Lynn Williams
Briarcrest Christian School
lmwilliams@briarcrest.com
handout: http://www.briarcrest.com/teleprojects.asp

 

What is a telecollaborative project?
       A telecollaborative project is an educational project that involves sharing information with another person or group of people over the internet. Telecollaborative projects range from setting up simple keypal relationships between your students and another class to involving many classrooms and experts from around the world in an information-gathering project that requires a collaborative effort.

(From: http://scilnet.fortlewis.edu/edtech/telecollab/intro.htm)

Telecollaboration is an educational venture, usually authored by a classroom teacher, that involves students and teachers in different locations using Internet tools such as email, chat, web conferencing, web page building, as well as audio and video conferencing. The project connects specific curriculum objectives with the best the web has to offer.

What Types of Telecollaborative Projects Are There?

Typical telecollaborative groupings take many forms.

• Class to Class
• Teacher to Teacher
• Teacher or Expert to Class
• Student to Student

What Are the Advantages of Telecollaborative Projects?

• They offer students the opportunity to "visit" together places they may never have a chance to see in reality, such as a rainforest, the Titanic, or the Great Wall of China.
• They allow students to correspond with experts such as writers, politicians, and scientists.
• They help "hook" the reluctant learner who is often unwilling to participate in traditional classroom activities.
• They provide opportunities for students to correspond with learners from other cultures and countries, thus expanding their global awareness.
• They broaden the thinking of both students and teachers by exposing them to different perspectives.
• They provide an opportunity for teachers to "piggy-back" on the rich online opportunities that have been created by colleagues from all over the world.
• They help link students and teachers to various resources that normally wouldn't be available to them in their classrooms.

(From: http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.
php?sectiondetailid=844&PHPSESSID=e49e10f97ecf6025e17b7cdf3eb34417)

 

 

More on TELECOLLABORATION? 

The Internet can be powerful tool for communication within and between schools around the world.  As an educational leader, you should become familiar with how telecollaborative projects are being used to ground local inquiry, provide resources in the form of expertise, data and information and to introduce learners to new ways and purposes for communicating.  An important question to keep in mind throughout this workshop is to ask yourselves if and how access to this information and processes can help deepen students' understanding of the academic concepts that are covered in your school's curriculum.  

Judi Harris (1998) believes that the Internet offers educators three structure types that function as flexible frameworks for teachers' instructional design tools. Each activity structure encompasses five to seven different types of activities that are flexibly designed to support various learning goals.

1. Interpersonal Exchanges are those activities in which individuals communicate electronically with other individuals, individuals communicate with groups or groups communicate with other groups. Interpersonal Exchanges include:
1. Keypals – ePals, IECC, Gaggle.net, Teacher2Teacher (See links below)
2. Global classrooms – Global Virtual Classroom (See link below)
3. Electronic appearances – MadSci Network
4. Telementoring – Videoconferencing Directories
5. Question-and-answer activities – How Stuff Works, MathNerds
6. Impersonations – Letters to Santa
2. Information Collection and Analysis activities are those that involve students collecting, compiling, and comparing different types of interesting information. Information Collection and Analysis activity structures include: information exchanges, database creation, electronic publishing, telefieldtrips, and pooled data analysis. (Examples: The International Boiling Point Project, The Noon Day Project, RoadKill 2007)
3. Problem Solving activities promote critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-based learning. Problem Solving structures include: information searches, peer feedback activities, parallel problem solving, sequential problem solving, telepresent problem solving, simulations, and social action projects. (Examples: GeoGame, National Math Trail, Classroom Anatomy, Travel Buddies)

(From: http://ctell1.soe.uconn.edu/CTAdminTech/acttwo.html)

 

 

About Telecollaborative Projects:

1. eduScapes: Collaborative & Interactive Online Projects -
   http://eduscapes.com/ladders/themes/interactive.htm
2. Telecollaborate! -
   http://nschubert.home.mchsi.com/education/edjoin.html
3. Tools and Resources for Developing a Telecollaborative Project -
   http://scilnet.fortlewis.edu/edtech/telecollab/intro.htm
4. Somerville Public Schools: Telecollaboration!
   http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=844&PHPSESSID=e49e10f97ecf6025e17b7cdf3eb34417
5. NMSA: Electronic Thread -
   http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/MiddleGround/Articles/February2003/Article5/tabid/193/Default.aspx
6. Telecollaborative Internet Projects -
   http://ctell1.soe.uconn.edu/CTAdminTech/acttwo.html

 

 

Collections of Telecollaborative Projects:

        1.    The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) - http://www.k12science.org/currichome.html

        2.    Vicki Blackwell’s Online Projects for Kids -
http://www.vickiblackwell.com/projects.html

        3.    Telecollaborate! -
http://nschubert.home.mchsi.com

        4.    Adventures of Cyberbee -
http://www.cyberbee.com/projects.html

        5.    Global Schoolhouse Internet Projects Registry -
http://www.globalschoolnet.org/GSH/pr/index.cfm

        6.    AT&T Knowledge Ventures – Blue Web’n Project List -
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/contentTable2.cfm

        7.    Education World: Collaborative Projects -
http://www.education-world.com/projects/archives/

        8.    Resources on Telecollaborative Projects -
http://www.uni.edu/currtech/teleproj.html

        9.    Mrs. Silverman’s Webfolio -
http://www.kids-learn.org/

     10.    TechnoSpud Projects -
http://www.technospudprojects.com/

     11.    Class2Class Math Project List -
http://mathforum.org/class2class/list.taco

     12.    The Globe Program: On-Going Activities -
http://www.globe.gov/fsl/html/templ.cgi?s2s_index&lang=en&nav=1

     13.    KidLink: KidProj (current and ongoing projects) -
http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/projects.html

     14.    KidWriters -
http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/Kidwriters/kwstarted.html

     15.    Education World: The Interactivity Center -
http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/archives/interactivity.shtml

     16.    The Testbed for Telecollaboration -
http://teaparty.terc.edu/research/resources/tele-rsrc.html

     17.    Global Virtual Classroom -
http://www.virtualclassroom.org/

 

 

Partnering with Other Classrooms

1. ePals -
   http://www.epals.com/
2. IECC -
   http://www.iecc.org/
3. Gaggle.net -
   http://www.gaggle.net/gen?_template=/templates/gaggle/html/index.jsp
4. Teacher2Teacher -
   http://www.2learn.ca/Teacher2Teacher/PostingCenter.html

 

 

Setting Up Communication for Collaboration

        1.    Class Blogmeister – Teachers can monitor blog posts first!
http://classblogmeister.com/

        2.    Blogger –
https://www.blogger.com/start

        3.    Using a Blog in the Classroom -
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/47

        4.    21Classes - Teachers can monitor wiki posts first!
http://www.21classes.com/shop/support

        5.    Wikispaces -
http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100K  

        6.    HelpingStudents.org -
http://helpingstudents.org/JSPWiki/Wiki.jsp?page=K12

        7.    PBWiki -
http://pbwiki.com/

        8.    Using a Wiki in Education -
http://www.scienceofspectroscopy.info/edit/index.php?title=Using_wiki_in_education  

        9.    Skype - Audio and video conferencing (Twittering)
http://www.skype.com/helloagain.html

     10.    Second Life – Virtual world of communication
http://secondlife.com/businesseducation/education.php   

 

 

Individual Telecollaborative Projects:

        1.    Bird Sleuth – K-8
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdsleuth

        2.    Animal Diaries – PK-6
http://www.tesan.vuurwerk.nl/diaries/

        3.    Multicultural Calendar -
http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/MCC/

        4.    Project Groundhog – K-6
http://www.cdli.ca/Groundhog/NewGhog/

        5.    Journey North for Kids – K-8
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/current.html

        6.    My Hero – K-12
http://www.myhero.com/myhero/

        7.    Monster Exchange K-8
http://www.monsterexchange.org/

        8.    Official Flat Stanley Project – K-2
http://flatstanley.enoreo.on.ca/

        9.    Westward Ho! – 2-12
http://www.cyberbee.com/wwho/index.html

     10.    ThinkeringSpaces – K-12
http://www.id.iit.edu/ThinkeringSpaces/index.html

     11.    Every Picture Tells a Story – 3-5
http://www.flapjacks.us/everypicture/Welcome.html

     12.    Roots and Shoots – K-12
http://www.rootsandshoots.org/

     13.    Winter’s Story -  1-12
http://son.nasa.gov/winterstory/index_e.htm

     14.    GoNorth! Chukotka 2007 K-12
http://www.polarhusky.com/home.asp

     15.    International Space Station – K-12
http://iss07.yesican-science.ca/

 

 

Thinking about creating your own telecollaborative project?

1. Coming up with an Idea for a Project -
   http://lone-eagles.com/courses/rfts/ti7web.htm
2. Setting up your own Project -
   http://lone-eagles.com/courses/rfts/ti8web.htm
3. Telecollaborate! -
   http://nschubert.home.mchsi.com/education/eddevelop.html