I would like to share a video that was developed by Pat Kyle, a teacher in the Washington D.C. Public School System who worked with a group of students on the early stages of a project called Stories from Shaw. These students, with the help of Pat, a local public librarian and others within the community, are working to build up a written history of places in their community for inclusion within Wikipedia. Their first piece, still in progress, was written about Shiloh Baptist Church.

What makes this type of assignment motivating? What pitfalls, if any, do you see? What other skills are students learning during this process? Have you tried this with a group of your own students? If you have thoughts on any of these questions, please share your story.

Building Legacy with Wikipedia from Brian Mull on Vimeo.

For more background on Scratch and the “creative thinking spiral,” click here.

Using the support form on their site, we sent a quick email and asked if someone might be able to Skype with us the next day. Within hours, we were contacted by the CEO and Founder of Aviary, Avi Muchnick. He said he would be happy to join us.

Avi and his colleague Michael Galpert joined us the following morning and spent about 20 minutes with us talking about how their fantastic toolset was born. But then, when we were about done, they took the time to talk to the group of teachers in the room and ask them about their thoughts and what features were important to them as educators. They have real interest in the education community and in making their tool a good one for students. I really think that gave the participants a bit of a sense of ownership that they didn’t have prior to the call.

Now, the conversation was great, but during the process, I was able to emphasize an important point that I had been trying to get across during the 3-day workshop. We have the ability to talk to interesting people anywhere in the world. It’s easy, it’s inexpensive and it brings so much more interest into the teaching and learning process.

Click here for a related post about Aviary.

You will learn about a young student and her new online team who are developing their entrepreneurial skills as they develop and share new characters within the Scratch interface.

Finally, Mitch will emphasize how teachers must feel free to be creative, be open to losing a bit of control and help students reflect and make sense of what they are learning.

For more background on Scratch and the “creative thinking spiral,” click here.

When we give students choices we will obtain better results. Daniel Pink gives several business examples where choice of time, technique and team has motivated employees to be more creative and to do better work. However, I would like to focus on how choice empowers and motivates students.  Choice in technique is the easiest of the three to implement in the classroom.

In very basic terms, technique is how students do their work or assignments. Technique is the action the student performs to demonstrate their understanding and mastery of the objective or standard. The goal/standard remains the same but how you reach the goal may be very different. In a typical classroom the teacher defines the goal (objective), the time in which it will be done and assigns the task to be accomplished. For example, after reading a novel an English teacher might give their students the assignment of writing an essay (task) analyzing the two major characters in the book (goal/objective). The assignment might be due in a week from the day it was given (time).

The goal/objective is based on state or national standards. The time may fit within the grading cycle and the amount of time the teacher has to work on that objective or standard. The ultimate goal is for the student to show he/she can analyze how and why the characters act in a certain way and how that relates to the real world and real people.

One way of motivating students to be more creative and to meet the objective is to allow students a choice in how they demonstrate they know how to analyze characters. One choice might still be to write an essay. Some students love to write and are excellent at writing essays. However, other students may not be as proficient in writing or enjoy writing as much as the other student. This is where choice of technique comes into play. Remember the goal was character analysis, not writing proficiency.

Students might be able to analyze the characters in one of several ways:

• Creating a skit that exaggerates the traits of the characters. (Satire)
• Build a web site that the characters might create about themselves.
• Write a resume the characters might submit to an employer.
• Create a movie about the characters’ lives.
• Using the Twitter format of a 140 character message, create Tweets covering the major events in the story.
• Create a simulated Facebook page for the characters. What would be posted on their wall? Who would be their friends? What images would they post etc.
• Use Prezi to develop a time line showing the major actions and decisions made by the characters.
• Create a podcast with a classmate. One person would be the host and the other the characters. The host would interview the characters and bring out the traits and values of the characters.

These are a few random ideas of ways I think students might accomplish the goal. The motivation is that they can now choose how they wish to express themselves. The teacher’s task would be to evaluate how well they met that goal. Evaluation might be based on a rubric that would be applied to all of these assignments. Involving students in the development of the rubric may also help motivate their desire to do the assignment.

Readers may think this sounds good, but would it work in a real classroom? My answer is yes it will. First, I have given assignments like those described above to my students when I was teaching. Second, I just finished a visit to one of the most highly rated private schools in Canada. The students had just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird. The teacher had given them some typical writing assignments, and then concluded the section on character analysis by allowing her students to make choices as to how they could show their understanding and analysis of the characters. I wasn’t able to stay for all of the presentations, but I was able to see three groups present..

Group One: created a “Coke” commercial with the characters being analyzed as the featured characters in the commercial.

Group Two: created a “Jeopardy” game that engaged the entire class in determining which character was the answer to each question. They learned as did the entire class!

Group Three: made a movie of the “Ellen Degenerus” show with Ellen interviewing the characters in the story. I had to leave before I saw if she had them get up and dance.

The amazing thing about this example is that the teacher didn’t know how to use any of the technologies that the students used to create their projects. Her role was to set the goal and objectives and to evaluate the results. I’d like to also note that this was a teacher with numerous years of experience in teaching. She was still willing to both challenge, trust, and allow her students to use technology to demonstrate their learning. Bravo!

To me, this is an excellent illustration of what Daniel Pink means when he writes about motivation based on choice of technique.

This is crossed posted from my blog: anewadventure.org

Jim

The Ning Platform is not directed to children younger than 13 and is offered only to users 13 years of age or older. If you are under 13 years old, please do not use the Ning Platform. Any person who provides their personal information through the Ning Platform represents to us that they are 13 years of age or older.

This can be a huge downer. Thankfully, many sites are starting to come around in an effort to bring their services equally to all no matter what the age, while at the same time meeting safety regulations.

Some sites like Voicethread (http://ed.voicethread.com), Animoto (http://animoto.com/education) and Weebly (http://education.weebly.com/) have opened specific portals on their sites targeted toward students, giving them access in a more controlled environment.

However, if you read the terms of service on some of these sites, there appears to be a contradiction. For example, on Weebly, the terms state:

Users under 13 years of age are prohibited from using the Service.

When faced with these contradictory statements, don’t take them at face value. Email the company and ASK QUESTIONS! Quite often, these terms of service statements were written prior to the launch of a site’s education portal and have not been edited to reflect new thinking.

I’ve had two recent experiences where this was the case. The first example is Aviary (http://www.aviary.com). Like Ning, their terms stated that students under 13 were strictly prohibited. But after I sent them an email expressing that they could still protect students while keeping up with all safety/privacy regulations by requiring parental permission, they changed their terms to state:

In any case the Site is not intended for children under 13 without the constant supervision of a parent or legal guardian. If you are under 13 years of age and not under the constant supervision of a parent or legal guardian, then please do not use the Site. You certify that you are legally permitted to use the Services and access the Site, and you or your legal guardian take full responsibility for the selection and use of the Services and access of the Site.

This happened again with Weebly. While Weebly offers an education portal, their terms of service state that students under 13 are prohibited. After emailing, and again questioning the terms of service, I received the following reply.

You can disregard our terms of service age restriction in this case. It needs to be updated. We have a note when creating student accounts that if students are under 13 years old, parental consent must be obtained.

The moral of this story…Ask Questions and Initiate Change.

Have any of you had a similar experience?

• Learn more about BLC10 keynoter Rahaf Harfoush.
• Contribute to Alan’s upcoming book, Students as Contributors: The Digital Learning Farm.
• Learn more about and schedule an NL Mini-Conference at your school or in your district.
• Contribute to Haiti relief efforts.

In this book, World-renowned curriculum designer Heidi Hayes Jacobs leads an all-star cast of education thought leaders who explain:

• Why K–12 curriculum has to change to reflect new technologies and a globalized world.
• What to keep, what to cut, and what to create to reflect 21st century learning skills.
• Where portfolios and new kinds of assessments fit into accountability mandates.
• How to improve your use of time and space and groupings of students and staff.
• What steps to take to help students gain a global perspective and develop the habits of mind they need to succeed in school, work, and life.
• How to re-engineer schools and teaching to engage and improve students’ media literacy.

Watch the video below to learn more about this book. Additionally, information is available at http://www.novemberlearning.com/jacobs.

According to the American Red Cross:

Countless requests have come from people wanting to help.  The best way to do that is to make a donation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund at redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. Donors can designate their gifts to Haiti relief.  Donations to the International Response Fund allows the American Red Cross to respond to global emergencies and disasters.

In addition, several hundred thousand people have chosen to make a mobile donation.  Donors can text “Haiti” to 90999 on their cell phone to send a $10 donation to support Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.  The mobile giving effort raised more than $3 million by Thursday morning, and all money raised goes to support Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.

Learn more about the American Red Cross relief effort.

Unlike the big boys out there (Photoshop, Illustrator, Garageband, etc.), this service is free, and from the bit I have used it, is fairly stable. Most of my experimentation has been done with the Audio editor. Being that I’m on a Mac and usually use Garageband for audio editing, I was quite impressed with the audio editor’s interface. It’s very similar to Garageband.

Probably the best part of this site is that it’s not only dedicated to providing the tools, but it provides a tutorial area where you can break down different creations to see how they were built. You’re even given all of the source files so that you can follow along. If you’ve never touched something like Photoshop before, the Aviary toolset will walk you through how to use all of the tools in context as you create your own masterpieces.

Try it out and let us know what you think. If you create something with one of the tools, post a link and share.

Mrs. Ruggles is an example of a teacher willing to change and take a risk. She had the self-confidence to tell her students she didn’t know everything! She took a risk and let her students use technology even though she didn’t know everything about the tools. She was willing to let her students independently learn how to use the technology. She is a great example of how to develop independent, life-long learners.

Mrs. Ruggles is a middle school and high school teacher. One of the assignments that she gave to her art students was to create a poster of an artist of their choice. She had different elements that needed to be included in the assignment: history, favorite work, impact and other information about the artist. She changed her assignment by allowing students to choose how they would present their artist. Imagine, giving the power of choice to students! She pointed them to some online tools and provided some ideas of what they might produce. The students could do the traditional poster if that was their choice.

I was amazed at some of the projects the students produced. Also, some students chose technologies that the teacher hadn’t suggested. The samples she showed me included:

· A presentation created in Prezi (prezi.com)

· A traditional poster board that the student took a picture of and posted it on the web.

· A “mock website” for an artist

· A Glogster poster (glogster.com)

· A PowerPoint Presentation posted on Scribd.com

Choice is important to all of us. We want to have a say in our destiny. These projects illustrate the power of giving students a choice. They did excellent work and should be proud of what they have accomplished.

Teachers are often threatened by technology and change. They sometimes feel that they are being forced to change what and how they teach. This project illustrates how technology can be used in meaningful ways and is a small step in a much larger picture. I look forward to seeing more great projects from Mrs. Ruggles’ class.

Many of you who follow us or have been to BLC are quite familiar with the work of Marco Torres and Alas Media. This holiday season, they are heading up an exciting and worthwhile endeavor.

This weekend, they are hosting a day of family portraits, and their goal is to photograph families who might not necessarily have the means to take a portrait. The families that participate will walk away with a portrait to share with their families during the holiday completely FREE.

The Alas Media team is looking for financial assistance in purchasing frames for these photos. If you are interested in helping out, please visit http://alasmedia.chipin.com/help-portrait.

Rahaf Harfoush has accepted our invitation to travel from Geneva to share her insights as a key member of President Barack Obama’s campaign media team. Her extensive knowledge of building social networks provides critical insight into building empowering learning environments. She is also the author of the book, Yes We Did.

Dubbed “the explainer” by Wired magazine, Dr. Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist exploring effects of social media and digital technology on global society.

Mitch Resnick from the MIT Lifelong Kindergarten is back to share his knowledge about building a global community with young children engaged with creative inventions.

Learn more at http://novemberlearning.com/blc/keynote-speakers/.

Additionally, information is provided on Department of Education initiatives created to guide schools in preparing students to be college and career ready. New Jersey schools view parents as valuable partners who inspire their children to achieve and offer support in the education process. This communication was created as part of an effort to keep parents informed about the goals of the New Jersey public education system to prepare an engaged citizenry, who are responsible and caring adults and productive members of a world class workforce.

Follow this link to read Alan’s suggestions.

Go out the main hotel door on St. James Ave. Walk one block and take a right on Berkley St. Cross the street to get to the Arlington T-stop. Take the Heath St. train to the Symphony T-stop (3 stops). Come out of the station and turn right. Walk one block (Burger King will be on your right) and turn left onto Gainsborough St. Jordan Hall is right there. Currently, construction is taking place on the Hall, so look for the building covered in black mesh.

The train costs $2.00 for a one way trip.

If you would like to lead a session or facilitate a discussion, please click the following link and fill out the provided form. We will take the information you provide and schedule your session in a room. Once we have several sessions in place, we will publish the locations of these sessions within the BLC09 group on NL Connect, and we will post them at BLC. If you are not a part of the BLC09 group on NL Connect, please join us now.

We hope that you find these sessions to be a beneficial part of your experience.

Click here to go to the form.

In preparation for BLC and for those who are waiting to register, we have an important deadline approaching that we will remind you of below. In this month’s newsletter, we will discuss:

• the release of our BLC09 conference program
• BLC09 goes mobile
• the deadline for BLC09 discounted hotel rates
• BLC09 daily rates
• two interesting search tools

BLC09 Conference Program has been Released
Our BLC09 conference program has been released and is available from our conference page. As always, the program highlights need to know information, conference schedule, special events and of course all session descriptions.

In recent weeks, we have made several program additions that we are particularly excited about. A few of these additions include:

David Kirkpatrick, current Chairman and Executive Managing Officer of Plymouth Rock Studios and former President of Paramount Pictures, will be delivering a special keynote on Thursday afternoon entitled The Future of Story in a Snack Culture World.

Learn more about David.

Jeff Utecht, Elementary Technology and Learning Coordinator for the International School, Bangkok, Thailand and author of the blog The Thinking Stick will be delivering sessions entitled Beyond E-mail: Communication with your Web Community and Moving from Consumers to Producers of Knowledge: What the Web is Really About.

Learn more about Jeff.

Carrie Kotcho, Education Technologist, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC. Carrie will be delivering sessions entitled Snapshots in Time and OurStory: American History Stories and Activities You Can Do Together.

Learn more about Carrie

To learn more about these presenters and more, we invite you to preview our BLC09 program.

Click here to view the entire program.

BLC09 Goes Mobile
Along with the release of our conference program, we are also excited to share the iPhone friendly version as well. This mobile BLC09 program gives you all of the same information as our regular format program, but in an easy pocket-sized format.

While the mobile version was designed with the iPhone in mind, it is a Web page, so it should be readable on other Web enabled phones as well (we have gotten a report that the site looks great on a Blackberry). Hopefully G1 users, Palm Pre users and others will enjoy the same experience.

To access the program, visit http://www.novemberlearning.com/blc09mobile on your phone. When you get there, if you have an iPhone, tap the plus sign at the bottom of the screen and select Add to Home Screen. From then on, the program will be only a click away. We hope you enjoy this tool.

Deadline on BLC09 Hotel Rates
Last reminder. If you have not yet reserved your room for BLC09, please do so before July 8th. After that date, room pricing will increase significantly. Information about the hotel and a link to the hotel registration site can be found on our Web site.

Click here to view hotel information and to register.

Announcing BLC09 Daily Rates
We have recently been asked about the possibility of offering daily rates for individuals who might only be able to make one or two days of the conference. Our answer, “of course.” If you choose to use this option, simply visit our regular registration page. You will find an area where you can select one or two days. Each day will cost $250.

Of course, we would love to have you all three days as well.

Click here to register.

Two Interesting Search Tools to Explore
We have recently been introduced to two interesting search tools. We encourage you to give them a try.

Twoogle was originally a search tool that allowed users to search Twitter and Google simultaneously. Now, it allows users to search Google, Twitter and more from one location. You can often find some interesting connections within the results.

Click here to try Twoogle.

Yolink is a Firefox add on that allows a user to get a peek into the links of a given site based on a keyword. You can use this tool in a variety of ways. For example, after installing this tool, run a normal Google search for “climate change.” When you get your results, click the search links button in the yolink toolbar to get a preview of the results. Or, visit novemberlearning.com and then once the page is displayed, type books into the yolink search bar. Yolink will scour the site in search of mentions of our books. Yolink has other options as well. Take a look.

Click here to download the Yolink add on for Firefox.

Stay Up-to-Date with November Learning
Be sure not to miss the latest announcements and podcasts from the November Learning team. Below are links that you can use to subscribe to NL Connect, our Web site’s RSS feed, November Learning Twitter account and our November Learning Podcast series.

Join us on NL Connect
Subscribe to our Web site
Subscribe to our podcast series in iTunes
Follow us on Twitter

For more information about BLC09 and to register, visit novemberlearning.com/blc.

EduBloggerCon is based on the idea of an “unconference,” and is being organized by its participants in real time using a wiki. Another way to describe this event is as a “collaborative conference,” where the conference attendees help to build and create a terrific learning experience. The sessions developed for EduBloggerCon will be based on the submissions of sessions that attendees have indicated they are willing to facilitate or would like to learn about.

To learn more about EduBloggerCon, visit this site.

–

Dear NL Communities User,

Several years ago, we introduced a new, free blogging system, November Learning Communities. At the time, this system was one of the premier educational blogging tools available. Educators worldwide joined us in expanding the boundaries of learning through thoughtful writing and global connectivity. However, with ongoing developments in Web technology and more options available in blogging software, our system no longer offers the premium service that we want to provide. Therefore, we have decided to discontinue our November Learning Communities software, effective August 1, 2009.

As a user of our software, we know you are probably disappointed and have several questions in mind. Below, we will address what we think will be some of your most pressing concerns. If you have others, please contact Brian Mull at brian@novemberlearning.com.

Why is November Learning discontinuing the November Learning Communities software?
As newer, more advanced Internet browsers are introduced, shortcomings within our software are being exposed. We are at a point where newer technologies have surpassed the capabilities of our current system and where upgrading is no longer a viable option. We believe that we need to take action now so that we save you even more frustration in the future.

What will happen when the software is shut down?
On August 1st, the server that manages all of our blogging installations will be shut down. You will no longer have access to anything within your blog. Posts, comments, etc. will be inaccessible.

Is there a way to archive all of the posts on our blogs?
In short, no. Newer blogging systems offer the possibility of exporting blogs to bring to another service. Our outdated software does not. We have not found a clean method of exporting blog posts within this installation. The only way to keep your blogs intact and preserve posts and comments would be to copy and paste them elsewhere. We realize that for those of you who have been writing on you blogs for years may have amassed many postings, and a simple copy and paste will be difficult or impossible. Again, we apologize for this.

Are there any other blogging services that November Learning recommends?
There are several options that we can recommend to help you set up new blogs if you choose. They include:

• Registering within our new community which features individual blogs (http://nlconnect.novemberlearning.com)
• Edublogs (http://www.edublogs.org)
• Class Blogmeister (http://www.classblogmeister.com/)
• ePals School Blog (http://www.epals.com/groups/about/page/schoolblog.aspx)
• 21Classes (http://www.21classes.com)

We are not endorsing any one of these in particular, and there are certainly other viable options available. You will need to explore and see what option will work best for you and your situation.

Again, we understand that for many of you, this announcement comes as an unpleasant surprise. We assure you that we did not make this choice easily. After numerous discussions, we believe it is in everyone’s best interest to have you transition to other alternatives. We hope that by giving you several months’ notice, you will have ample time to weigh your options and make a decision on what course of action you choose to take.

If you have further questions, please contact Brian Mull at brian@novemberlearning.com.

Find more videos like this on NL Connect

Alan challenges us to think about the emerging role of “student as contributor” and to globalize our curriculum by linking students with authentic audiences from around the world. (For more on this topic read Alan’s article, Students as Contributors: The Digital Learning Farm.

He also discusses three myths regarding the impact of technology on student learning:

Myth #1: Technology is going to be the great equalizer of society.
In reality, technology is actually polarizing society.

Myth #2: The Internet is going to provide a diversity of opinion. We will have an input of ideas from around the world and generally have a better educated society.
In reality, people are going to the web to get their “version” of the truth.

Myth #3 Technology is going to make kids smarter.
In reality, it’s a distraction. Overall we are missing out on critical thinking.

Questions:
1. What types of real jobs can we give our students? Share your stories.

2. What do you think about Alan’s concept of authentic work and the shift of control from teacher-centered classrooms to student-centered?

3. What are your thoughts on the three myths? Do you have any myths of your own?

We have created a new handout on our resources page which can be viewed and downloaded here. For a brief introduction to the Poll Everywhere service, we have created a video that is available on TeacherTube and YouTube.

To kick off the series, Alan November sits down with Sonny Magana to discuss student-centered learning, dynamic learning communities and 21st century learning environments.

The discussion will be divided into three parts (only the first has been released thus far) that include:

Part 1: Empowering Students with Technology: Emerging Trends and Tools
In part one of this series, Alan explores new and emerging trends in technology integration and discusses the kinds of information and social tools that support student-centered learning.

Part 2: Reinventing Schools
In the second episode of this series, Alan November will discuss the need to transform today’s classrooms from institutions of passive information absorption to dynamic learning communities where students not only take ownership of their own learning, but contribute to the learning of others.

Part 3: A New Literacy
In the final installment of this series, Alan November will share key ideas from his recently published book, Web Literacy for Educators and provide guideposts for educators on their journey towards 21st century learning communities.

To listen to the first installment now, visit the Innovation in Education site.

You can visit and join this community from any page on our Web site or directly at http://nlconnect.novemberlearning.com/.

Through this professional learning network, you will have the opportunity to share useful resources and reflect on your teaching and learning experiences through the use of a personal blog. Additionally, through our forum you can share ideas, ask questions, find project partners and learn what tools other educators find valuable.

It will take some time for this community to develop. Don’t let that discourage you regarding the usefulness of this network. As members of the November Learning team present workshops across the country and around the world, we will be regularly introducing teachers to this network. This means that there will be a constant stream of new users and ideas. Please do the same within your schools. Everyone has something to contribute.

Should you have any questions about how to navigate this new site, post a message in the forum, or let us know. We have many experts, already a part of this community, who are there to lend a hand.

The tutorial below explains how to get a Google Maps account, find the Google Map overlays and add one of these overlays to your own map.

To view this video, I highly recommend that you click on the full screen icon at the bottom right hand corner of the video window. You will see it when the video plays and you hover your mouse over the video window. This video is also available on YouTube and TeacherTube.

Not all students are alike. Based on this knowledge, differentiated instruction applies an approach to teaching and learning so that students have multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas.

Teachers some times think they are being asked to “water” down the curriculum and that differentiated instruction is for the special education or slower students in the class. It is really for everyone. The recent cold weather brought me to a great example of differentiated instruction on a personal level. When I want to know the weather forecast for my city I always use the National Weather Service (NOAA) web site (www.weather.gov).

During may last visit to the site, I thought this is a great way to look at differentiated instruction. People like different representations of the weather. You may like one or more of the following four or more ways the weather is represented on the weather.gov site.

Method One:

Images and brief text:

This is a pretty typical way the weather is represented in the newspaper and on popular weather websites. It gives you a nice glance at the five day forecast.

Method Two:

More days, but all text.

Notice that you get a little more detail. It takes a little longer to read the forecast than to look at the images.

Method Three:

The big picture using radar and Satellite Images.

A bigger picture and more complicated. You have regional radar and wide satellite images and if you know weather patterns or watch the radar loop, you can see the movement of storms.

Method Four:

This is the forecast I use. It makes the most sense to me. You can find it under “Additional Forecast and Information” the third listing on the left, Hourly Weather Graph.

You will get these two graphs and five more. The two graphs shown here show an hour by hour view of the temperature, wind chill, dew point, wind speed, wind direction, and wind gust. The other five graphs show more data. I like it because I can view the change in the forecast over time.

How does this relate to differentiated instruction? If you read through this long-winded (pun intended) post, you most likely thought of the method you like best. You picked the one that gave you the information you needed to know and a way you can grasp what the weather forecast is for the next few days.

I happen to like Method Four. Then again, maybe I am just the slow kid in the class. Wouldn’t it be great if we took the power of technology to help represent information in different ways for different students? Instruction using audio, video, text, animations, pictures, or a combination of all of them. We don’t need to create all the content. Some is created and if we learn to share we can all create part of it.

Jim

PS Special thanks to Brian Montgomery from the National Weather Service for teaching me more about weather than any science teacher I ever had in school.

We are not there yet, but we are beginning  the process of matching those loans. We are tallying up the amounts that each individual has loaned so far, and we are sending each a Kiva gift certificate matching that amount that can be used to make future loans. It is our hope that each lender will lend again either in their own name or through an account created for a school. We believe that experiences like this are important for all students.

We still have a little ways to go before reaching our opening goal. If you would like to help us in this effort and receive a matching gift, please join us on Kiva.

In addition, if you would like to learn more about Kiva and witness the life cycle of a Kiva loan, watch this video created by Kieran Ball, Kiva Fellow for AMK Cambodia.

A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan from Kieran Ball on Vimeo.