The instructional model that I choose to read about and research is Internet projects. The videos from the UConn website were very informative, and also easy to understand. I like the idea of Internet projects because they allow for collaboration between 2 or more classrooms. I can remember when I was in elementary school, every year I had a different pen pal from a neighboring town, and even though it was only 30 minutes away, I was extremely awed by the fact that I was communicating with someone that didn’t go to my school and I had never met before. The possibilities of sharing a project with a school in a different city or country are endless - cultural exchanges can take place, students will learn about a way of life that is not their own (in addition to learning the content of the project), and they will also learn how to collaborate with a group of students that they don’t know very well. I think that while getting started, I will probably have to stick with the web-based projects since they are already created and available for me to become familiar with. Once I become more adept at handling all of the aspects of the projects, I would like to write my own “spontaneous” projects, because I feel as though I can adapt them to fit the content that I want to teach. It was extremely hard for me to find sample Internet projects using Google, so instead I used the thinkquest.org website that was recommended by the UConn video where students create internet projects and submit them to a competition. I felt that these were a mix between a project and an inquiry, because a lot of the submissions were created by a group of students, but the projects were similar to an inquiry in that they answered a specific research question.
I chose the 2009 winner, a project all about saving the planet and its species: http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/00473/#
This project/quest has a short movie in the beginning; one that I think would address the multiple learning needs of a classroom, even ELLs. Sox & Rubinstein-Avila (2009) assert that in terms of Webquests, “The use of illustrations, graphic organizers, trade books, and audiovisual resources provide scaffolding, making the content information more easily accessible for ELLs” (41). This quest had animations, an easy to understand organizational structure, and the directions were very clear. Scrolling over one part of the quest would result in a short description popping up, which I think would be helpful for an ELL if they didn’t know what a term on the site meant. The language was also very straightforward, another benefit for English-language learners. I think that this sort of project has great potential for my classroom, mostly because it can serve as a culminating project for what my students have learned using technology, and also to demonstrate their knowledge of critical literacies. As a teacher, it will be my job to educate students on finding reliable sources using the Internet and being critical about the information they come across. Helping to be come “healthy skeptics who learn how to critically evaluate Internet information through several guided experiences with websites” will serve them in the future, long after they leave my classroom (Leu, Leu, & Coiro 2004, p. 100). this project will also be a way for them to demonstrate what they have learned.
Overall, I think that Internet inquiry, projects, and quests have great potential for learning in my classroom and I can’t wait to get started!
I also am interested in internet projects, they are a great idea and a good way to tie in new literacies. Spontaneous projects are great because they allow for teachers to modify ideas based upon students' individuals needs. I liked the project you researched, I also felt it was a great layout and a good concept for all students to learn.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think you would have for different types of inquiries and projects? Would you use it with every subject area?
I really like the Internet workshop because it follows a similar format as reading and writing workshop. If this is how you approach the teaching of language arts, students are able to draw on those experiences, structures, and routines in the Internet workshop. Well thought out.
ReplyDeleteHi Kallie,
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you and Shanna about the potential for internet projects in a classroom. When I student taught we gave the ELL students fellow ELL penpals from a school in Arizona. They couldn't stop talking about the project and constantly wondered what their pen pal was like, so I definitely agree that students are highly motivated when engaged in collaborative projects involving other students. I think students are always fascinated with themselves, as well as other students, so it's always good to take advantage of that egocentrism and social curiousity.
--Emily