Cooperative online projects: internet collaborations can build Web education expertise for your staff and students. (the online edge).My work in K-12 staff development has shown time and again that one of the most effective ways to develop Internet expertise is to involve teachers and students with online projects. Well-designed projects provide learners with in-depth opportunities to hone telecommunications skills, use online tools and resources, and gain educational experiences that cannot be duplicated through any other medium. I have introduced numerous kinds of Web-based projects in every curriculum area to individuals and groups, including real-data simulations for tracking satellites in orbit, electronic publications where students contribute the content, and real-time expeditions to ocean, jungle and Arctic environments. Some require fees, such as the subscription-based projects offered by Classroom Connect, but many are free, including teacher-initiated programs. Online projects have also been done as assignments, illustrated by those from the Davidson County Schools Davidson County Schools is a school district in Davidson County, North Carolina. The administrative education board is headquartered just off of U.S. Highway 64 on County School Road just outside the city limits of Lexington, North Carolina. in Lexington, N.C., techcenter. davidson.k12.nc.us/web.htm, or for competitions such as Thinkquest. The outstanding Global Schoolhouse Projects Registry categorizes projects by topic, grade level and start date. BRIDGES TO SCHOOL COLLABORATION Among the most powerful online projects are those that require collaboration among students and teachers in various locations, including other states and countries. Such experiences are typically organized around a real-world problem or issue that requires collecting, organizing and interpreting data for a common purpose. For example, I recently worked with a consortium of school districts on an acid rain project, where rainfall acidity acidity /acid·i·ty/ (-i-te) the quality of being acid; the power to unite with positively charged ions or with basic substances. a·cid·i·ty n. The state, quality, or degree of being acid. measurements were shared in a central database for later interpretation, as storms passed from West to East, from one school to the next. Volunteer experts secured through the Electronic Emissary EMISSARY. One who is sent from one power or government into another nation for the purpose of spreading false rumors and to cause alarm. He differs from a spy. (q.v.) Project, emissary.ots.utexas.edu/emissary, guided the classes. Some teachers became inspired to propose their own projects with schools in other countries that they found through directories such as Web66, web66.coled.umn.edu. Related examples include the legendary Save the Beaches Project that started in Connecticut with six schools and grew to an annual Web project with teachers and students on every continent, now headquartered in Brazil, pekids.nlink.com.br. Similarly, the Generation www.Y, genwhy.wednet.edu, project in Washington, where students helped teachers develop Web-based curriculum materials, expanded to every state. The resources below will help you add information on current online projects to your staff development calendar. Odvard Egil Dyrli, dyrli@uconn.edu, is senior editor and emeritus professor of education at the University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. . SELECTED PROJECT SOURCES * Annenberg/CPB Learner.org, www.learner.org * CIESE CIESE Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education CIESE Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (Stevens Institute of Technology) , Center for Improved Engineering & Science Education, k12science.stevens-tech.edu * Classroom Connect Quests, www.classroom.com * Discovery.com Expedition Adventure, www.discovery.com/guides/expedition/expedition.html * Educational Web Adventures, eduweb.com * The Franklin Institute Franklin Institute, in Philadelphia; chartered and opened 1824 "for the promotion of the mechanic arts," the first of its kind in the country. It was named for Benjamin Franklin. Since the 19th cent. Online, www.fi.edu * Global Schoolhouse Projects Registry, www.gsn.org * iEARN, International Education and Resource Network, www.iearn.org * IECC IECC International Energy Conservation Code IECC Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections IECC Informix Enterprise Command Center IECC Integrated Electronic Control Centre (UK Railways Signaling Control) , Intercultural in·ter·cul·tur·al adj. Of, relating to, involving, or representing different cultures: an intercultural marriage; intercultural exchange in the arts. E-Mail Classroom Connections, www.iecc.org * JASON Jason, in Greek mythology Jason, in Greek mythology, son of Aeson. When Pelias usurped the throne of Iolcus and killed (or imprisoned) Aeson and most of his descendants, Jason was smuggled off to the centaur Chiron, who reared him secretly on Mt. Pelion. Project, www.jason.org * KIDLINK/KIDPROJ, www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ * NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. Quest, quest.arc.nasa.gov * NASA SpaceLink, spacelink.nasa.gov * NOMADS NOMADS NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Operational Model Archive and Distribution System NOMADS North Sea Model Advection Dispersion Study (ocean science project) Online Classroom Expeditions, www.PolarHusky.com * OnlineClass, www.onlineclass.com * SchoolWorld Internet Projects, www.schoolworld.asn.au/projects.html * SharedLearning.net, www.sharedlearning.net * SitesALIVE!, www.sitesalive.com * Thinkquest/Tbinkquest Junior, www.thinkquest.org * The Webquest Page, edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest * World Trek Odyssey, www.worldtrek.org |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion