Brushett was one of many teachers in Santa Clara County who voluntarily participated in the Santa Clara County Office of Education Internet Institute last summer. The institute was designed to help teachers integrate technology into the classroom and develop classroom projects using the latest technology. And Brushett's project was one of the three recently selected from more than 500 projects to receive an Internet Innovator Award.

Along with the award, teachers received $1,000 from the sponsor, National Semiconductor, for the school and $1,000 for personal use—Brushett used the money to travel to Thailand for two weeks this summer.

During their time at the institute, teachers attended numerous sessions, learning about Internet ethics, how to evaluate websites, how to narrow down online searches, how to determine if information is accurate and valid, and how to find websites good for history research. Once a month, teachers met with site coordinators to make sure they were on track with a project idea and fulfilling the requirements for the institute.

"We had to devote another 80 hours to learning anything that will improve the teacher or student's skills," says Brushett, who has taught at Monta Vista High School for two years. "During the 80 hours we figured out how to incorporate our own technology skills into the classroom. At the end of the first week we earned $500, and after 80 hours of work we earned an additional $500."

Brushett created a project for her eleventh grade "sheltered world" history class, which is comprised of immigrant students, many of whom are in the English Language Development program. The project, titled "Immigration to the U.S.A.," is coordinated with the immigration unit of the course. Students were required to do Internet-based research, download pictures from the Internet, use email to send work to group members and Brushett, and create presentations for their individual projects.

Brushett gave students the option of presenting their project using a poster, skit, overhead or PowerPoint, and most opted for the PowerPoint, although only two of the 30 students in the class had experience with the software.

"I found that my students, who are usually shy to present, got more excited about the information and chance to be creative and technological," Brushett says.

The project entailed researching a particular ethnic group that had immigrated to the United States from a particular country between 1865 and 1910. Students were to explain the group's history, including factors that led to the immigration, where the group settled, problems encountered, U.S. immigration policy related to the group and how the group adapted to being in a new country.

While Brushett named the project teams, the students were allowed to select their topic. Students chose to study Chinese, Japanese, Irish, British, Italian, Swedish, Greek and Russian Jewish immigrant groups. Many of the students who are recent immigrants wanted to study groups from their home country, Brushett says.

Brushett said that the students' comments after the project's completion showed that it had been a positive experience. One student said, "The presentations were more interesting to listen to than reading the information in a textbook."

Luckily for the students doing the project, Monta Vista High School recently received Digital High School funding through the California Department of Education, which allows Monta Vista to upgrade technology and buy new equipment.

The school also held workshops this summer at which teachers learned about Adobe Photoshop, Excel and website development using programs such as Dreamweaver.

"I would like to learn how to make a website so my students can access the class syllabus online from home," Brushett says.

The award-winning project was such a success that Brushett plans to use it again this school year but add a new component—Students will be required to communicate with a recent immigrant in the Cupertino community and compare and contrast that person's experience with those of immigrants from long ago. Brushett has already contacted some parents and community members to contribute to the project.