Share ideas/concerns/questions about embedding a collaborative project in your teaching. Reflect on the readings and activity sites and comment on strategies you observed teachers use; what goals/objectives were targeted with the use of collaborative projects? Do you have similar goals/objectives for your students?
**Be sure to read what others have posted and add your thoughts to their ideas.
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My main concern about using a collaborative project is monitoring the students use of the Internet. Since I am an elementary librarian, I only see the students for an hour a week. That leaves many hours at school and home that they can add inappropriate items to a blog or Wiki. I don't understand how you monitor it without being on a computer 24/7. Finding time to get to talk to a student about something they wrote would also be a problem when you don't have the students in a regular classroom. The main objective for students learning with others across the globe is the 21st Century skills. The teachers in the articles and I agree that it trains students to work with people on projects that are not in the same room or city. It helps them learn to live in the flat world.
ReplyDeleteI can understand Marsha's concern about monitoring the students use of internet. The project would have to be very simple and not require much time. Perhaps the regular classroom teacher would have to facilitate this. I was excited about the collaborative project Good Deeds. It encourages the sharing of good deeds as well as the motive behind the deed. It teaches how valuable good deeds are and how important they are. Students can share good deeds that they did with students across the globe. This will also teach the students about various cultures.
ReplyDelete"They should realize that these acts are what could build a healthy cooperative, peaceful, and merciful society which will embody and empower certain great values such as the values of beauty, noble hood, courage, sacrifice, and brotherhood in a positive and practical manner among humans. In this project, students can do a lot of free cooperative learning activities and then present it on different synchronous and asynchronous online facilities in the forms of short stories, essays, free writing, summaries, drawing, flash cards, thoughts, and questions.. They will try to elaborate on the ways and the motives behind it in addition to the expected results and advantages on both the individuals and the whole community."
I am truly excited about this idea. Doing good deeds is a win win situation and can build self esteem and hopefully foster others to join in the fun.
I really think that the students would enjoy a collaborative project, but I do agree with the others about the students adding inappropriate things in their free time. I also think that there would be a problem with everyone having access to the internet outside of my room. Not everyone has internet at home...hard to imagine...I know!
ReplyDeleteFinding time, is another issue that I am dealing with. It seems like we are so pressured to teach to the test. I am almost afraid of jumping into something like this. I guess it is just another fear that I am going to have to face.
I do really think that students would enjoy something like this. Most of the projects on the sites involved cultures and who you are as a person/community. Most students only see hate, war, and worse on the television. This is a way to show them that there is good in the world and that most students go through a lot of the same issues as they do.
So, I think that there is good and bad. I think that the key to success is to really investigate what you are about to do or join. Know and set rules for your students and make them follow them.
Blogs, wikis, and podcasts seem to be some of the more popular strategies teachers use to promote collaborative learning. The collaborative projects do seem to provide a great opportunity to shift from textbook to real-life experiences and increase the student’s global awareness and understanding of other cultures of the world. I think this type of global collaboration would be great for teaching music since music is considered the “universal language” and appreciated by people worldwide. It would benefit my students by teaching them how to apply their knowledge to new situations, comprehend new ideas, and explore new information in a totally different setting than what they are accustomed to. I love the idea of cross-cultural contact between students and I especially would love my students to experience the world outside of their geographic area. Many of them have never had the opportunity to travel and therefore do not realize what exists outside of their community. However, I share Crystal’s concerns about not everyone having access to the Internet. I teach in an inter-city school designated as low income, and I have many students who do not have computers and/or Internet access at home. Although I love the idea, I am concerned that I have way too many students and way too few computers in the classroom to successfully embed a collaborative project at this time.
ReplyDeleteC. Cole – I know we will be addressing this topic in session 5, but I have been stressing my concerns of monitoring a collaborative internet (global or statewide or interstate – etc.) project from the onset of this course. I am also very concern of protecting our students. As I stated a student could being flirty or spiteful or funny or whatever their intentions place a picture and/or statement about another student, parent, teacher and the consequences will dramatic! Students are very trusting think no one will hurt them or do things out of spite and again the consequences will dramatic. Every day a new hacker hacks into a so-called secure site stealing identities. It doesn’t matter how many internet site forms parents and students sign or how many instructional classes we give – everyone feels that it will happen to someone else not them. I still don’t want cell phone usages in my classroom. Do the speed that you can take a snapshot of anything – test, etc. and I can’t monitor if they take a picture and then one day my head appears on an elephant or something. And I agree not everyone has internet access. I have the old fashion dial-up and loading up anything is so slow and then it freezes or virtual memory is low and it shuts down. I have been driving 50 miles to work to complete this online course for convenience of wireless.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of all my concerns and fears, I am excited about my students doing a collaborative globally project. I am incorporating International Schools Cyber Fair, Square of Life and Postcard Geography into my WV History Class. As I have stated before we need to break down the preconceive ideas of West Virginia. As well as the negative and fear that it dangerous to share ideas, to get know and understand a different culture, try something new. If we take the time to learn, share and talk with others we will find more things we have in common and maybe work together for tomorrow’s solutions for today’s problems
I agree that it would be difficult to have students on work collaborative projects outside of school because not everyone has Internet access and you can not constantly monitor what the students are writing. Also, time is a major factor when completing these projects.
ReplyDeleteI also have trouble trying to figure out what to do with students who are not participating. Do you not give them a grade for not participating and what do they do while they others are working on the project? The fifth grade students in my school have done similiar projects and the teacher had trouble with the students working in groups. I think students need have to social skills in order for a project like this to be sccessful. Maybe with the help of the online sources from this lesson I can help my fifth grade teacher get ideas on what other teachers are doing to keep their students on task and working cooperatively with one another in groups.
I completely agree with all the fears stated in the previous 6 posts. My biggest challenge also involves time for the tasks. I think the students would actively participate, even in groups, because these collaborative projects we have been reading about would be so exciting for the students - no read it, write in on paper, take a test stuff.
ReplyDeleteMy excitement comes from the interaction with people outside of our area. Parts of WV are still not very 'accepting' of other cultures and ideas (or ethnic, religious,etc. groups). I teach in the community I attended school in and though much more acceptance has taken place since the 1970's it remains a little backward. I feel my students would greatly benefit globally by being exposed to cultures and languages at a very young age. They will discover that we are all more alike than different and not be so afraid of the unknown. I want them to develop a concern for others outside their family, community, state, country. I loved the Good Deeds idea as well. We all need to be less self-centered, but some kids today are pathetic. Of course, we also need to work with the parents - paticularly those with young kids - so I liked the Schoolnotes.com and I loved the wealth of information at EducationWorld (www.education-world.com). There are so many wonderful ideas already out there - some really great teachers - so we have to find the time to incorporate these ideas into our lessons. As each week passes, I become a little more confident in my ability to effectively utilize 2.0 tools in my collaborative classrooms.
I too echo the concerns of those who post prior to me. Time is always a challenge. Equalizing the technological playing field- some of our students have cell phones and the internet, while others do not. I (like the librarian) only have each of my students for 1hr and 1/2 weekly. Another challenge we share is volume, I have 300 plus students. Yet another problem is legal requirements, as a PE teacher I am required to have students moving at least 50% Of each class. I don't see us doing jumping jacks whiles typing. Not sure how all this will work. I would love to do a project where my students have the opportunity to follow the journey of an athlete- like some one preparing to run a marathon for the 1st time, or someone preparing to compete in a triathlon, or the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteTina
I also agree with others on the monitoring of the student postings and their lack of access to computers. I also teach elementary library and have only six computers available in my library for student use. That does put a limit on the time the students can use the computers. My school is considered to have a low social economic, special education, and transient population. Anything I can do to get the students interested in the world outside of the one they know is a blessing. I was thinking of taking the the e-pal program and using it to start a book club where students from all over could share their ideas on different book topics. Does anyone know of any other programs that could be shared that way?
ReplyDeleteI am lucky in that I am teaching adults who are warned right up front in strong terms about the things I don't tolerate in my class. I've never had any problems in my computer basics class; in the regular academic classroom I've had students download Casino Gambling, porn, and animated porn (that was...different). But I am right there with the Computer Basics class, and we meet for 3 hours a week, so the collaborative epals activity will be great for having them practice emailing and attaching pictures and videos; and it will provide an incentive for learning to type. Some of my older male students still have a thing about typing--it's just for women / secretaries...seriously! Now that I've looked at the Global Grocery List project, I have decided to include that as well. It's great for searching...like latitude and logitude. My older adult students will be full of wonder (as I often am) when they see how easy it is to find out ANYTHING!!! I'm still amazed at it all myself. So, anything that can inspire wonder--has to be good!
ReplyDeleteI think by having my students talk to other students in other states, and countries, will allow them to compare any similarities and differences that thety experience while learnito drive. It will let them understand that all the beginning drivers have the same feelings, concerns, etc. about learning to drive.
ReplyDeleteI find the students really are concerned about what others think of their driving ability. If they communicate with others (with honesty) they will become more relaxed.
The readings that I researched had excellent obejectives. The main objective was to compare with each other , and learn while doing it. The science and ebgineering site was outstanding. I have a degree in Biology,also. When I was younger, in public schools, I would loved these activities. Did anyone ever have a pen pal? It was great. This is a step further. And you are learning as it goes.
My only concern with doing these online projects are not only the availability and time with the technology, but the dependability of the technology within your school. My former position as technology coordinator really made me focus on technology maintance within the county in order for these projects to work. I have heard horror stories from other counties within our great state.
ReplyDeleteTim Brown,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! I attended a RESA sponsored training this summer on how to use the new online IEP (required this fall). Due to technology glitches they could not demonstrate very much. During my last county training (March) the director of OSP could not use the technology planned to interact with us due to 'not functioning today.' I mention these examples because I share your concerns and frustrations. You could probably address many of the problems on site - I, however, would require the GEEK SQUAD for help.
My concerns about collaborative projects is like others I have read: time, monitoring, and availability. I loved the Global grocery list as well as a host of other online projects such as Geography postcard and Global Freshwater testing. The kids would absolutely go crazy over this! I look forward to setting up epals this year as well as blogging as a class and globally. Workng with students outside of the classroom truly teaches the students more than just the material at hand. They learn culture, language and so much more than what paper and pencil can teach them when they are hand in hand with the "flat world". Again, my main concern however, is time...time...time...with only 4 computers in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the dependability issue. When doing projects with my students on the computer last year we even had problems with programs that are intstalled on the computers. If the computers that you are using does not have the same version as the one you used the time before that most of the time the students information would not pull back up. This is very frustrating to students when they have put a lot of hard work into a project only to learn that they will have to start all over. Sometimes they dont do their best work then because of their frustration level.
ReplyDeleteI think time as everyone else has stated is a huge concern. I think teachers need guidance on how to change some of their current teaching methods for curriculm into new methods. Teachers already have so much on their plate.I think that the collaboration projects are great and necessary but I believe if we start with in school then in district then expand to global it will be easier for teachers to feel comfortable with incorporating this type of collaboration.
ReplyDeleteWe need ot teach students how to communicate properly with other cultures and not feel intimidated just because someone looks and talks differently. I think global collaboration will help students achieve this goal while learning important content.
I did not find a project on the sites that would work for my particular project but there were so many good ones. I found one that students describe themselves and then their global partner draws them and vice versa. I will be sharing that with my art teachers.
Everyone seems to be on the same page regarding collaborative projects. Availability of the equipment, time, dependability of the technology, and monitoring the projects are all concerns about embedding a collaborative project in our teaching. After visiting the reading and activity sites of the teachers being observed, however, it can and is being done. Maybe just taking small steps and working out the gliches as we go, this can be incorporated. Our students will definately benefit from connecting to other students globally.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of the things you all are saying. Computers in the classroom is a must because ALL students don't have computers at home..and even if they do their family might not be able to afford internet service. That's what I have been saying all along...in an IDEAL world these students would have everything at their fingertips. However, if the state BOE can't get it for them in the classroom...how can we expect them to be sure to get it at home? Having 1 computer lab for the entire school to use...and then 1 mobile lab for everyone to reserve AND share...its nearly impossible. In the end what it boils down to is that the English, Science, and Math classes get first dibs because they are core..and as the health teacher...I get whatever days (which is FEW) are left to share with everyone else. IDEALLY these types of projects are a wonderful IDEA...but at this point an idea is in reality all it can be (at least for my class). As for monitoring a blog the students are doing maybe they can be set up where the teacher would have to approve every post before it hit the board. That way they could just all be checked a couple times a day. These online style of projects would open a whole new world for the students in the sense that they would be able to commnicate, share, and explore ideas with students from all cultures and backgrounds. This is important for students to learn because sooo many worldwide careers can be done from a home computer anymore. Even college classes and things...you never have to leave the house...they need to know how to communicate and learn things via the web.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest concern would have to be computer time. For these type of projects to be meaningful, students would need regular access to the blogs or wikis. It would be easy to have the studetns access these at home if our rural area had reliable internet access for everyone. The best way I can think of to solve this problem would be to schedule a time every week to check the blogs and post responses.
ReplyDeleteI would hope the students would gain the understanding of how important their input is to a collaborative project. The project may seem more important to the students if team members are not people they know personally because of the fear of seeming unitelligent or unreliable to someone they don't know.
My one concern with collaborative projects is the process to get one started. Every website that I investigated the process to start a project was pretty complicated. I also searched for projects that were already set up for geometry and I did not find very many (This could be due to the fact that I searched during the summer). I will agree that you do have to have a great deal of flexibility. I would be afraid that if I developed a project and informed the students that we would be collaborating with other classes, no one on the site would join us on the project.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of collaborative projects is great and in the future I believe that the sites will become more user friendly and easier to navigate. Also as more schools across the country commit to 21st century learning skills more projects will be formed and greater participation will happen. These sites are a good start but need more development.
In the past I have tried to get a really good collabrative project going between two school. However, it never seems to get too far off the ground. I think that a good well planned project can be a great asset to any classroom, however, without a lot of time and planning on both teachers part the project is not going to take off.
ReplyDeleteFor the first couple of collabrative project, I discovered that working with other teachers in the building are much better. By working with teachers in the same building it is easy to find time to dicuss the project. I used a collrabtative project to assist in picking the name for the New West Side Elementary School in Kanawha County. By allowing the teachers to talk in person first and then have the students complete the project it was a huge success and the teachers have a better understanding of how a project is meant to work.
I agree with C. Cole that students of West Virginia have a lot to gain by learning about students from other cultures. It is exciting to think of the possibility that they will become very enthused when they realize how much they have in common with others. Communicating their findings to other students who are completing the same activities will strengthen language skills, solidify science knowledge, and result in an incremental boost to student self-confidence.
ReplyDeletePlanning and more planning will make our rock database/Glogster/blog/Square of Life project successful. Perhaps giving each student a piece of yarn that is the length of a square meter(that they can then configure when we are outside) will help in an organizational way! I am very glad that I am taking this online course during the summer. Because of the plethora of engaging websites and applications, I keep getting happily “lost” in Web 2.0-Land. I experienced a certain degree of difficulty in narrowing down the options for the class project. My favorite projects were those that indirectly provided the courage for students with special needs to succeed, such as the podcasting group in “A Little Help From My Friends.”
My concerns about collaborative projects seems to fall in line with what a lot of us are thinking. Time restraints and equipment. I know that last year I had my students working on PhotoStory3. The program is fantastic but because of equipment issues, the overall project was a real nightmare! I really think that this is the way to go with engaging kids, etc. But, in reality, technology and availability has to catch up with opportunity. I hope to have better luck this year with equipment issues.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if we all identified the same problems and the ones I was thinking of when I read the prompt. Time issues, equipment availability and reliability, and monitoring concerns seem to be the same K-12. Does anyone have any ideas for addressing these issues?
ReplyDeleteI think the main goal for collaborative projects is for students to learn to work together in a productive manner. This is so important in the business world. We have to be able to work with and communicate with people from all walks of life.