[April 02, 2009]

Learning leadership

Apr 02, 2009 (The Garden City Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Middle school and high school students today are used to carrying iPods, cell phones and laptops.

In a session at Student Universal, a leadership conference conducted Wednesday by Southwest Plains Regional Service Center, students learned about three new technologies they could use for college in the future.

The technology session was held by Tom Barnes, technology coordinator for the service center. He told students about three items: an iPod Touch, the Pulse SmartPen, and Netbooks.

This is the fifth year for the conference and the second year Garden City Community College has hosted it, Joe Coles, student services coordinator for Southwest Plains Regional Service Center, said. The service center, based in Sublette, provides support for school districts throughout the region.

The iPod Touch allows students to listen to and download music and also retrieves e-mail when a wireless signal is detected, and also has a graphing calculator mechanism along with a list of books students can read on the device.

Another gadget was a Netbook, a smaller version of a laptop that sells for about $350.

But students liked a gadget called the Pulse SmartPen, which sells for about $150. The device allows students to record audio using a pen, and once students download the pen onto their computer, images of their notes, plus the audio recording of what was being said at the time the notes were taken, will appear on the screen.

Students were awestruck as Barnes demonstrated the device.

"The pen is pretty cool," said Michalynn English, a senior at Ulysses Career Learning Academy.

English and Lacy Rundell, a sophomore at Ulysses High School, said they would use the pen in college classes.

English said one of her friends goes to a nearby community college and uses the pen often. The two high school students also said it would come in handy when they have a teacher who speaks English as a second language, because there's an option of slowing down the audio.

A survey from the Pew Research Center showed that 85 percent of teenagers ages 12 to 17 used some form of electronic personal communication, including text messaging, e-mail, instant messages or social networking sites.

Barnes said it's a different world today for students, where many middle school students have cell phones and laptops. He added that teachers who are using old-fashioned technology, such as projectors, may be losing the interest of students who are used to newer technology.

The goal of the conference was printed on T-shirts given out to students: Stand up for what's right, even if you're the only one standing.

The service center meets with area high school students to plan the conference, Coles said, and those high school students pick the topics for the sessions.

"It's pretty special," Coles said.

He added that middle school students are more likely to learn about leadership and how to be a good role model when they are taught by high school students rather than adults.

The middle school sessions included Cultural Respect, First Impressions and Perceptions, Role Modeling and Respect.

More than 280 middle school and high school students from 27 schools gathered on the GCCC campus to attend sessions and hear keynote speaker Grant Baldwin, an author and motivational speaker from Springfield, Mo.

Grant is the author of the book, Reality Check, which is a guide for helping students make the transition from high school into college and the real world. He also writes a blog for students centered around challenges middle school, high school and college students face.

To see more of The Garden City Telegram or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gctelegram.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Garden City Telegram, Kan.

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