plan out the project. You need to identify the tasks that you will need to complete, what you will need to do them, when (and in what order) you need to do them, and who will work on these things.
If addressing an inquiry unit with a driving question, as mentioned above, students might need to come up with “subquestions” that can be explored and answered to help address the broader investigation. For instance, students investigating their river might first need to address questions like “Where does the water in our river come from?” and “What is in the water?” before they can address the relative health of the river. To come up with these subquestions, a visual organizer can be useful. Web- based versions of these, such as Mind42 (http://mind42. com), Bubblus (
http://bubbl.us), or the Drawing tools of Google Docs (
http://docs.google.com) allow you to create concept maps or visual organizers online, and then allow you to share them with others to view or edit. Tis lets your concept map be a dynamic tool that students can add to and provide updates on their status. Each of these, or a dozen or more similar tools, varies in terms of function, ease of use, and appearance, so sign up for a free account and try them first before using with your class.
If you want to get a little more complex with this, you can use tools dedicated to project management. Zoho Projects (
http://www.zoho.com/projects) or Sosius (
http://sosius.com) let you manage the tasks you need to accomplish and all aspects of these in a simple set of windows. You can also organize people into groups, have a shared file space, and communicate with group members through a variety of tools. While free accounts are limited in space or numbers of participants, they should be acceptable for classroom use.
Step 3: Researching and Implementing the Project So, now that you have a plan and know who is doing what, it’s time to get to work. Classroom projects oſten require a shared “space” for keeping notes, documents, pictures, and other information. And, while a file cabinet in the corner of the classroom is sometimes the most accessible option, it also requires everything to be printed out and filed properly. As we move toward a more digital world (and since more and more of the research or writing/creation that your students do is done electronically), there are a number of options you could use to collaborate and share work on the project.
Te Swiss Army knife solution for this, and many other aspects of the project is an online suite of tools like Google Docs (
http://docs.google.com) or Zoho Docs (
www.zoho.com). Seemingly growing by the minute in scope and capacity, these online tools let you create
MACULJOURNAL |
and share word processing documents, spreadsheets, drawings, databases, and forms in a common space. You can create folders, review histories of files (in case someone inadvertently deletes something), and use a number of other collaboration functions to work together, share notes, and develop your project plans and ideas. And, when you update a file, everyone else can see it update almost as quickly as you do it.
What about all of that research on the web? Don’t bookmark it, definitely don’t copy and paste it into Google Docs, and absolutely don’t print everything off to put in that file cabinet in your room. No - take the easy route, and use a cloud-based note taking tool, such as Evernote (
www.evernote.com). Evernote is a great solution for schools - they allow limited capacity free accounts, and they provide browser tools for common browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and others) so that you can be on a web site, highlight what you want for notes, and click on the Evernote button to upload it to your note space. You can also take notes, upload pictures, audio, and other files to the site. Again, these can be shared as needed, and you can organize the files with tags for ease in searching through the notes. And, for those using
handheld devices, such as iPods or cell phones, there are Evernote apps that let you do your work on the go.
One other consideration for some projects, including those service learning projects of having students design and build community gardens, or development projects, like designing and building that solar-powered car, is that they are going to require some funding. Te best solution is probably to seek out businesses or organizations in your community to support it, but there are also online solutions. GiveMeaning (
www.givemeaning.com) or GoFundMe (www.gofundme.
Winter 2010/11 9
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36