CHAPTER 4:

In the Bathroom-
Project Planning
and Direction

 


Please click one of the links below to begin your exploration of project planning and direction.

The websites mentioned in Judi Harris's Virtual Architecture are marked with a book icon: .

Please note that these sites are listed in order of their appearance in the book

Project Design and Direction

Project Web Page Functions



Global SchoolNet's Internet Projects Registry

Grades: K-12
Teachers can search an index of over 500 projects by grade level, date, curriculum area, technology used, and complexity of project. Global SchoolNet calls this "the one central place on the Internet where you can find projects from across the globe to bring into your classroom." This "one stop shop" contains descriptions on projects from reputable organizations such as I*EARN, IECC, NASA, GLOBE, Academy One, TIES, and Tenet. Plus, you can add your own project to the registry!

 

Project Design and Direction, Step by Step

Step 1: Choose the curriculum-related goals.

Step 2: Choose the activity's structure(s).

Activity Structures Examples/Index (Virtual Architecture)
Pages 82-84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Find links and annotations to dozens of Interpersonal Exchange, Information Collection and Analysis, and Problem Solving curriculum-based telecomputing projects. Many of these sites are mentioned in Judi Harris' Virtual Architecture book.

Step 3: Explore examples of other online projects.

Blue Web'n Library
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Browse or search a database of about 1,000 high-quality online projects. According to the site, "Blue Web'n does not attempt to catalog all educational sites, but only the most useful sites -- especially online activities targeted at learners." Busy teachers can also receive free weekly updates by e-mail.

Center for Improved Engineering & Science Education
Grades: K-12
Find high quality projects that are aligned with the National Science Standards.

Electronic Elementary Magazine
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Hosted by the University of Maryland at College Park, this "e-zine" highlights a dozen or so educational sites and online curricular projects in every issue. The archives extend back to Winter of 1996.

The GrassRoots Program
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
This Canadian site allows educators to search teacher-submitted online projects on topics ranging from aboriginal studies to vocational education. The site's available in English or Francais.

Handbook of Engaged Learning Projects
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 3-12
Browse summaries (including learner outcomes, national standards met, and assessment ideas), easy-to-follow implementation scenarios, and student activity pages for nineteen curriculum-based online projects for elementary and secondary students.

Houghton-Mifflin's Online Projects Center
Grades: K-12
Browse a wealth of well-indexed telecollaborative projects in a variety of disciplines.

I*EARN Projects
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
With diverse titles such as Folks Songs Project, Rare Animals in My Country, and Cultural Bridges with China, I*EARN offers teachers a variety of online learning projects that have a social action slant. A list of action projects gives students a chance to contribute to charitable causes around the world.

KIDPROJ
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
A variety of e-mail lists and an index of projects guide teachers and students that are interested in online, hands-on, (and often, global) learning.

Los Angeles Co. TEAMS Projects
Grades: K-12
If you're looking for a content area project or a contest for your classroom, visit this site. You'll enjoy browsing a variety of telecollaborative projects.

NASA K-12 Internet Initiative: Online Interactive Projects
Grades: 2-12
Ongoing? Yes
Have any space junkies in your classroom? How about someone who would appreciate a scientist role model? This site features several high-quality projects that involve real communication among NASA scientists, professional astronomers, and students.

NickNacks Telecollaborations
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 1-7
Explore online projects involving keypals, Language Arts, Math/Science, Social Studies, thematic units, and more.

oz-TeacherNet/ Queensland University of Technology
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Click the "Read Messages" button to peruse project announcements or visit the archives when you click the "Home" link.

QESN Project Centre
Grades: K-12
Select from a variety of "fast food" (simpler) and "gourmet" (more complex) tellecollaborative projects. 

TEAMS Distance Learning Classroom Projects
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Learn about TEAMS-sponsored projects (with titles as enticing as Be A TV Critic), as well as keypal projects and contests sponsored by other organizations.

The WebQuest Page
Page 84 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Teachers will find examples, templates, evaluation rubrics, and research articles to help them develop WebQuests, which are focused, task-oriented Internet scavenger hunts that require students to apply the knowledge they find.

Additional Project Indexes

Step 4: Determine the details of your project.

"Telecommunications in the Classroom: Keys to Successful Telecomputing"
Page 85 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
What elements should you include when planning your telecomputing plan document? Click here to find out!

"Organizing Electronic Network-Based Instructional Interactions: Successful Strategies and Tactics"
Page 85 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
This article provides descriptions of successfully organized telecomputing projects, and suggests project organization strategies at the micro and macro levels.

The Passport to Knowledge Project
Page 85 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Read an overview of a project that allows students to "witness live the ongoing exploration of Antarctica or the heavens, volcanic craters or ocean depths" with "equipment no more sophisticated than a television set, a regular computer, a modem, a phone line and an imaginative teacher."

Step 5: Invite telecollaborators.

Armadillo's WWW Server
Page 86 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
A more current selection of "Super Projects" can be found on Armadillo's WWW Server.

Class2Class Project List
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Browse through a list of up-to-date telecollaborative math activities. Invitations and overviews are concise and informative.

Global SchoolNet's Internet Projects Registry (Add-a-Project Page)
Page 89 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Follow step-by-step guidelines to add your online project to one of the WWW's most comprehensive Internet project registries.

Step 6: Form the telecollaborative group.

"Harnessing the Web"
Pages 92-93 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
This comprehensive online tutorial will guide you through the process of designing and implementing online projects--don't miss the section entitled Making Networked  Projects for hints on forming your group.

Child Safety on the Information Highway
Page 93 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Here are some helpful guidelines for parents, students, and teachers that will help keep telecollaboration safe as well as interesting.

Step 7: Communicate!

Step 8: Create closure.

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Project-Related Web Page Functions

Web-based presentation on this topic

Function 1: Project Overview

The Rope Pump Project: Clean Water for Nicaragua
Page 96 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students from around the world raise money to dig wells and the install rope pumps in Nicaragua, thus helping to reduce illness caused by polluted water in selected villages.

Function 2: Project Announcement

Boreal Forest Watch
Pages 96-97 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? No
This website comprehensively describes activities and events in this Canadian ecology monitoring project.

Function 3: Project Instructions

Learning Circles on I*EARN
Pages 97-98 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 3-12
Learning Circles are "highly interactive, project-based partnerships among a small number of schools located throughout the world" that take place in sessions that are fourteen weeks long.  Some of the themes that Learning Circles explore are:  Computer Chronicles, Society's Problems, and Energy and the Environment.  This site includes a comprehensive teacher's guide, templates, and timelines to help ease the managerial demands of global classrooms.

Function 4: Information Repository and Exchange

KIDLINK's Multicultural Calendar
Page 99 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
This site contains a huge searchable database of holidays around the world.  Teachers might also enjoy  tips on integrating this site into the social studies, math, language arts, and physical education curriculum.

Function 5: Context for Project-Related Communication

Electronic Emissary
Page 100 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing? Yes
The Electronic Emissary staff facilitates expert-student e-mail interactions to help your class get the most out of this experience. Click here to search the database of available telementors or here to read about the E-Journalism Project, in which Lanier Middle School students corresponded with professional journalists.

Function 6: Project Support

CoVis: Learning Through Collaborative Visualization
Pages 100-101 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 9-12
Ongoing? No
Researchers from academia and industry have united to form a science community aimed at helping k-12 educators and students. Though the project itself is no longer active, this website contains a wealth of information, projects, and networking opportunities for teachers.

Function 7: Project Chronology

Hobart-Malang Electronic Mail Project
Pages 101-102 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 4-8
Ongoing? Not sure
This site shows how rich cross-cultural keypal relationships can be. Here, you will see how students in Australia and Indonesia use e-mail to celebrate many aspects of each other's cultures, from folktales to pets.  You will find an overview of the projects, nuts and bolts planning documents, and samples of the e-mail messages that carry smiles (and academically rich information!) across cyberspace.

Function 8: Showcase of Participants' Works

Kids' International Peace Museum
Pages 102-104 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-3
Ongoing? Yes
Full of student-created "exhibits" on peace, this site has a lot to teach any visitor. The solemn ambiance of the site is interspersed with humor, as exemplified by one student's definition of peace: "When my brother isn't home there is peace."  Young students around the world are welcome to contribute to this virtual museum.

Function 9: Project Center

Read to Write Project
Pages 105-106 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing?  Yes
Imagine virtual book clubs in which students worldwide share analyses, discuss literature, and publish their own work over the Internet.  That's what you'll find at the The Read to Write Project.  If you visit this site, be sure to check out the student-created matrices that allow for comparative studies...a perfect example of something that couldn't be done so well (and so collaboratively) without the help of Internet technologies.

Function 10: Project-Spawning Service

Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections
Page 106 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing?  Yes
This site is a goldmine if you're looking for an online project, but don't know where to start.  Subscribe to or search any of the site's mailing lists to find eager partners around the world.  Looking for a class to exchange survey data with?  Check out the IECC-SURVEYS mailing list.  In search of folks over age 50 to communicate with your students?  Try the IECC-INTERGEN list. On this site, you'll also find links to many high-quality online projects already in progress.

eMail classroom Xchange (ePals)
Page 106 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing?  Yes
ePals calls itself "the world's largest classroom keypal network," and from the looks of things, it probably is.  This attractive site makes it easy for teachers and students to search for keypals by region, language, grade level, and topic.  A particularly powerful aspect of this site is its availability in three languages--English, Spanish, and French--making it truly accessible to a wide audience.  (The site features information on non-European languages as well...a search for "Hindi" produced 4 potential keypal matches!)  In addition, you will find chat rooms and a well-annotated list of resources to help you as you plan your online project.

Classroom Connect Teacher Contact Database
Page 107 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Looking for a high school business teacher to share ideas with? How about an elementary school art teacher or a middle school science teacher? This site will let you search for colleagues to share telecomputing ideas with--simply select the grade level or subject matter that interests you.

Mighty Media's Keypals Club
Page 107 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Ongoing?  Yes
MightyMedia invites visitors to "start a project with another class, or just create a new friendship with someone on the other side of the globe."  After you register, you can quickly find partner schools in the site's database.  This club allows you (the teacher) to specify content that you'd like the keypals to discuss, or you can let the students come up with their own topics.  Safety features like parental permission and protection of e-mail addresses (all correspondence takes place through the website itself) are also worth noting.

Dave's ESL EMail Connection
Page 107 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: 3-12
Ongoing? Yes
Students can make friends and discuss topics that they find interesting (e.g., pets, cinema, hobbies).  In this example, the keypal relationship is built mostly through online threaded discussions.

Filamentality
Pages 107-108 of Virtual Architecture
Grades: K-12
Filamentality guides you through creating five different types of web pages and then posts them right on the Internet! Try making a Hotlist, Multimedia Scrapbook, Subject Sampler, Treasure Hunt, or WebQuest.  It's a breeze to use.

Additional Examples of Project Page Functions

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Last Updated: September 18, 2003