Project Driven Learning: ebook
Fenton students invited to present LiveCode app at the Computer-Using Educators conference student showcase

by Heather Laine, Max Schafer

I received the following information from Mr Schafer recently, about a really exciting project his students are involved in.

One of the most exciting events for Fenton students happened in December. Mr. Schafer, a
teacher at Fenton, held a contest.The challenge was to write and illustrate an entire
book about a dog or a cat from an animal shelter.Over 100 students created their own
student-authored books. This is truly amazing, as this contest was completely voluntary,
with no mention of prizes. Most books were written without any assistance from teachers,
although teachers were available for help. There were 100 student judges from 5 classrooms.
Each judge read five books and selected a winner. There were 36 winners, with some books
receiving up to 6 wins.

Five of these books were selected to be made into an app for i-Pads and other devices. In
January there will be a team of five student programmers, five student animators, and five
student voice-over artists working on this app. Fenton students were invited to present
this app at the Computer-Using Educators conference student showcase in Palm Springs in
March. This will be the first time an app made by students will be presented at this
conference. "Mutt-i-grees Tails" will be a free app made using the Live Code programming
language, available in the i-Tunes store for everybody.

Way to go guys! This is a great example of LiveCode in action. I was interested in the innovative use of animals at this charter school - if you want to learn more about the Mutt-i-grees curriculum, you can check it out here.

Mr Schafer has promised to keep me updated about progress on this app, and report back from the conference. I look forward to bringing you that information at a later date!

About CUE
The CUE Conference is the largest and oldest education technology conference in California, and among the largest in the United States. It will be held from 14th to 16th March 2013 and if you are in the Palm Springs area, you might want to drop by and give a cheer for Fenton and their ebook.

(From their website) This conference is for educators, technology coordinators, administrators and those who are looking to see how technology can support student achievement. Many sessions and exhibits will be of special value to those involved in Title I, School Improvement Program, Eisenhower Program, Data and Assessment, Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT), English Language Development (ELD), Special Needs, and GATE. Thousands of teachers, administrators, students and parents, and other professionals will attend the three-day conference.

About the Author Max Schafer is an educator, improvisational actor and teacher, Beatlemaniac, and software developer. His applications include Young Authors, Viola Spolin's Theater Games for the Classroom, Primary Math Gadgets, and Math Gadgets, all created with LiveCode.