Fiona has been teaching for 11 years. She started out as a 7th grade English and social studies teacher in the Caldwell/West Caldwell school district. She began to use technology when she developed a technology-driven process-writing curriculum for her English program. She then created a technology infused social studies curriculum. The curriculum covered Latin America and Fiona had her students design and build their own interactive multimedia encyclopedias of Latin America using Hyperstudio. This project was enthusiastically received by students and parents, and Fiona found that final exam grades were higher overall than they had been prior to the introduction of the project.

Click here to view a rubric, Ancient City Virtual Museum.

Click here to view "I Dig Odysseus! Interactive Game Rubric."

After leaving Caldwell, Fiona spent two years as a technology coordinator for a private school where she assisted teachers with technology integration. There she developed several templates for multimedia projects that could be adapted around various types of curricular content.

Fiona came to the Woodcliff Middle School in 2000 to teach Computer Applications. She took a workshop conducted by IDE during her first year. She had been familiar with many of the techniques used by IDE earlier and had used them in her previous schools. In Woodcliff Lake however, she was able to set up a classroom environment that reflected the Learner-Active Technology Infused Classroom. She used the IDE rubric model to construct her rubrics. Rubrics are stored in folders in a corner of the classroom. Students pick them up when they come in and can begin working immediately. Fiona conducts benchmark lessons primarily around using the software, and follows up with individual instruction as well as small-group refreshers. Students may complete the rubric requirements in any order they wish - thereby taking ownership of their own time, and judging how best to use it. Aside from the rubrics, Fiona's student resource center is entirely electronic. Students each have access to their own private folders as well as to a common shared folder in which they can access databases of graphics, how-to-sheets, and web links.

Fiona believes that multimedia is one of the best means by which to achieve IDE's model of a transformational educational environment. Students use several different types of multimedia software such as PowerPoint, Hyperstudio, and Macromedia Flash. Using these programs, Fiona has been creating multimedia projects to support content that students are learning in their regular classes. Two of her programs, the "Multimedia Oscars," and "Master of the Game," (submitted with colleagues Barbara Purcell and Melissa Rivielo) have won the New Jersey State Best Practice award.

Fiona's approach to technology-infused content has worked so well that next year Superintendent Dr. Edward Michaelson and Principal Lauren Barbelet have devised an entirely new schedule structure that will allow Fiona to work with core content teachers in their subject areas delivering infused technology projects to students. This will mean that each student will complete at least one technology project in each of their 5 core subjects. Fiona plans to continue using LATIC methods and is hopeful that the next step will include thematically-based units.

Challenges: Fiona's largest challenge is the physical layout of the computer lab. It is constructed in rows of fixed cubicles which impedes small group situations and makes it more difficult to move from student to student.

Benefits: Fiona deals with relatively few behavior problems as most students are naturally drawn to the computer and become easily engaged with their work. Additionally, many students with special needs find that this is an area where they can truly excel.

Quotes:
"Computers is my favorite class!" - Morgan, grade 8

"These are really cool projects." - Samantha, grade 8

"She tricked us! All this time we thought we were having fun and we were really learning!" - Scott, grade 7

Software Titles: MS Office (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Publisher), MS Paint, Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Flash, Hyperstudio

Resources: Folders with rubrics, Shared electronic folder/database

The Woodcliff Lake Multimedia Oscars is a program designed and produced by Fiona Hall that allows students to showcase their work in multimedia. Students submit multimedia presentations they have created in either PowerPoint, Hyperstudio, or Flash. These presentations are anonymously reviewed by a panel of judges made up of parents and students. Students may be nominated in one of five categories: Best Animation, Best Sound Interpretation, Best Content/Writing, Best Visual Design, and Best Original Graphics.

The "nominees" are invited to attend a gala event in formal attire where sample clips of their work are shown to the audience and they can receive an actual "Oscar" statue in recognition of their work. Nominees walk in on a red carpet and are interviewed prior to the event, which is modeled on Hollywood's Academy Awards. Every nominee goes home with either a 3rd, 2nd, or 1st place statue.

The Multimedia Oscars won a New Jersey State Best Practice Award in 2002 in the area of technology.

Click here to view the projects.

Click here to view the Murder Mystery Rubric.

Master of the Game is a program designed by Fiona Hall, Barbara Purcell, and Melissa Riviello. It is designed to promote technology integration, interdisciplinary and thematic study, problem based-learning and the grounding of content within a "real world" context. Students use higher order thinking skills to evaluate content and information from interdisciplinary curricular activities for the purposes of constructing an interactive game using sophisticated multimedia authoring software. The game format is built around a central page in a multimedia program. This page contains links to various clues left for the player who must evaluate all information to solve the problem posed by the game's creator and win. Content for the games has varied from the archaeological study of human origins to the study of forensic science. Each student must apply and integrate New Jersey academic core content standards with advanced technological skills. As the designer of the game, the student anticipates the actions of the player and creates appropriate responses. Critical thinking skills are required as students analyze and evaluate content. Both the player and the creator benefit by gaining valuable academic knowledge and computer skills.

The Fine Art of Technology - This project asks students to research several significant artists and to find some kind of a common thread throughout selected paintings. For example color, style, theme, or subject matter. Students select painting by these artists and choose pieces of each painting. Using Adobe Photoshop, students construct a series of thematic collages using the painting pieces they have chosen. Once completed, the students then spend some time researching significant poets and composers, eventually selecting a poem and a musical work that they feel compliment their collages. These are all put together in a final multimedia presentation.

Click here to view the Photo Montage Rubric.

The Interactive Historic Battle - This project asks students to research a historic battle of their choosing and to create an interactive report on the battle. Students must include the events that lead up to the battle, a timeline of events during the battle, an interactive map of the battle, and a conclusion. The interactive map provides the critical thinking piece. Students are asked to decide upon the three most important events, turning points, or locations of the battle. They label these spots on the map and create links to explanations and pictures about the significance of the events they have chosen to depict. Students then choose music that appropriately depicts the time period of their battle, for example "Yankee Doodle" might be chosen for a piece on the Battle of Bunker Hill. Students, having been exposed to several different multimedia venues, may select the software with which they want to construct their projects.

Click here to view the projects.

Click here to view the rubric.