EDCI 5825 Authentic Collaborative Projects

Technology is an every day part of life for students today.  Knowing this, I think it only makes sense to incorporate technology into the classroom as much as possible.  Students will respond better to a project requiring the use of technology than a "typical" project that requires them to do research and write a paper or make a poster.  This also make the teacher's job more interesting because they will not be grading the same, uninspired project 20 times.  The internet has so many resources, it would be a shame not to tap into them.


One project that I believe students would enjoy is making a facebook profile for a Spanish author.  Since most high school students spend a large portion of their day on facebook, this would interest them.  They would be able to show their skills.  However, since they are so versed in this technology, I would expect a lot from them.  I would expect them to make a complete profile for the author, including pictures, interests, a bio, quotes, and influential people in their lives.  I would expect a well researched and well executed project with plenty of sources.  The sources would need to be linked to some kind of social bookmarking site, such as diigo.  This would keep all of the sources organized and handy for the students and the teacher.


Another project idea would be to have the students create a PowerPoint presentation and add a Jing screencast to narrate the presentation.  VoiceThread is another option to create a similar project (Schrum, 2009).  This would allow the students to practice speaking, which I believe world language students do not get the opportunity to do much of in high school.  The focus is usually on reading and writing.


I could also create a wiki page or blog in which students could post news articles about Spanish culture or news that they find interesting and want to share with other students.  I would have each student post at least one article and respond to at least one other student's article a week.  This makes the students do research and think critically.


Although all of these projects could be accomplished individually, I believe the students would learn more from working collaboratively.  They would be able to find more information on their topics and they would not feel overwhelmed by the amount of work.  I also think it is important to work in groups when technology is involved because some students are better with technology than others.  As McLeod (2007) explains, psychologists such as Vygotsky saw great benefits in collaborative work.  This fulfills the NETS-T standard that students "collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation" (ISTE, 2008).




References

McLeod, S.A. (2007). Vygotsky's Theory of Social Development. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org

Schrum, L. & Levin, B. (2009). Leading 21st century schools: Harnessing technology for engagement and achievement. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press. (79)

International Society for Technology in Education.  (2008).  NETS for teachers 2008. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx