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Cyber Ambassadors
The Cyber Ambassadors are fourth and fifth graders, all fairly new to the world of computing, and all eager to improve their skills in order to get the chance to lend a helping hand. By Alicia M. Bartol SCR*TEC |
 very day, kids around the nation do creative, exciting things with computers. When we ask them why they take the time to excel at computing, they usually explain that they love computers, or that computers are fun, or that computers are new and different. Recently however, we heard a completely different answer: "I like to help people." That's right. A group of kids in Tennessee are working hard to keep on top of their schoolwork and learn more about computers so they can be chosen for a special group of volunteer helpers: the Cyber Ambassadors.
The Cyber Ambassadors are fourth and fifth graders, all fairly new to the world of computing, and all eager to improve their skills in order to get the chance to lend a helping hand. This month, we talked with students from two schools in Jefferson County, Tennessee: Rush Strong Elementary and Talbott Elementary. The kids: Kaitlyn, Hannah, Brianna, Colin, Tyler, Brandon, Allison, Emily, Michael, Anthony, Grant, and Jonathan told us what it is like being Cyber Ambassadors. |
 Brianna, one of the Cyber Ambassadors of Jefferson County, TN. |
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do Cyber Ambassadors do? Tyler explains, "They help teachers with their
problems and help students if they have problems with their computers."
Cyber Ambassadors leave their own classrooms to serve as a resource in others.
For example, Tyler says, "We help with fourth grade newspapers. If they've
got computer problems or something they don't know how to work with, I go
up there." Hannah says, "We teach other kids how to use computers ... we also make Power Point presentations." The Cyber Ambassadors make presentations and also teach students and teachers how to create their own presentations for class projects. Michael explains that even the younger kids reap the benefits of peer help. He says Cyber Ambassadors help students "learn what to do when they get into second and third grade, when they get on computers." |
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some of the ambassadors, helping the "little kids" is their favorite part.
The ambassadors help introduce computers to first graders before they have
to use them more academically in the higher grades. Jonathan says, "we mostly
[do] stories with the kids. The kids would tell us a story and we would
type it in." Making Power Point presentations of the first-graders stories
is a great way to introduce computers to young children in the classroom.
The older students also get help from the ambassadors on a regular basis. "We go to a teacher's classroom and we help the kids make Power Point presentations about what they're learning," says Brianna. |
 Colin at the computers. |
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Cyber Ambassadors help with various class projects. Right now, Colin is
helping out with a postcard exchange and other ambassadors are helping with
multimedia projects and word processing, such as letter writing and class
newspapers. Brandon says, "Anything to do with computers, we can help them
with." In fact, their computer expertise goes beyond mere software issues. Technical support and troubleshooting can also be the domain of the Cyber Ambassador. Anthony says, "For instance, we'll help the teachers if they don't understand something on a printer, and they don't know how to unclog it." As we all know, people who can solve printing woes are few and far between! This technical support is a practical and enjoyable way for kids to use their knowledge. |
 olin
explains the usefulness of having Cyber Ambassadors at his school: "If someone
has a problem at another school they would probably have to call a technician
or something, whereas, if they had a Cyber Ambassador, they could just ask
them to help." Allison adds: "It's a good opportunity for more people to learn about computers and to help other people." But how do the Cyber Ambassadors learn all these skills in the first place? Jonathan, like many of the ambassadors, admits that he didn't know a whole lot about computers before becoming a Cyber Ambassador. He says, "I had a computer at home at the time, but I was an amateur at doing computer skills." The students who wanted to become Cyber Ambassadors had to undergo training before they were allowed to work on their own in other classrooms. The first group of Cyber Ambassadors attended a short summer camp called ATTACK (Add Technology to Acquire Creative Knowledge), but the subsequent demand for computer help was high. Ambassadors requiring "emergency certification" underwent in-school training in the fall. In both cases, the students learned basic skills in computer operation and maintenance, as well as special skills for word processing, web authoring, and presentation software. |
 Kaitlyn likes helping people as a Cyber Ambassador. |
 tudents
pass this knowledge on to their teachers and peers, making a close community
committed to helping everyone succeed. This sense of community shines through
when we ask why students like being Cyber Ambassadors. Brandon says, "You
can help people learn about computers the way you did." The best thing about being a Cyber Ambassador is helping people. Emily explains, "I get to interact with other people and help them." |
 aitlyn
agrees. She says, "I like to help kids who don't get to use computers much
at their homes and kids who don't know anything about computers." Helping others appears to be a major draw for all the kids. They like the responsibility; they like the knowledge; they love the feeling they get from teaching other people how to use computers. Michael says, "It's fun to teach other students and help the kids learn." |
 Tyler likes visiting the students, especially the little ones. |
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students, like Grant, add that helping students is only one part. Grant
loves using computers, and he enjoys the fact that he's improving his skills.
He says, "Every day it seems like I learn one more thing." Apparently Grant
is also learning how to be a teacher. When we ask what advice he would give
to another school starting this type of program, he says, "I'd tell them
to be patient with the kids and not try to push them into things. Let the
kids you're helping do the work. Don't do the work for them, and slowly
teach them things." All of the students agree that other schools should have Cyber Ambassadors. As Jonathan puts it, "If you train a Cyber Ambassador, they'll train other kids, and they'll train other kids, until more people know about computers than they used to." What more could we hope for? |
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one of our final questions, we asked all of the ambassadors what they thought
were the easiest and hardest things about computers. They gave such good
answers, we wanted to share them all!
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