My school is an IB school. We follow the philosophy that to educate students requires an international understanding of the world, people and ideas. Part of the curriculum requires fifth graders to participate in an Exhibition where they use knowledge accumulated over six years of education to communicate their ideas on a global issue such as displacement, global warming, lack of education, pollution, world hunger, and limited access to fresh, clean water.

Last year, the fifth grade team asked me to brush students up on Publisher/PowerPoint/Word skills so they could construct their presentation. This year, I'm taking a different approach by encouraging students to think outside the box in communicating their ideas. We're spending six weeks studying and teaching each other some of the amazing online communication tools that offer motivating and inspirational ways to share thoughts.

We've all been there: an expectant hush falls over the audience as the houselights go down, only to be shattered by the sound of distorted music from a CD player which is then abruptly cut off as the curtains open.

Bitter experience has shown that, all too often, sound is the last element to be considered in a typical school production.

In some cases this is simply a result of limited technical resources, but in others it’s due to a lack of understanding of the importance that sound can play in any production.