Mining the Internet

An e-mail program and a Web browser can give any teacher

access to a wide variety of learning activities that can be

done with students in different locations.This month, Judi

Harris discusses opportunities and choices for joining

telecollaborative projects designed by other teachers.

Teachers are instructional designers.Sometimes we use our instruc-

tional design skills to invent new learn-ing activities. At other times we usethose same skills to reinvent (adapt,customize, build on) other teachers’learning activity ideas.

Perhaps you have read about howyou can use thinking tools called mtiv-

z$ structures and action sequences to helpyou design worthwhile curriculum-based telecollaborative activities. (If not,please see my articles in L&L vol. 26nos. 1 and 6 and VirtUaLArchitecture:

Designing and Directing Curriculum-

Based Telecomputing [Harris, 19981).howIn this column, Id like to suggest

you can locate, choose from, and rein-

vent educational telecollaborationthat other teachers have designedand made available.

Educational Telecollaboration“What’s a telecollaborative activity?”you may be wondering. Put simply,it is an educational endeavor thatinvolves people in different locations

using Internet tools and resourcesto work together. Much educationaltelecollaboration is curriculum-based, teacher-designed, and teacher-coordinated. Most use e-mail to helpparticipants communicate with eachother. Many telecollaborative activitiesand projects have Web sites to supportthem. (More about how to design thesekinds of sites is available in both VihdArchitecture and the “Mining the Inter-net” column in L&L vol. 24 no. 5.)

Telecollaborative activities can offermany educational benefits to their par-ticipants. The nature of these benefitsdepends, in large part, on the specificsof each activity’s design, and how wellwhat the activity makes possible match-es the learning needs and preferences ofparticipating students. In general, cur-riculum-based telecollaboration is mostappropriate when students can be wellserved by:

being exposed to differing opinions,perspectives, beliefs, experiences, andthinking processes;comparing, contrasting, and/or com-bining similar information collectedin dissimilar locations;communicating with a real audienceusing text and imagery; andexpanding their global awareness.

If one or more of these process-orientedgoals is appropriate for your students inone or more curriculum areas, then par-ticipating in a telecollaborative activityis probably a good idea to consider.Are you wondering, though, about howyou will find appropriate activities andprojects amidst the ever-expandingvastness of the Web?

Telecollaboratiolr OpportunitiesFortunately, several “virtual places” onthe World Wide Web can help us findcurriculum-based telecollaboration op-portunities. Particularly helpful, fre-quently updated telecollaborativeactivity indexes include:

l Global SchoolNet’s Projects &Programs *or

i n ): This is the most com-prehensive of all of the K-12telecollaborative projects directories.Don’t miss the searchable InternetProjects Registy at this site

INK,..

These globally focused projects in-volve learners aged 15 and youngerfrom manv different countries. All stu-dent participants must answer fourquestions about themselves and theirideas for making the world a betterplace prior to project participation.I*EARN Proje /iear jects.

marily social action projects involvingparticipants from very diverse geo-graphic locations.NickNacks Telecollaboration

/): This site contains

many helpful suggestions abouthow to participate in educationaltelecollaboration. NickNacks alsosponsors and points visitors to high-quality curriculum-based projects.

I

review service helps us locatetelecollaboration opportunitiesaccording to curriculum area andfour activity types-Web-basedactivities, Web-based projects, Web-based tutorials, and Unit & LessonPlans. The contents of Blue Web’&large projects database can also besearched by keyword.Innovative TeachiniThis is a comprehensive, frequentlyupdated, alphabetized list of Web-based projects. It constitutes one sec-tion of a much larger set of onlineresources that assist and reflect“innovative teaching.”

November 1999 Learning & Leading with Technology ml

Mining the Internet

These sites can be perused andsearched productively in several ways.You might:

1 .

2 .

3 .

4 .

5 .

U

Look for an activity idea in a par-ticular curriculum area and for aspecific grade level.Look for an activity that asks stu-dents to engage in a particularlearning-related process, such aswriting persuasive essays orestimating distances.Scan all of the project ideas listedfor a particular curriculum topic,regardless of grade level, becausemany educational telecollaborationsinvolve students of varying agesworking together.Seek out multidisciplinary, multi-featured projects that you sensewould be particularly motivatingand beneficial for your studentsto experience.Periodically revisit these index sites,reviewing the project announce-ments that have appeared sinceyour last perusal, considering eachin terms of its applicability to yourstudents’ interests and needs.

Choosing the TelecollaborationWhen choosing a telecollaboration tojoin, the most important criteria to useaddress students’ learning needs andpreferences. Ask vourself:I

1 .

2 .

3 .

Will participating in this activityhelp my students learn relevantand educationally appropriatecurriculum-related content?Will participating in this activity re-quire that my students use relevantand educationally appropriatecurriculum-related processes?Does this project require the use ofInternet tools and resources to bedone well? In other words, wouldoffline tools and resources work justas well or better?

As you are making decisions aboutwhich project(s) to join, it’s also a goodidea to keep several logistical questionsin mind.

Learning & Leading with Technology

Figure 1. Globul SchoolNeti online project semch form. Graphic courtesy of the Global Schoolhouse/Glo bdSchoolNet Foundztion.

Volume 27 Number 3

Mining the Internet

plying information about vour classusing a Web form. The first step intelecollaboration, therefore, is to com-mit to participation, and communicate

Then, telyour students what’s com-ing! Their participation can be muchmore self-motivated and in-depth ifthey anticipate their involvement withexcitement and a clear sense of compe-tence. You might also want to tellyourphbpaL or colledgues about what youare about to try. They might be able tooffer you support and suggestions.

1. How often will this project requirethat my students and I be online?Do we have suficient LXC~SS to thetools and resources required forparticipation?

2. Do we have sufficient time to par-ticipate? Can we meet the interimdeadlines specified by the project’screator? Do I have sufficient timeand energy to do the additionalpreparation required by the project?

3. What learning contexts are necessaryfor effective participation in theproject? Is our classroom amenableto small-group work? Would a rotat-ing schedule of computer access befeasible? Is it comfortable for differ-ent students to be working on dif-ferent tasks in the same room at thesame time? Are the students accus-tomed to doing work responsiblyin other parts of the school withoutdirect supervision, if necessary?

4. Are the students and I sufficiently

that decision.The next step is to familiarize your-

self with the specifics ofpdrticipationrequirements for vour chosen project.These instructions are often posted atthe project’s Web site. Participation de-tails can also be sent to you directlye-mail once vou have contacted the

by Last Thoughts on First StepsMv mentor and a co-writer for“Mining the Internet” uses a sayingfor which he has become (in)famous.It is directly applicable to this month’stopic. Glen Bull is fond of quipping,“Any-thing worth doing is worthdoing poorly”

project’s organizer. Be especially carefulto note the beginning and ending datesfor the project. Be even more careful tonote any interim deadlines, especiallythose that require that your students’work be shared electronically withother students. Proactively renegotiateany deadlines that conflict with schoolvacations, other major project dead-lines, professional development days,and so on.

Please think with me for a momentabout the valuable lesson that Glenteaches in saying this, tongue-in-cheek.Whenever we take first steps in neweducational directions, we discoverwhat we didn’t expect. First stepsoften look like stumbling. (Ever watcha baby learn to walk?) If we use theserich opportunities to help us learn bydoing-as we encourage our studentsto do every day-the stumbling canserve a larger educational purpose.Soon we will know how to step assur-edly, and together with our students,we can explore fascinating new virtualspaces for telecollaborative learning,one step at a time.

Now schedule students’ project-related work in your planbook orcalendar, allotting approximatelytwice the normally required timefor each project-related activity duringthe first few weeks of telecollaboration.(Any technical or procedural glitcheswill probably show themselves duringthe earlv stages of project work.Smoothing these “kinks’ takes addi-tional, usually unplanned-for time.)Be sure to schedule your preparationtime, too. Include time to practice us-ing the online tools and resources in-volved, time to gather relevant informa-tion resources into abookmark file for

comfortable and competent wi.ththe particular tools required for Pa r -ticipation (e.g., e-mail and Webbrowsers)? If so, you will be ableto concentrate primarily on thecurriculum-based learning facilitat-ed by the telecollaboration, ratherthan on learning to use the toolsthemselves.

Many telecollaborative projects areappealing because of the power of theirinstructional designs, the elegance oftheir Web sites, or their direct relevanceto your curriculum. It is important toallow this attraction to be temperedby sound pedagogical judgment. Yet,once vou have found a telecollabor-ation that is educationally sensible,appropriate, and logistically feasible,how then should vou proceed?

ReferencesHarris, J. (I 998). Virtud architecture: Designingand directing curriculum-based telecomputing.Eugene, OR: International Society forTechnology in Education.vour students to use, and time to com-

municate with telecollaborators beforeand during the project.48 hours for responsesqueries to arrive.

Allow at leastto each of your

Judi Harris (judi.bmris@?mail. u texus. edu), dssociuteprofessor in curriculum andinstruction dt the Universi~of Texus-Austin, directs theElectronic Emissa y (www.tupr. orglemissd yo. She hds

authored more tbun 140 articles undfour books,

most recently Virtual Architecture: Designing

and Directing Curriculum-Based Telecomput-ing (1998, ISTE) and Design Tools for theInternet-Supported Classroom (1998, ASCD).

Gather the necessary resources thatu will use to support and enrich yourY0

After You Find the “Perfect Project”Most telecollaborative activities includesome sort of registrution procedure. Of-ten this involves contacting the activity’sorganizer, either by e-mail or by sup-

students’ project-related work. Theseresources could be Web site addresses,library books, films, experts in project-relatedsupplies, and so on.

art supplies, computer

Learning & Leading with Technology qNovember 1999