The video above is great: energetic, polished and professional, informative and inspiring.    It is among the best of its genre, and it make the case: learning needs to adapt to changing times.   In the video, the school district shows a few short glimpses of 21st century education in its schools.

Over at the fine blog The Innovative Educator, Lisa Nielsen has posted it, and challenged a select few educational admin bloggers (not me, but that is ok) to match the video by making one of our own, showcasing 21st century learning at our schools.

If the school couldn’t produce a video message to convey what it is they have to offer for students, what does that say about the school. I think this is a challenge all parents should ask their schools to meet.

On behalf of St. Gregory School, we accept the challenge.  I have already begun meeting with my fine sophomore student videographer, Derek Jobst, and we are preparing an outline and aim to have it completed within a month.

I am beginning to envision some real-life St. Gregory scenes for the video:

Sixth and ninth graders editing each others’ writing on a shared google doc, and then “turn it in” to the teacher by clicking on the share button and sending the invite to their teacher.

Ninth graders presenting their history reports to their classmates using their choice of prezi, bubbles, or glogster EDU.

Eighth graders studying Algebra on their laptops using their on-line textbooks.

Tenth grade pre-calculus students working with our instructional intern, a computer science doctoral candidate from the U. of A., on understanding the mathematics employed in video game design.

High school students engaged in designing their own solar power laptop chargers using laptops, and then building them with electronics, in our Design/Build technology class.

Seventh grade Spanish students recording five minute audio podcasts, in Spanish, for the teacher’s review.

11th and 12 grade East African studies students’ taking their course on-line along with students also interested in the subject from schools in several other states and also preparing their service learning projects for when they travel to Kenya in June.

11th grade AP Government students writing their own textbook, rather than reading one, in a shared wiki-space.

and much more still to come.