Reducing the Digital Divide.
Teach IT
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Serve IT is a non-profit clinic at Indiana University. This internship program lets undergraduate students work with real clients and apply skills from the Luddy curriculum.
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Teach IT is a big part of Serve IT, where students help local youth learn about technology. We want to close the digital divide and give young people experiences that will benefit them long-term.
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This page shows important experiences from my Teach IT internship. I worked with two teams, meeting every two weeks to plan lessons and create fun learning activities that had clear goals for students. I will also share team assignments and projects.
Weeks 1-3
Before working with students, interns needed to thoroughly prepare and clearly understand what the next 13 weeks would involve in terms of responsibilities and expectations. These initial three weeks were instrumental in helping us look at detailed future lesson plans, build a supportive learning environment that fosters collaboration, and set meaningful goals for the entire semester ahead.
Week 4 - Team 1 Crestmont
Lesson Plan:
Digital art - walking students through image creation and diving into what kinds of images can be created using technology.
Learning objectives
Students can explain pixels, resolution, and vectors.
Activity
Let students use basic sites like Scratch.com to create images freely.
Reflection
In week four, it was clear that some interns, including me, were unsure what to expect and just kept an open mind. I soon understood that we would be working with students who might be less advantaged, making it harder for them to understand the topics we would cover. Because of this, I realized that it's important to be patient and allow them time to grasp the lessons we were teaching.
Week 4 - Team 2 Lincoln
Activities
Allow students to make their own passwords and discuss why a password is strong or weak.
Learning Objectives
Students will learn to identify strong and weak passwords and give examples of each.
Lesson Plan
Cybersecurity - Educating students about cybersecurity and online safety.
Reflection
I had previously met with Team 1 and had a basic idea of what to expect. With this in mind, I came better prepared and engaged more with students using specific techniques to create a friendly learning environment. By discussing students' personal opinions and using examples related to their interests, they became more involved in conversations, allowing us to explore cybersecurity—a challenging topic for young people.
Week 5 - Team 1 Crestmont
Lesson Plan:
Variables - Teaching students basic understanding of variables
Learning objectives
Students will gain an understanding of how to use and apply variables in basic topics
Activity
Students will participate in a coding website that allows them to learn more about variables
Reflection
This week’s lesson went well. Students were engaged, asking questions and enjoying the activities.
Week 5 - Team 2 Lincoln
Activities
Watch a video on how search engines work and allow student to go on another website to practice searching topics with key words
Learning Objectives
Students will learn to use search engines and how to search effectively for what they need.
Lesson Plan
Search Engines - Allow students to understand browsers
Reflection
This week was well, the age group that we worked this in this team was a lot younger making it harder to create a more engaging learning environment. however, the team persists and we were able to finish the lesson strong.
Week 6 - Team 1 Crestmont
Lesson Plan:
Probability - Teaching students about chance
Learning objectives
Student will be able to understand randomness, probability, and how it is used in the real world
Activity
Student will watch a video on probability. Afterwards, they will play a game that allows them to understand more about the ‘chances’ of certain events happening
Reflection
Students were asking many questions about probability and have been the most engaged this week so far. Overall, the lesson and activities went well.
Week 6 - Team 2 Lincoln
Activities
Students will get a chance to watch a video on animations and create their own
Learning Objectives
Students will learn about the history of animation and understand the similarities and difference of 2-D and 3-D animation
Lesson Plan
Animation - Students in this age group will learn about animation 2-d and 3-d
Reflection
Students within this group really enjoyed animations and had many questions about how animation works. They were engaged and asked to learn more about animations in the following week.
Week 7 - Team 1 Crestmont
Lesson Plan:
Algorithms - Students had a chance this week to understand how algorithms work
Learning objectives
Understand what an algorithm is and how to apply it in topics like coding or math
Activity
Students will have a chance at playing a game where they must give directions to an angry bird using certain algorithms
Reflection
Students really enjoyed this lesson as a student from the previous week asked to learn about coding. The activity really pushed the students to want to play more. As similar to the other weeks, students were engaged and learning.
Week 7 - Team 2 Lincoln
Activities
Towards the end of the lesson students will get a chance to create their own animations through a website that allows for drawing.
Learning Objectives
Students will learn the basics of just 2-D animation and how it is applied the world today
Lesson Plan
2-D Animation - Students asked to learn more about this topic
Reflection
Students were engaged with the activity and had many questions. There was a hiccup with the activity used, however, the team was able to find an alternative website for the students to use for the activity.
Week 8 - Team 1 Crestmont
Cancelled
Week 8 - Team 2 Lincoln
Lesson Plan:
Algorithms - Students had a chance this week to understand how algorithms work
Learning objectives
Understand what an algorithm is and how to apply it in topics like coding or math
Activity
Students will have a chance at playing a game where they must give directions to an angry bird using certain algorithms
Reflection
Similar to with what the Crestmont team did, the Lincoln team decided to also do algorithms. I was able to facilitate this lesson more since I went through this in the prior weeks. Similarly, students were engaged, asked questions and enjoyed the activity when it was time.
Week 9 - Team 1 Crestmont
Spring Break
Week 9 - Team 2 Lincoln
Spring Break
Week 10 - Team 1 Crestmont
Lesson Plan:
Online Safety - Students this week will learn about being safe on the internet
Learning objectives
Students will understand how to deal with cyberbullying and how to protect their information online
Activity
Students will get a chance to participate in creating strong passwords and weak ones as well.
Reflection
Throughout the lesson, students were engaged and collaborated with one another to come up with ideas on how to deal with cyberbullying and also how to create strong/weak passwords.
Week 10 - Team 2 Lincoln
Lesson Plan:
Sensors - A team member created a lesson plan on sensors
Learning objectives
Understand what types of sensors there are, how they relate to the five human senses, and where they are in the world
Activity
Courtesy of our team member, Gabriel Hernandez, he created a arduino board that was able to track the distance from the sensor to what ever in front of it
Reflection
The most engaging part of the activity was the arduino show where students were able to get in line one by one and test how far they could get the sensor to register. Students would wave their hand over the sensor and step back to further and further which promoted a competitive environment which persuaded other students to participate.
Week 11 - Team 1 Crestmont
Lesson Plan:
Typing - Teaching students how to use the keyboard
Learning objectives
Student will get to understand why typing is important
Activity
Students will get a chance to play a typing game that allows them to focus and practice on their typing skills
Reflection
Although students were confident in their typing skills prior to beginning the presentation, they found that they aren’t as good as they thought! Therefore, they enjoyed the challenge of the typing activity which forced them to type without looking down at their keyboard.
Week 11 - Team 2 Lincoln
Cancelled
Week 12 - Team 1 Crestmont
Cancelled
Reflection
Reflecting on my time here at ServeIT, I have been able to work across two different teams that serve two different locations through the Boys and Girls club. From all the teaching plans, it has been a pleasure being able to not only work with the students but also my peers as well - seeing everyone around me grow academically and professionally is definitely something that I will not forget with my time here during Teach IT!