Four sophomore theology classes collaborated on this project to take a deep dive into scripture passages, connecting specific elements of a gospel "encounter" with Jesus to contemporary society. Students had to make explicit the message or values of the Kingdom of God revealed in this encounter. They designed a participatory/interactive artifact to demonstrate their learning. They were able to choose between eight different media as a means of expression. Choices included poster, video, performance, data surveys/infograph, advertisement campaign, playlist, and social media. They wrote artist statements describing their work and presented to other classes in the Marillac Room. Not only does this project align to our Jesuit mission, it also exemplifies how students are meeting current educational technology standards to prepare them for their future. Teachers assessed in real time using a Google Form, making it possible for them to photograph the artifact and score the project for each student.

Mr. Christopher Howe's World Religions classes recently participated in cross-cultural, global conversations on a variety of topics through the Generation Global organization, utilizing Loyola Academy's teleconference equipment in the Faculty Learning Center and Marillac Rooms. The learning outcomes were that students be able to utilize dialogue skills. Mr. Howe offers the following reflection on this unit's important, authentic work.

Developmentally, High School Seniors are becoming more curious about the "bigger world," that is, people of different cultures and religious traditions. The experience of a video dialogue in which they can converse - in real time - with fellow teens in other countries and often of another religion enables skills taught in a classroom to be put to use. Students' curiosity about their peers in other cultural contexts is addressed via this experience. Without this video technology, such encounters would not be possible. Physical distance can make dialogue between those of different cultures and societies difficult. The classroom-time technology of video bridges this gap.

Beyond the classroom experience, the technology provided by the sponsoring organization, "Generation Global," facilitates the organizational process. Teachers from a number of schools register online. Generation Global coordinates the reservation requests and provides a facilitator. This facilitator is in a third location. As an example, Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL may be engaged in a dialogue with a school in Ukraine with a facilitator managing the conversation in England. In addition, there is a technical manager who is in a fourth location. Without each of these pieces, all working properly, the video dialogue would not be successful.

Mrs. Lamont's senior world religions students (2018) studying Hinduism wrote a modern-day story of a conflict that involves three Hindu gods, goddesses, or avatars and at least one human. Each student was assigned a different god or goddess as the story “anchor” and then chose any other two gods or goddesses that work for the story. Students were expected to apply the artful use of conflict and suspense to engage and sustain reader interest.

Beyond writing their stories, students enhanced their understanding by creating four panels of illustration utilizing the Comics Head Lite app to highlight at least four key moments of the story and demonstrate meaningful connections. To further extend their knowledge outside of the classroom, students read seven comics posted in the class learning management system and identified the following information:

• Main character

• Problem solved

• Key symbol

• In which of the four stages of Hindu life is found the main character at the end of the story?

• Which of the four Hindu desires does the main character demonstrate in his or her quest?