Tech Rich Project 2

The second site I viewed was titled, Virtual Circles: Using Technology to Enhance Literature Circles and Socratic Seminars
I found this site pretty interesting because, as a reading teacher, I have used lit. circles in the past and have developed some specialized thematic approaches to spice it up a bit and allow students more diversity. It was interesting to walk through the process with this teacher.
His approach was quite simple. Instead of face to face conversation students had daily reading requirements and responded to the reading on a class blog. Students "met" in groups of 4-5 and worked on a class project together. The usual prompts were suggested: thoughts, feelings, questions, predictions, inferences, visualizations, connections, and so on.
Students had very specific expecatations spelled out for them and procedures were specific including requirements for on-line protocols such as use of first name only and no inappropriate commentary.
A preseminar survey was also requested on-line to measure changes in attitude toward sharing in a literature circle.
Students enjoyed it. It seemed easy. The teacher saw interest and growth in reading skills. It was worth the time (students could write responses in class or from home). Since the reesponses the teacher was getting in traditional lit circle groups was flat and uninspired this seemed like a good idea to try. And since responses improved and students were more interested in ideas shared then it seemed a firm success.

Tech rich project 1

Having spent a fair bit of time roaming around the OSLIS site with no useful results (including a direct request for help to an online librarian who did not respond) I went to Google. Yes, I know that it doesn't necessarily contain the best information but I can pretty much always get SOME information.
The site I spend a couple hours exploring was one that had been recommended to me earlier by one of our 4/5 Dual Immersion teachers. She suggested it in reply to my question, "What would be a good target request for a TAG grant?"
In exploring the site I found it to be a good source for information of various sorts, all quite readable by a variety of students. The site is a contest which offers a prize (laptops) to those who win a a variety of areas, everything from Arts to Science. There are twelve topic areas to choose from. Children form teams and choose what they want to focus on as they develop their web site. They are given a rubric which scores in the areas of Educational Content, Global Educational Perspectives, and Web Design. The focus is on using the internet to facilitate young people to communicate globally about global issues. Soem teams form together with members living in different countries. An adult coach supports the process but is not allowed to enter anything on the website. It is all done by children. Some of the sites I explored (there are different age categories) had to do with Artificial Intelligence, Poverty, and Mining. The winner last year for the oldest students (16 and under) was Artificial Intelligence and it was really impressive.
The outcome was probably worth the effort. Lots of research, writing, collaboration, and a great product came out of it. At least for the winners. Anyone with a computer and net access could be involved which makes it feasible. And there is a very useful database resulting which could be an access point for student research.