NEW ORLEANS, La. – On a Thursday afternoon in September, students in a second floor classroom at Audubon Charter School were dissecting a frog – but there were no scissors, knives, gloves, or the wafting smell of formaldehyde in the air.

Through the use of a computer and a projector, the teacher guided the students of this New Orleans public school through an interactive virtual dissection, pointing out the anatomy of the frog on the overhead screen.

Just down the hallway, a teacher was taking her students on a road trip by way of the Internet, with the children researching points of interest and directions, and calculating mileage and the price of gas.

Dissections and research skills are typical lessons taught in any classroom across the country, but at Audubon Charter on this day, it was different. The use of technology enriched the students’ educational experience.

The technology-integrated lessons being taught at Audubon Charter School served as the centerpiece of a public awareness event that Digital Opportunity Trust held on September 20, 2007, in New Orleans to educate the community about its organization and garner support for future programs. The event was held in conjunction with DOT’s global board meeting in the Crescent City.

The day began with the afternoon demonstrations at Audubon Charter, one of the newest schools to join DOT’s TeachUp! program, where during the day, teachers and Louisiana TeachUp! interns showed special guests how technology can be used in the classroom.

An assembly was held in the school’s cafeteria following the classroom demonstrations, where guests including Janice Dupuy, principal of Audubon Charter School, Dr. Bill Miller, director of special projects and federal programs for the Louisiana Department of Education, and Jules Hahn, director of instructional technology for the Jefferson Parish School District, spoke to event attendees about the benefits of the TeachUp! program. Following the assembly, students at the school were treated to snow cones on behalf of DOT.

Later in the evening, a reception was held at the historic Basin Street Station in downtown New Orleans, giving the opportunity for DOT’s staff and board of directors to mingle with local education and business leaders. During the evening, the TeachUp! interns gave presentations about the technology they used in the schools, allowing attendees to see firsthand how technology can be beneficial to the educational experience.

Digital Opportunity Trust USA has more than fifty TeachUp! Interns in 54 schools across Louisiana and Mississippi, and first came to the area in 2006 in partnership with Cisco System’s 21^st Century Schools Program, the company’s $40 million, three-year commitment to aid in post-Katrina education transformation.

Audubon  joined DOT’s TeachUp! program this academic year, and is the first school to have a TeachUp! intern outside of Cisco’s 21^st Century Schools Program.

Click here to visit the photo gallery of the September 20th Awareness Event.