After viewing the videos for class this week it definitely began a brainstorm for collaborative activities I could do in my future classroom. Because social studies is society, culture and norms at its foundation it seems it will be easy to incorporate similar videos into classroom projects. After watching bullying and online dangers it was just another reminder of the environment our young people face on a daily basis which is largely free for them to roam around in(National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 2001-2010). But by using the internet and technology in a positive classroom environment it can reinforce creativity in students or perhaps provide an outlet for students who are forced to spend a great deal of time inside. Reinterpretations of battles using Facebook as a communication device for mobilization , Google docs for amendments and House bills, class collaborative activities to present a sequence of historical events, Garage band to create a Podcast to inform slaves of the safest underground routes...are just the beginning of social studies projects that could be created.
The most popular collaborative project might just be something involving Facebook. Since students can't just get on FB when they're in class maybe allowing them to set up a bunch of fake accounts for historical figures and connect them through different classrooms. Each student would be assigned a historical character and they would be responsible for developing an accurate profile and correspond with other era-appropriate characters.
Smartbook/powerpoint/prezi presentations for history and social studies projects are always a great way to get out alot of information with organization and style to an audience in a set timeframe. There are so many options out there but exposing them to everything is yet another task altogether.
Reference
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (2001-2010). NetSmartz Workshop.
Retrieved June 15 2011 from
http://www.netsmartz.org/RealLifeStories
Love your Facebook idea - for making profiles of historical figures. I know other teachers that have students create facebook profiles for characters in books.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned at the beginning of your post that you would possible create " class collaborative activities to present a sequence of historical events" - what tool would you use? What were you thinking for this activity?
Prezis allow for collaboration - so that may be something else that your students could use with others within and outside of the classroom.
My only suggestions are related to your citation/reference. For the year of publication - just put the last year - 2010, rather than 2001-2010. Good work!