Humanities + Technology = Student Engagement and Creativity

Note: Digital Humanities can be defined in nearly as many different ways as the people speaking about the discipline. For the purposes of this post, we will be looking at this topic through the lens of activity at the intersection of digital technologies and the disciplines of the humanities only.

In Digital Humanities (DH), STEM is combined with humanistic material (for example, literary texts) providing students with new ways to learn and to apply digital skills. Basic literacies for the digital age are critical skill sets and DH provides opportunities to be engaged in this ongoing digital migration. From a big picture perspective, DH is fun, collaborative and meaningful. Let’s take a look at the ways it is used in each division at Harley.

Lower School: Technology, Design-Thinking and More

Jeanne Weber, our technology teacher, is on a mission. Her goal? A high level of digital proficiency and literacy in every student.

She begins with keyboarding and mousing so children are comfortable “getting around” computers. From there the curriculum tackles digital literacy and citizenship. Once basic concepts and skills are understood, the digital world opens up into a space for creating, exploring, and imagining.

Here are glimpses of the curriculum in different grades:

Grade 2: Students concept, design, and build their own model bridges taking into account structure, usage, and materials. This allows them to learn about engineering, design process, and the physical forces at play.

They research and investigate how bridges are made and different varieties of bridges. Since many of the bridges we have today would have seemed like fantasy ideas or not possible to build to ancient peoples, students are encouraged to go beyond what exists today and ‘invent’ a new kind of bridge.

Bridge Design-3D

Children document the project via slideshows and build narration into their presentation using Audacity software for sound-recording and manipulation.

Grade 3: This level tackles a unique design-thinking project each year. Recently, students created toys for nursery students (age 3) including a marble track, vehicles, and dolls. They interviewed nursery students and teachers, then brainstormed (ideas, size, color, shape). They wrote and delivered proposals to nursery—and, like real-life, these came back with “change orders” to take into account.

The students built prototypes and wrote about the project in their journals, tackling questions such as: What was my biggest challenge? or What surprised me the most?

One of the biggest benefits of design-thinking is actually pondering the thinking part and analyzing the process.

Grade 4: Music and art combine as these classes use exploratory technology as a tool to understand and express what they are learning. They create their own music or loops and sounds from existing music. By combining their soundtracks with videos, students are able to be very creative.

Grade 4 is also the year students are able to create 3D designs, strengthening their spacial awareness as they bring 2D ideas to 3D completion. They are very motivated to use two different programs to develop everything from hands to cars to storage boxes.

Middle School: The Best Part of Me

Connie Moore teaches English in our middle school. Her classes recently read The Best Part of Me: Children Talk About their Bodies in Pictures and Words by Wendy Ewald. The author is an award-winning photographer who asked children “What is the best part of you?” and presented their answers along with black-and-white photographs.

Because middle school is a time when students do not always realize, or focus on, their strengths Connie read the book aloud, then had the students take photos of a part of themselves they see as the best part.

“By writing about their best parts and seeing things objectively through the lens of a camera, the students found things to love—even though this age tends to be critical of their physical selves,” Connie says.

This project developed organically from an in-class discussion of empathy. Students contemplated questions such as, “How do we look at people?” and “Do we make judgements based on what they look like?”

As students presented their photos and writing to the class, Connie was struck by the reasons why students loved what they picked to share. One boy photographed his hands because when he looked at them he saw his ethnic roots, another girl focused on her hair because it was the same texture and look as her mother and grandmother—a connection through the generations.

For a teacher, the possibilities of melding the digital with the subject matter opens up a whole new way for students to express themselves.

Upper School: PhotoVoice Comes to Life

Jocie Kopfman traveled to Italy this summer in order to be trained in PhotoVoice. This is a process in which people – usually those with limited power due to poverty, language barriers, race, class, ethnicity, gender, culture, or other circumstances – use video and/or photo images to capture aspects of their environment and experiences and share them with others. The pictures can then be used, usually with captions composed by the photographers, to bring the realities of the photographers’ lives home to the public and policy makers and to spur change.

During her experience abroad PhotoVoice was used as a research tool in Borca, where the youth were feeling very disconnected/excluded from their community.

By tackling questions such as, “Where does the feeling of disconnection come from? What are parts of your community you care about? What could be improved?” PhotoVoice provided tools and process for the youth, and ultimately, inspired actions for them to become more included. This began through showings and gatherings about their photos where they could talk about what they documented. Then the community found ways to engage youth in change they showed was important to them via the photos.

“I thought this was a great way to help youth consider what they are passionate about and to engage—in a critical, but solution-seeking, way. By not feeling stagnant, or left out, they were able to begin to contribute,” said Jocie. “I wanted to bring this back to Harley.”

Her Rights and Responsibilities class has been evolving and tweaking the ways class members engage with social issues. It fosters the next step in learning about civic engagement and enabling long-term connections. PhotoVoice helps create narratives to inspire ongoing action so it is the perfect tool.

“There is a need to get students out of their bubbles as we continue to be a segregated community. We work with students to try and cross the borders we have created and prepare them to do so. We need to give them the skills to think meaningfully and understand their responsibility as a community member—to get out there and do something about inequity, to break the cycles that hold us in place,” said Jocie. “I want them to find a reason why this sort of work is important to them.”

PhotoVoice Example

By combining writing, photography, and activism, PhotoVoice takes Rights and Responsibilities students to a deeper level.

The inclusion of digital aspects intertwined with “traditional” areas such as reading, writing, civics and more allows both students and teachers to develop richer voices alongside confidence with digital tools.

Community Programs

Summer Programs

Driver Education

Afterschool

Extended Day

Adult Programs

Rentals

Key Programming

Science and Math Integration

Beyond STEM

Sustainability

Biomimicry

Maker Education

Project-Based Learning

Whole Learners

Social Emotional Learning

Civic Engagement

Mindfulness

Hospice

Arts

Visual Arts

Performing Arts

Giving

Supporting Harley

2023 Events

2021-22 Sustainability Challenge

Harley Fund

Planned Giving

College Counseling

Harley’s Approach to College Counseling is highly individualized and student-centered. Students have direct access to college counselors throughout their Upper School experience, but really, each student is part of a team including faculty, administration, and staff. It’s our job to support each student and we want nothing more than to send students on to the next step of their journey at a right fit school for them. The student centered and driven process is wrapped in care, expertise, and professionalism.

We host college reps during times students are available (no need to miss a class) so they can make connections and learn more about potential schools. We also arrange campus visits for classes as field trips, host an alumni college day (where recent Upper School graduates return to share advice and answer questions), and help connect students with our international alumni network. In fact, representatives from schools all over the world actively seek opportunities to come to Harley and meet with our students!

Our college counselors are accredited and are part of national/global conversations on admission trends. They also attend and present at conferences across the country.

Beginning with our Grade 11 parent night, we offer informational sessions for parents, including one devoted just to financial aid. Our partnership with families is critical, as the college admissions world changes very quickly and having an expert to guide students and families through the process is essential.

View the downloadable College Counseling Guide

Clubs

“Club Rush” is an afternoon every fall in the Upper School when students have the chance to sign up for clubs for the year, and each year it is very different because new clubs are created based on student initiative and enthusiasm.

A few of this year’s choices: Sports Media, Social Action Club, Journalism Club, Feminism Club, Student of Color & Allies (SOCA), Gay-Straight Alliance, Tri M (music honor society), E-Sports Club, Euchre, Key Club (service), Animation Club, Dungeons & Dragons, Sustainability Club, Jewish Cultural Club, Astronomy Club, Biomimicry, and Beyond Soup (social justice/service).

Athletics

Each and every year, students at The Harley School participate in HAC Athletics, and their success continues to be impressive, both as students and athletes. Our athletic program is an integral part of Harley, teaching student-athletes invaluable lessons about teamwork, time management, persistence, and competition. Our program allows them to develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally as they represent their school on and off the field. They grow, mature, and work hard to be the best teammate they can, while creating lifelong memories with teammates who often remain friends for life.

Helping our athletes to reach their potential are some of HAC’s best assets: our coaches. More often than not, they are drawn from the ranks of our faculty and have a deep understanding of the personalities and abilities of the student-athletes on their teams.

We strive to find the right balance of academics, exercise, and personal growth for everyone. By offering a variety of sports at many different levels, all student-athletes find a sport they can be successful in. It is with great pride and pleasure that my team and I work to enrich the athletic lives of all our HAC student-athletes. Go Wolves!

To learn more check out our athletics page.

Student Leadership

Our Upper School is filled with formal and informal opportunities for students to take on leadership roles. Whether following passions or learning new skills, student-driven opportunities take many shapes.

– Independent study: one trimester, full year, and multi-year projects have included automating our solar chimneys, coding handmade musical instruments, or developing a class on financial literacy for underserved high school students.

– Serving on student council

– STEM: Climate curriculum program, biomimicry program, NASA Hunch program

Clubs

Hospice

Unlike this class, death is not an elective. Although it is one of two universal human experiences, our culture often ignores, denies, or misconstrues the true nature of death and dying. What happens when we bear witness to this natural process in the cycle of life and develop our ability to be fully present with others when they need us more than ever? It has the potential to change us deeply and fundamentally while shining a brilliant light on the path of our own lives.

With the support of their classmates, teacher, and comfort care home communities, senior students are offered the chance to care for others who truly need their purposeful, non-judgmental attention. In the home-like setting of a comfort care home, opportunities for learning extend beyond a traditional classroom rubric and conventional methods of evaluation. In this course, students will certainly find tangible “learning outcomes” by studying the medical/physical processes associated with dying and the basic nursing assistant skills of comfort care. The ultimate goal, however, will always be rooted in true relationships and connection, which occurs only through empathy and compassion.

Learn more about the Hospice Program at Harley HERE.

Capstone/Independent Studies

This program utilizes environmentally-focused approaches to education and hands-on learning in order to foster the next generation of leaders through a lens of sustainability and problem-solving.

Food & Farm: These year-long and trimester-long classes are held outside as much as possible, allowing students to become leaders in our various growing spaces. They cover environmental justice issues as well as hands-on work such as planning and overseeing planting, harvesting, and preparation of the gardens.

Past year-long focus projects have included: Creating a native plant shade garden in the Wild Wood area, redesigning our hydroponic system, overhauling Harley’s high tunnel, and improving the irrigation system for the MicroFarm.

Culinary Arts: These classes have a two-fold purpose: to give students practical skills in cooking and the science behind different techniques in the kitchen, learning about food justice, food sourcing, labor topics, and sustainability.

Past topics have included: Examining a plant-based diet, looking at the carbon footprint of different meals and food preparation methods, proposing a low carbon footprint menu to the dining hall, links between food labeling and environmental issues of food production.

Beekeeping: This one trimester class provides hands-on training in beekeeping, how to be a beekeeper, and safety and other techniques for working with bees. Once trained students help with all aspects of Harley beekeeping such as hive inspections, honey collection and extraction, and teaching students in Lower School about our hives.

Students pick a research topic addressing honeybee health and the larger environmental picture.

Social Justice

At Harley, our students learn how to evaluate social systems in order to identify complex problems in society through a lens of social justice. They take a hands-on approach to working for a fair, equitable society by researching, exploring and evaluating different perspectives, and offering solutions—both theoretical and practical.

Our faculty integrate social justice into our broader curriculum to assist students in gaining a foundational knowledge about what makes a democracy function. By gaining skills in ideating supportive pathways they become more exposed and experienced to how communities can undergo healing and restorative actions.

Capstone/Independent Studies

Students may create independent studies with supervising teachers throughout their Upper School experience or, during Grade 12, they can design Capstone projects—intensive collaborations with Harley faculty and off-campus mentors—involving rigorous academic study and culminating in public presentations. They are empowered to create their own curriculum, set goals, and work on time management skills in order to accomplish their objectives.

Independent Studies run the gamut from The Psychology of Sports to Furniture Design to The Neuroimaging of Alzheimer’s Disease. Capstones, meanwhile, are as diverse as the students who pursue them: Fictional Rochester, Autobiographical Art, Biomimicry Education, Organic Fuel, and Rochester Refugees.

Indicative of Upper School curiosity and creativity, pursuits such as these distinguish our graduates in college. Through deep dives of this sort, Harley students master more than speaking, writing, and computing: they learn to communicate, advocate, collaborate, organize, listen, and empathize.

About

About Harley

Fast Facts

Our Faculty & Staff

History

Horizons at Harley

Dining Services

Key Programming

Science and Math Integration

Beyond STEM

Sustainability

Biomimicry

Maker Education

Project-Based Learning

Whole Learners

Social Emotional Learning

Civic Engagement

Mindfulness

Hospice

Arts

Visual Arts

Performing Arts

Main Menu

About

Academics

Key Programming

Enrollment

Community Programming

Alumni

Athletics

News

Giving

My.Harley

Enrollment

Enrollment at Harley

Enrollment Events

Virtual Tour

How to Apply

Affording Harley

Transferring to Harley

Refer a Students

Academics

Divisions

Academics at Harley

Nursery

Nursery 3

Nursery 4

Lower

Middle

Upper

College Counseling

Visiting Reps

Student Counseling

Library

Humanities + Technology = Student Engagement and Creativity