After reading Chapter 7, I was very interested in a project that our 7th grade science classes participate in. We students engage in River City which is an interact online sessions that students travel through a virtual city as described on the website, River City is:
"River City is a 17 hour, time-on-task curriculum that includes a pretest and a research conference at the end of the unit. Teachers are not expected to find extra time in the school year in order to implement River City. On the contrary, the River City Curriculum is designed and intended to replace existing lessons. The River City Curriculum is interdisciplinary in scope, spanning the domains of ecology, health, biology, chemistry, and earth science, as well as history." (http://muve.gse.harvard.edu/rivercityproject/curriculum.htm)
I really like River City because the students are using technology which keeps them engaged and interested plus they are working among other students and not just from their class.
Another way students can use cooperative learning with technology but our teachers do not use this tool at this time is Google Docs. Google Docs would allow students to work on team projects and each individual having access to compile research, collectively correct research papers, etc. Google Docs would be beneficial for students and staff. Staff can logon to student's work and make suggestions, etc. This is a tool I have been sharing with out teachers within our building to when they are working on projects and students continually have to save their documents to flash drives and share with their group members.
Do a lot of you use Google Docs?
About Me
- Mary Coubal
- A college student at Cardinal Stritch University where I am exceeding my lifelong dream of completing my Bachelor's degree and now finishing my Master's dregree.
I opened a GoogleApps for Education account for our school, and I have been slowly getting students and teachers on to use the applications. I now have all of the 7th grade using it fluently and 20 of the 8th grade. There are 2 teachers in 6th grade who want me to train them and the 6th grade students, so I guess that is next. Some parents are very upset that we are using GoogleApps/Docs because they obviously do not understand it. I had one parent who has been a constant pain about the whole thing even though her daughter loves the tool. For parents who do not sign permission slips, I am giving those students non-descript log-ons so that we don't violate the "privacy" stuff set forth by Google for kids under age 13. All of my students using this tool love love love it!
ReplyDeleteRiver City sounds terrific? Is it more of a project or entire curriculum? Is it free...if not, do you know the approx. cost? You know what, I'll just go to the website link you provided and check it out :) Collaborating with students from other states/countries is a new concept for today's students, but it is extremely valuable in giving them learning experiences in global awareness. I've seen that first hand with my epals project!
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