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Hunterdon Central Regional High School
by Coleen Bondy

With Electric Soup, an artfully designed online publication, students at Hunterdon Central Regional High School can share their poetry, essays, artwork and music with other students around the world. At the same time, they are learning valuable Web design and development skills using Macromedia software.

"Macromedia products have paved the way for a new educational philosophy that places the student in a role of empowered leadership. The software also provides them with a powerful set of tools for capturing and expressing their artistic vision," said Daniel Van Antwerp, the Electric Soup faculty advisor.

Hunterdon is a large secondary school in Flemington, New Jersey. Its 75-acre campus houses a library, field house, music building, and a radio/television station. Students are encouraged to pursue a wide variety of electives and enjoy a rich academic environment.

Students are the Teachers

In this supportive environment, teachers allow students to let their minds take them as far as they are capable of—which can sometimes go beyond the skill level of the teachers themselves. On the Electric Soup team, students teach each other how to use Macromedia products. Throughout production of the online journal, students help each other learn new functions and collaborate to solve challenging design problems.

"The use of Macromedia products has placed many students in the role of teacher, thereby increasing their confidence and ability to communicate with others effectively," Van Antwerp says.

Students and teachers help each other take their Web design and development skills to new heights using Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks. The result is Electric Soup an expressive, well-designed, thoughtful publication. Students produce one issue of Electric Soup each semester. The current issue, Volume 15, has more than 18 different sections.

From Print to the Web

The student-run publication started in 1995 as a text-only publication. The next year, the school produced its first Web site, and Electric Soup moved to the Internet.

Initially, students created the Web pages by writing HTML code with Netscape Composer. Soon, however, the limitations of Composer for a design journal became apparent, and the school sought a more powerful and sophisticated application. Because Electric Soup is run by students, the editors-in-chief were asked to evaluate various programs and make the final selection.

The students ultimately chose Macromedia Dreamweaver for its wide palette of features, ability to smoothly incorporate animations and behaviors, and easy integration with Macromedia products including Macromedia Flash and Fireworks.

Professional Tools Enable Sophisticated Results

"Electric Soup is now created using Dreamweaver, and many of the editors have begun using Flash and Fireworks to create more sophisticated animations and effects," Van Antwerp said.

As the teachers and students have become more familiar with Macromedia software, the multimedia design of Electric Soup has grown in scope and depth. Poems are often published as animated Macromedia Flash movies. Prose pieces are enhanced with digital illustrations. As well, Electric Soup takes less time to produce and the results are richer.

"While it still takes a semester to produce one volume of the magazine, numerous features have been added, and many of the sections now contain more individual pages than in previous volumes. In addition, the students tend to be more proficient entering high school than they were at the onset of the project. In short, the Macromedia products have both increased quality and productivity by reducing the time required and encouraging expansion of the project," Van Antwerp said.

Administration Fully Supports Project

The publication has been supervised by Van Antwerp and Florence McGinn, an acclaimed expert in the field of Educational Technology and the 1998 Microsoft National Teacher of the Year. The publication is also strongly supported by the school's principal, Lisa Brady, as well as Dr. Roland Pare, Director of Information Technology, and Dr. Lee Seitz, Superintendent of the district. Publishing Electric Soup involves two faculty advisors, more than 50 students at any given time, and a team of technicians who provide support as needed.

The benefits may not be quantifiable, but they are visible. Students clearly love working on Electric Soup. Editors stay after school for hours working on the publication, and visitors to Hunterdon Central notice the excitement and enthusiasm of the students who work on it, Van Antwerp said.

"Macromedia software gives students the power to play while working, and as a result the production of the magazine becomes a 'labor of love,' " Van Antwerp adds. "In addition to the many benefits already described, perhaps the most significant impact of the Macromedia products on students is an increase in confidence. In learning to use the software and discovering the nuances of the programs, students participate actively in the learning process. Whenever one student 'discovers' a new trick or technique, he or she will immediately share it enthusiastically with peers. This sharing of ideas has helped to transform many relatively introverted students into confident leaders."

Technology Changes Teachers' Role

Getting over the learning curve with new software is the greatest challenge of integrating any software application into a school program. Many educators are reluctant to use computer applications with the students unless they feel like they know everything about a program, but this isn't always possible.

"The key to successfully utilizing technology in the classroom is moving from the traditional 'teacher as expert' role and allowing the students, who often have superior knowledge of software applications, to share their knowledge with educators and other students. The training process needs to be an organic, ongoing one," Van Antwerp asserts.

Teachers and students at Hunterdon Central have taken advantage of the Macromedia tutorials that are built into the programs and offered online at Macromedia's free education site, www.trainingcafe.com.

"The online tutorials are very useful in that they allow the user to jump right in and begin learning through hands-on practice. They also provide a higher level of instruction for students to use after they have received training in the basics by peer teachers," Van Antwerp said.

Hunterdon will continue to use Macromedia software to enhance Electric Soup through increased use of Macromedia Flash animations and Fireworks graphics. In addition, Van Antwerp plans to introduce Dreamweaver to his Freshman English students so they can complete their lesson plans and projects with it.