Teaching in the digital age.
Cameron Foster's Page
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- Grade Level:
- 7, 8, 9, 10
- Favorite Subject Area:
- Japanese and History
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Are you on twitter, btw? I am www.twitter.com/oline73
I haven't really used wikis in this way before, so you can make the call about public/private. I joined a wiki once before but the other teacher set it up so well that I never had to modify anything- so I haven't had the full "wiki experience" as of yet.
I'll put some thought into time frames and things like that during the upcoming week and add some of my thoughts.
I am looking forward to this!
My only issue in the previous collaboration I have done is that it gets very easy to exponentially increase the size of a project by adding too many "products". I only meet my kids once a week, so it takes time to explain how to use the tools. If we can figure out what to use that best fits our plans, I'd like to focus on that core product so there is less time spent teaching the mechanics of the tool and more time spent using it if that makes sense.
I heard of two other tools that aren't fully released yet that sound interesting-
www.yackpack.com
With this tool we can have the kids record messages in a shared space. I haven't given it a full run yet- it is still under construction, but it sounds like a reasonably easy way for kids to communicate in a social network of sorts. That's one idea.
and www.Yazzem.com
This is something created by a couple of 14 year olds if you believe that. It is going to be launched on April 15th. It is supposed to be like twitter but you can create private groups. I'd love to use twitter with the kids, but you need a cell phone number and it is too wide open to outsiders. Yazzem sounds like a safe way to utilize short micro-blog posts.
That's another idea.
So obviously we have time to plan this- but I was wondering if you had a specific time that works best for you. Due to the fact that I only meet the kids once a week and factoring in vacations or snow days or unforeseen issues- 5 weeks would probably be needed on my end. Depending on how we structure it, I could always start before you if you need less time- we could sync it up to fit our schedules.
I like the idea of using things that are "left behind" by cultural shifts as well.
Let me know your thoughts when you get a chance. Also- have you created ARGs? I have never created one or participated- just read about them. I'd love to talk to you about that stuff as well- maybe for another project down the road?
Here's an idea- if you want to keep the focus on language- maybe find words that embody the cultural shifts of the time in Japanese and English. For example, kids in my class learned definitions for words like Crowdsourcing, Prosumer, etc. Maybe we can find words in Japanese that embody the times as well (Meiji)? Maybe make a vociethread where the kids find words like that, find pictures to match and discuss why the pics are relevant to the new paradigm?
Something like "Ee ja nai ka"?
Does that make sense?
You would know better than I, but the appeal of that era (meiji restoration) seems to be that it was a time of turbulent cultural upheaval- similar in some ways to the age we are living in right now.
Maybe do something with 8th graders centering around globalization? How the Japanese encounters with other cultures changed their own, something like that, and draw the parallels to the fact that 8th graders are growing up as our first "Digital Natives".
One tool I would love to use with a history/geography/world cultures sort of project would be http://www.dipity.com/
Have you ever used it? Check it out and see if you see any potential for plotting time and describing the magnitude of some of the major events of those two eras.
Maybe students could find an event in one era and try to find a similar one from the other and explain the critical thinking that went behind their reasoning?
Lots of thoughts- but I'd love to hear yours.
I had an idea for a collaborative project for next year. The Meiji Restoration interest you at all? Maybe something else? "The 47 Ronin", Russo-Japanese War? If you would like to figure something out, let me know and we can plan it out together.