, as well as a tool in the district\u2019s Exploring Childhood program – the lesson was about parenting.<\/p>\n
Specifically as in \u2013 babies are hard work, especially when you\u2019re balancing their needs with all your other school work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never wanted a child at a young age, but this reassures me of that,\u201d said Kent-Meridian High School student Keyana Angove, 15, in charge of placating the fussy infant at the expo exhibit.<\/p>\n
Bree Devlin, K-M\u2019s department chair said students are coming away with a powerful lesson from these programmable dolls.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the kids have absolutely said they\u2019re not having babies until their 40s,\u201d Devlin said with a grin, as crowds of parents and students moved past her table, some stopping to give the exhibit a look.<\/p>\n
Babies were one of many facets at the Technology Expo, now in its second year at the ShoWare Center.<\/p>\n
Designed to acquaint the community with the many ways Kent students are preparing for the 21st century, this year\u2019s expo drew more than 3,000 visitors to the ShoWare Center.<\/p>\n
Horizon Elementary teacher Vanessa Call was among the educators excitedly pointing out the role of technology in the classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re working on a program called Voice Thread,\u201d said Call, referring to a neat row of first-graders lined up at computer terminals at the expo, headphones on and completely focused on the screens in front of them.<\/p>\n
Voice Thread is a lot like what used to be known as a book report. Only now, the student can watch themselves give the report on the computer, reading from their own writing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey get a chance to hear themselves,\u201d Call said, in addition to sharing their presentations with fellow classmates. Hearing themselves read, she said, ignites that spark to read out loud with emphasis – to really express what those written words on a page are saying. And the sharing part is a good thing, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re listening to their friends read their books,\u201d Call said. \u201cThey\u2019re giving each other encouragement, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maia Caldwell, 6, said she liked the program because it\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like it because you can put your books on it, and comment on other people\u2019s books,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her favorite book to share?<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019The Pigeon Wants a Puppy\u2019,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s really funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kent Schools Superintendent Edward Lee Vargas was among the many adults perusing the exhibits. Looking like a proud parent, Vargas stopped frequently to talk with students and other participants, offering encouraging words.<\/p>\n
Asked what he saw, standing in the bustling event center, surrounded by students, local business people and technology, Vargas kept it succinct.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As the Kent School District faces what could be another major financial setback, due to ongoing state budget cuts, Vargas said what he was seeing at the expo is a template for the district\u2019s future success: continued collaboration between the area business community and the schools community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see our kids, businesses and schools coming together,\u201d Vargas said. \u201cI see the community here, and our business partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to continue this. Those partnerships are our future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeff Thungc, the district\u2019s program manager for Student Technology Educational Partnerships (or STEP), emphasized the key role of the business community in an event like the technology expo, noting approximately 30 businesses had exhibits at the event, and that a number of employers in the community – including the Boeing Co. – were deeply involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want businesses to invest in their community,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat they invest in the community in terms of their (future) workforce, they\u2019re going to get back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thungc said it became clear to him just how talented Kent\u2019s students were when he was approached by someone who wanted to know who was the featured interviewer in a video being shown on the premises that evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody came to me and said, \u2018who did you hire?\u2019\u201d Thungc said. \u201cI said, \u2018we didn\u2019t hire anybody \u2013 that\u2019s a student.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The ShoWare Center may have been crowded Feb. 3, but the crying cut through the noise like a knife. It was a baby needing to be fed. Only instead of food, this baby needed a touch to the lips by a \u201cbottle\u201d equipped with a computer chip.
\nProgrammed to cry every few hours for sleep, food and having its nappies changed, this baby is a small part of a technological revolution taking hold in Kent schools and connecting with students on just about every learning topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":2276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2275"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}