Dr. Dennis Harper and GenYes
August 11, 2006
I recently had the pleasure of an exchange with Dr. Dennis Harper, founder and CEO of Generation YES (Youth and Educators Succeeding) - A Proven Model for School-wide Technology Integration. Renamed to GenYes, this school views the students in Generation Y as agents of change, and was created by Dr. Harper in an effort to, "harness the students' technology expertise and at the same time, expand their learning opportunities".
Amidst an extremely busy schedule (At one point, he was sending emails from an archaic computer with limited internet access in an extremely remote village in Liberia), I was able to catch up with Dr. Harper and ask him a few questions:
A. Hershey: What is the biggest barrier that Generation Y faces in their attempt to create lasting change?
Dr. Harper: Schools and teachers often find themselves in "comfort zones" and find it difficult to change. Seeing students as professional developers, IT support and responsible for their own learning may be seen as potentially beneficial, but too far out of the norm to tackle.
A. Hershey: On the other hand, what do you consider to be the most valuable way that technology has empowered Gen-Y?
Dr. Harper: Blogs and online communities allow our Generation Y students to communicate and learn from each other. Powerful web-based resources and online conferencing are the primary vehicles for preparing Generation Y students to help their schools and communities.
A. Hershey: How does Generation Y operate in the public sector versus the private sector, or within government?
Dr. Harper: Generation Y works with both public and private K-12 schools and districts to prepare students in grades 4-12 to support technology integration for improved student learning. We also work with technology vendors to prepare students to help integrate their products into schools. The federal U.S. Department of Education initially funded the development and assessment of Generation Y through a 5-year Technology Innovation Challenge Grant in 1996. As a successful project, Generation Y continues to work with ED helping other government funded projects sustain and disseminate their work.
A. Hershey: Your website offers the statement, "The Generation www.Y model views students as change agents rather than objects of change." Can you elaborate on this distinction?
Dr. Harper: Most education programs do something to change students. In the Generation Y model, students do something to change educators and education. In the process they themselves are changed for the better. Seldom are students allowed to be part of their education and lives. Schools determine the curriculum, the tests, the teachers, the schedule, etc. Generation Y harnesses the energy and expertise of students to help schools, teachers and other students invent their own lives.
A. Hershey: What recent project are you working on with the Generation Y Foundation?
Dr. Harper: Two recent large Generation Y projects have been (1) building a 21st century school in the war-torn West African country of Liberia and (2) training about 500 8th grade students in California's Central Valley to ensure that over 10,000 7th grade students are technology literate. Details on the progress and results of these two projects can be found at http://www.geny.org
Many thanks to Dr. Harper for finding the time to speak with us. We look forward to more collaboration with him in the future, and continued insight into his work with the Generation Y Foundation in upcoming postings.
Click here for a full biography of Dennis Harper, and here to read about the History and Philosophy behind the Generation YES.
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