Carol Anne McGuire — 2008 ISTE Outstanding Teacher of the Year

Carol Anne McGuire's project "Rock Our World" does just that, rocks the world for students from regional to worldwide. Carol Anne is a Vision Specialist with the Orange Unified School District in Southern California. She is Computer Using Educator's nominee for her dedication to opening the world for not only her blind and visually impaired (VI) students but also for all the students and teachers from around the world. Her students range from K–6th grade and are either blind or visually impaired. Carol describes herself as a "non-techie" teacher that was given her first laptop in December 2002. She immediately saw the power of the technology in aiding her blind students to produce visual projects. She and her students fought the odds and ended up showing the world what a "vision for the future" truly can be. The students wrote their own scripts, shot their own footage with digital video cameras, and edited their scenes using iMovie. Technology became the great equalizer. The message of becoming the producers of knowledge and not just the consumers was more important than ever.

The making of the movies had unexpected outcomes. By creating videos around various curricular projects, these students became better writers, public speakers, and more familiar with technology that they could use in their personal and professionals lives for years to come. Test scores went up, they became better problem solvers and critical thinkers. Their communication skills skyrocketed.

This group of blind students won awards locally and statewide as they presented to Google, Apple and local businesses. Carol Anne began dreaming of a way to connect students from every continent that would collaboratively compose music with GarageBand make movies and meet each other via live video conferencing. Carol Anne found teachers that possessed the technical skills that she lacked and together the project took off. Now her classroom had no walls. Her blind and visually impaired students were learning alongside of students from other continents on core curriculum subjects such as: reading, writing and math. Sighted children were asking to be accepted as a part of her class. The Visually Impaired students were thrilled to be connected with their peers in a new way. Classes not only connected together, but also had the distinct opportunity to learn with real professionals in the subject area. When they learned about the sun, they had access to their own NASA scientist who answered questions and talked to them. When they learned about digital storytelling, they had access to the American Film Institute and their educational resources. They created long-lasting relationships with community members and corporate America. Even in the international community, this group of students was being listened to. From their desks in Anaheim, California, they addressed the Department of Education in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tokyo; Tokyo, Japan and Moscow, Russia.

The project has expanded from Carol Anne's school to now four schools in the Orange Unified School District, two elementary, one middle school and one high school participate. Carol Anne spreads the word of her project as a keynote speaker at conferences around the world on topics such as Global Collaboration, Accessibility, Digital Storytelling, Podcasting, Technology in the Classroom, and Movie Making for the Non-Techie Teacher.

On her Rock Our World site, Carol Anne describes Rock Our World as an exciting way for students to collaborate with other students, and at the same time learn about their world! It involves the entire iLife suite of tools from Apple. Students collaborate across geographical boundaries to make collaborative movies, songs, and tell their stories. They also meet each other in iChat videoconferences to discuss their schools, cultures, and meet new friends around the globe!

For more information, visit www.rockourworld.org to view some of the videos and materials that have been developed to "Rock Our World".