Sunday, August 12, 2012

EDIM 508: Virtual Field Trip (Final Project)

The creation of a virtual field trip using Google Earth was no small feat! It was definitely an involved process, but one that I found to be well worth the effort in the end.  It was a challenge for me, at first, to decide upon a topic to explore using Google Earth, since the subject areas I am primarily responsible for are 6th grade language arts and science.  Then it occured to me that I could create a virtual field trip for the Gifted Literature Study course I teach.  Each school year, my gifted litereature students read 11 short stories from the Junior Great Books program and participate in literature circle discussions and other activities related to those stories.  All of the stories share a common theme of "coming of age," but they take place in very diverse settings.  This project presented me with the perfect opportunity to have students explore those settings through Google Earth.

For my virtual field trip, I chose four of the stories from the curriculum and plotted each of their locations (Harlem in New York City; Paris, France; Warsaw, Poland; and Jerusalem) on the globe.  As students visit each plotted location, they will be directed to explore the geography and layout of the town, including nearby schools and buildings, and describe their observations.  Students will also be directed to visit exteral websites that provide more detailed information about these towns/cities to gather information.  At the conclusion of their "world tour," students will complete a writing assignment through Discovery Education.  They will choose two of the four stories that were presented in the virtual field trip.  This essay has two goals: The first is to explain how the setting of each story might have affected the protagonists and the process of growing up.  The second is to compare and contrast the coming of age of the protagonists in their respective settings to what it is like to be a teenager today.  The major instructional goal of this entire activity is for students to understand more about the history and culture behind the settings of these stories and to make text-to-self connections illustrating the differences and similarities between the students' own lives and those of the stories' characters.

This activity lends itself nicely to developing the respectful mind and ethical mind.  Students must work to understand and accept cultural differences as they explore each unique story location, which correlates to the respectful mind.  For the ethical mind, students are exploring similarities and shared connections between citizens of different countries, as well as common themes of humanity that we all share. 

I look forward to using this virtual field trip at the conclusion of next year's Gifted Literature Study class and developing other projects using Google Earth!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

EDIM 508: Video Blog on Developing my Five Minds

I am posting something different today in the form of a vlog (video blog).  Throughout the past semester, I have focused mainly on how to develop Gardner's Five Minds in my 6th grade students.  In this vlog, I will explain how I plan to develop those same Five Minds in myself this upcoming school year, as well as long-term in the future.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

EDIM 508: Respectful and Ethical Minds

I found Julene Reed's article "Global Collaboration and Learning: How to create a world of success without leaving your classroom" to be both interesting and a tight fit with my own personal views of educating our students to be global citizens.  Starting with the very first paragraph, Reed zeroes in on the need to develop workers who can compete in the global marketplace and the importance of beginning that development process in K-12 schools.  The first statement that caught my eye was, "Tomorrow's citizens must be global communicators, must be able to participate successfully in project-based activities, and must have collaborative skills" (2007).  Educators can help students develop strengthen these skills in the classroom, as early as elementary school.  Project-based Learning (or PBL) offers one method of teaming students and giving them the opportunity to work collaboratively.  Students are also able to develop knowledge of and experience in using multiple technology platforms and digital media tools, two very marketable job skills that I believe will only grow in demand.

Another point that Reed makes early on in her article is that "with the increased focus on outsourcing and global competition, students must be prepared to compete and succeed by using creativity and ingenuity, and they must be able to work with people from all parts of the world" (2007).  As I have grown into an adult and spent time in the working world, I can see clearly just how true this is.  In our current economy, which we can only hope will improve by the time our current students enter the workforce, job opportunities are scarce and extremely competitive.  Today's students, who are tomorrow's workers and professionals, need to be prepared for an agressive job market with skills such as creativity, problem-solving abilities, and superior interpersonal communication skills.  Learning a second or third language in school would be a huge benefit, as many companies deal with customers and contractors in other countries.  Also, by embracing creativity in the classroom, educators can help encourage students to "think outside the box" and seek new solutions to problems that could someday present themselves in the working world.

Reed concluded her article with multiple examples of ways to incorporate digital media in the classroom in order to develop global-mindedness and the Respectful and Ethical Mind.  I currently use email and a form of video conferencing with my students, since I teach in the cyber setting.  I host online meetings where my students and I are able to communicate through microphones and webcams.  Students are encourage to collaborate with classmates through our closed webmail system and to keep in close contact with their teachers, as well.  Finally, I have also used digital storytelling in my 6th grade classroom by asking students to create their own digital storybooks in lieu of a traditional book report or essay/paper.  The students love the technology aspect of those assignments, and I appreciate that students can express just as much, if not more, information in a more interesting format.

There are two other digital media tools Reed discussed that I would like to try to implement in my classroom this upcoming school year.  My co-teacher and I have discussed asking the students to create podcasts as part of a new semester-long PBL experience we have designed.  Students will be creating their own food product, packaging, nutrition labels, and marketing campaign. We plan to have students who live locally present their finish project in person, and ask the students unable to attend in person to create some kind of recorded presentation that could be shared.  A podcast would be an innovative way to have students display images and information along with their oral presentation.  Not only would it solve our problem of not having the students physically present, but it would also help students to develop experience and confidence in using another technology tool.

The other tool I would love to use in my classroom is a wiki.  If my co-teacher and I can get approval to use wikis for our students, this could be a great way to encourage collaborative learning and working.  Working as a team is so vital during the school years, as students will grow into adults who must work closely on a team with other adults in the workplace.  In the cyber school setting, it can be a challenge to create opportunities for meaningful collaborative work; however, I think we've hit a potential goldmine with wikis.  Students can work together to create something special while developing their confidence in creating, synthesizing their research, and developing valuable global technology skills.

Reed, J. (2007, September 28). Global collaboration and learning: How to create a world of success without leaving your classroom. EdTech, Retrieved from http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2007/09/global-collaboration-and-learning