Engaged Learning with Technology

Building A Better World, One Website At A Time

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Subject and Level: 

• Unit occurred during meetings of the extracurricular group South Asia Ambassadors (SA Ambassadors)
• Grades 3rd-5th

Learner Description:

• A heterogeneous small group of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students with a variety of skill levels and needs.  The six students, all members of SA Ambassadors, volunteered to join a committee to create a website. 

Overview:

What will be taught?

• The students will be taught the skills needed to create a website using Nvu software.  Specific emphasis will be on creating a website that incorporates facts, narratives, photos and music in a visually appealing and user-friendly style.

What will students do and learn?

• Students will research South Asia to gather information about its culture, people and economy.  They will gather images of South Asia from the internet and images of the various fundraising events taken with digital cameras.  Finally, they will get pertinent information from the other SA Ambassadors’ committees (Fundraising, Education, etc.).  Students will then decide which facts, narratives, pictures, etc. should be placed on their website.

Rationale: 

Why would you teach this unit?

• Global concerns are rising regarding poverty, lack of education and disease.  The SA Ambassadors is a student club that educates students about these concerns and encourages them to provide assistance. 
• This lesson is designed to take students’ knowledge of South Asia and their knowledge of technology and merge them together into the creation of a website.  It is also an excellent way to further the purpose of SA Ambassadors and publicize this information to a much wider audience.

Why would this qualify as an Engaged Learning unit?

• This lesson qualifies as an engaged learning unit because
• The learning is authentic and student driven.
• The adults will be acting as facilitators.
• The students will be information seekers and use critical thinking skills.
• The students will be working collaboratively on a project-based activity.
• The content is challenging and multifaceted.

Why is technology an important component of this unit?

• The end product of this unit is a student created website.  Therefore, students will need to use word processing programs, the internet and Nvu software.  The created website will be accessible to the public and will be used to enhance a SA Ambassadors presentation to the school board.

Why is this project authentic, meaningful, and challenging for students?

• This project is authentic because it is student interest driven and pertains to current events in our world.  It is meaningful for the students because it gives them an opportunity to create a website and therefore share with the public all they have learned and accomplished through SA Ambassadors.  It is challenging because it will be student led and involves complicated and at times tedious uses of technology.

Goals - Content, Cognitive and Social:

What new attributes (knowledge, skills, attitudes) do you expect students to gain?

• The hope is that students will gain a more global understanding of the diverse cultures and needs in South Asia as well as a deeper appreciation of their current lifestyle.  They will also acquire website creating skills which can be used in a variety of future academic projects.   

What school, district, state and national standards/benchmarks are addressed?

• Using available technology, produce compositions and multimedia works for specified audiences.
• Design and produce multi-media compositions that represent group projects.
• Design a project related to a contemporary issue by using multiple sources.
• Remain on-task independent of distractions.
• Work cooperatively with others to accomplish a set goal in a non-competitive situation.

LearningActivities: 

• Background Knowledge
• Students researched through printed materials as well as the internet various facts and information on South Asia. 
• Students attended a tutorial by the tech department on Nvu software for creating websites.
• Students met with other SA Ambassador committees to gather further information about the club’s accomplishments.
• Culminating Project
• Students created a website that provides information about South Asia, SA Ambassadors and upcoming fundraising activities.
• Students presented their website to the school board.
• Students took digital pictures of SA Ambassador events which were then posted on the website.

StudentAssessment:

What are my scoring characteristics?

• Since this is a volunteer project and will not result in a grade, the creation of the website will be the ultimate measure of the project’s success.  Teamwork and the ability to gather information will also contribute to the assessment of the project.

What will indicate that students are novices, practitioners, or experts?

• Students will be considered experts in the area of website creation when they are able to independently create website pages with little or no adult assistance and are able to assist their more novice peers.

How will I measure and communicate student progress on the goals?

• Students will meet weekly as a small group to work on the website and discuss their progress and areas of struggle.  Additional meetings will be scheduled as needed.

How can students be involved in establishing goals and criteria for the assessment?

• Before starting the website project, students brainstormed their criteria for what will make their website successful.  This feedback continued over the course of the project.

How will the assessments be implemented to ensure that they are generative? Seamless and ongoing? Equitable for all students? An authentic task?

• To ensure the assessments implemented are generative, students will be asked to evaluate how their project is progressing and their areas of concern.  It will be seamless and ongoing because the students will work on the project one to several times per week over the course of a month.  Assessments will be equitable for all students because it will be a collaborative effort by the students and therefore representative of the entire group.  Finally, it will be an authentic task because the project will be available for others to use for informational purposes.

How will students demonstrate their knowledge and skills?

• Students will demonstrate their knowledge and skills by their ability to either explain to peers or adults the process of creating websites or by their ability to recreate websites for other academic tasks.

Management:

How will you manage student work individually and in groups?  What resources will you need to do this unit?

• Student work will be managed through the facilitation of their group times as well as individual assistance if needed. 
• Resources needed are digital cameras, a flash drive, and access to the Internet and Nvu software.

How will the room(s) be arranged?

• All work will be completed in the Sullivan computer lab, which is equipped with numerous desktop computers.

Where will equipment and materials be located to promote maximum use?

• Equipment will be in the computer lab or with Ms. Carlson (such as the flash drive).

Where will students need to work and how can they be accommodated?

• Students will need to work in the computer lab.  This room is accessible for all students.  Since work will take place during the lunch/recess break, students will need an acceptable location for eating before proceeding to work in the lab.

How will students with special needs be helped?

• Adult or peer support will be provided as needed.

Unit Evaluation:

What was effective?

• Students were highly motivated to create the website, especially since it reflected their participation in SA Ambassadors.  Access to the computer lab was always available during lunch.  Finally, each student in the small group came with a solid level of computer knowledge.

What wasn't effective?

• Having only 20-25 minutes a session to accomplish a task was extremely limiting.  Also, the students’ ability to focus tended to fluctuate during lunch/recess time.

What will I do differently next time?

• Schedule longer blocks of time (perhaps after school) so more can be accomplished in a single session.