|
April 1, 1999
Expanding Your Classroom
by Muggs Murphy
Background
This semester, my fourth-grade gifted-and-talented (GT) class in Mitchell, Indiana, is doing a collaborative project with another class in Tell City, Indiana. Part of our fourth-grade curriculum is studying Indiana's state history. Mrs. Noble-the teacher in Tell City-and I thought it would be fun for the kids to learn about a different area of Indiana from their peers. This project uses many different aspects of technology and different ideas about how kids can learn.
The Project's Purpose and Goals
The project's goal is to make our students aware of the rich history in their own hometowns and to share these histories with other students outside their own counties. We will accomplish this goal by using distance learning tools such as Microsoft's NetMeeting and a teleconference between the two classes for a culminating activity.
During the project, the students are conducting research about their hometowns and surrounding areas to share with one another. Our part of the project is titled "Mitchell-Past and Present." We have used technology in many ways as we have worked on this project.
We began the project with teacher planning. I met Laura Noble, Tell City's GT coordinator, in person to start the process. Since then, we have spoken on the telephone and used both e-mail and NetMeeting to share our ideas. Once we had our plan, we shared it with the students and they were soon off and running.
Student Learning Objectives
These are the students' learning objectives. They will:
- develop and use research skills,
- increase their use of computers both in and out of school,
- use cooperative learning skills to incorporate their research into a final product,
- learn to use digital cameras and scanners, and
- learn to use distance learning for planning and sharing a project.
How the Students Began
To begin student planning, we had a brainstorming session using Inspiration software. The students named anything and everything that they could think of that related to Mitchell. Next they analyzed what they had come up with and chose what they thought was relevant. They prioritized what was left and began to choose research topics. These topics were written in report form and entered into ClarisWorks on the computer. The students used a scanner to import pictures. They also used the TimeLiner program to create a time line of historical events. All of the reports and time line will be printed, laminated, and bound as a book. We plan to produce four books altogether-one each for the Mitchell Public Library, our friends in Tell City, our school library, and ourselves.
The Project's Status
While working on the project, the two classes conducted NetMeetings with each other so that students could get to know one another and share their progress. They are now getting ready for the second phase of the project. The students here in Mitchell will take a walking tour of our area and take photographs with their digital camera. The students will then import the images into HyperStudio to create a slideshow about "Mitchell Present."
The students will share their projects with one another when we return to school after Christmas. The Mitchell students will travel to Indiana University to use its teleconference center. The Tell City students only have to go as far as their own high school: It's a Vision Athena site and has its own equipment. This project, in fact, was partially funded with a Vision Athena grant. Photographs of the kids at work will be posted on the Vision Athena Web site in late January.
We hope that this project will become a model for other schools in our state to use to share their own hometown histories.
E-mail: Muggs Murphy
|
