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PURPOSE:
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Students will
learn the
value of cultural diversity, and its
effects on themselves and other students.
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Students will use a multi-media
approach to conducting a multi-school diversity conference.
DESCRIPTION:
Students
need to show understanding, tolerance, and compassion for others and
their beliefs. Sociology,
in general, deals with the interaction of groups.
Because we live in a small, rural district, our students are not
exposed to the degree of diversity that exists in Iowa.
The purpose of this project is to give students experiences
beyond the school walls, to celebrate diversity in Iowa, and to learn
how to organize and facilitate large group meetings.
For a final project in Sociology, the students will research,
organize, and facilitate an ICN Diversity Conference.
Students from across the state will be able to share cultures,
attitudes, and ideas in celebration of Iowa’s diverse population.
ACTIVITIES:
(Note:
This is a unit plan that may cover several days to several
weeks. Not all of the following activities/standards will appear in the
video clips used.)
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Procedures:
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Curriculum
Standards from http://www.intime
.uni.edu/model/
content/cont.html :
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National
Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Performance Indicators
from http://cnets.iste
.
org/profiles.htm :
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Students
will research, identify, and locate ethnic groups represented in
Iowa. This data will
be presented in the form of a research paper.
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Social
Studies: High School, I, e
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9-12:
2 , 7, 8
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Students
will begin building a data base of students and teachers willing
to participate in an ICN diversity conference.
This data base will then be shared with participants.
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Social
Studies: High School, I, e
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9-12:
5, 10
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Students
will arrange date, time, and location of ICN sites available via
the World Wide Web.
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Social
Studies: High School, I, e
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9-12:
1, 5, 6, 9
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Students
will develop a presentation for use in facilitating the
conference. Participating
schools will be asked to prepare a short video illustrating the
diversity within their schools.
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Social
Studies: High School, I, e
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9-12:
3, 7, 8
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Students
will facilitate presentations and discussion for the conference.
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Social
Studies: High School, I, e
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9-12:
10
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TOOLS
& RESOURCES:
Software:
Claris
5.0- word processing, spreadsheet, data base.
Available: http://www.apple.com/appleworks
Eudora Light 3.1.1. Available: http://www.eudora.com
Netscape Navigator. Available: http://www.netscape.com
Internet Explorer. Available: http://microsoft.com
Netscape Communicator- Composer, Web painter.
Available: http://www.netscape.com
Research CD’s
StrataVideo Shop. Available: http://www.strata.com
Sound App. Available: http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~franke/SoundApp/
mPower. Available: http://www.mpower.net/
Other editing programs as needed
Hardware:
Macintosh
G3. Available: http://www.apple.com
AVerKey5 Plus. Available: http://www.aver.com
8mm Digital Video Camera
Digital Still Camera
TV
VCR
Printer
ICN System
Access
to Technology:
Multi-computer lab, both
Macs and IBM’s,
full use of the Iowa Communications Network (could be done with video
conference access).
ASSESSMENT:
With the size of my group, I did
not have a rubric this first time through.
We are learning together and the diversity conference becomes a
make it or break it scenario. In
the future, however, I will need to assess on group performance and
presentation techniques. Generic
rubrics for both areas can be found in McRel.
CREDITS:
Sara Pralle CAL Community School
Latimer, Iowa
spralle@dows.k12.ia.us
TIMELINE
& COURSE OUTLINE:
This was a semester long activity.
The content for the activity falls about midway through the
semester during a unit on Social Inequality.
There needs to be a lot of communication and organization time
built in. It could
probably be shortened if class time is used.
My students did the majority of it on their own time while I
covered other content in class.
COMMENTS:
This was a first try for this
activity. I didn’t use a
rubric because of that and because the students showed enough
enthusiasm that I didn’t need a “grade” to motivate them.
Also, the size of this year’s group was so small that it was
easy to informally assess. I
will need to adapt appropriate rubrics for future classes and will
choose ones addressing group work and presentation techniques.
Technology
Resources:
The software choices were
primarily left up to student preference.
I did dictate the use of mPower because of it’s audio and
video capabilities. We
have unlimited access to almost any technology we need.
The Iowa Communications Network
played an important role in the development of the project. It is an excellent way to link students across Iowa!
School Background Information:
Our school population is from the following towns:
Latimer-500, Coulter-300, Alexander-100, and Dows-500 students.
The majority of our parents are employed in Agriculture/ Ag Business.
The enrollment of Dows District is 177 students; the CAL District
enrollment is 300 students. Two percent of our students have limited
English fluency.The ethnicity of our students is as following: CAL
District: White-91.8%, Hispanic-8.0%,Other-.16%. Dows District:
White-88%, Hispanic-10%, and Other-2%.
Teaching
Strategy:
I had a group of five seniors in the last quarter of their high school
career. They didn't want
to do anything and were very hard to motivate.
By placing them in this situation, they took a great deal of
ownership and pride in the project and were self-driven.
The group had varying amounts of technology knowledge from
beginner to advanced beyond me. They
worked together, combined their strengths, and were successful.
Components of the Technology as Facilitator of Quality Education Model that have been highlighted in the video:
http://www.intime.uni.edu/modelimage.html
(Note:
This is a unit plan that may cover several days to several
weeks. Not all of the elements from the Technology as Facilitator of
Quality Education Model that are described below will appear in the
video
clips used.)
Principles
of Learning:
Direct Experience:
Creating built-in opportunities for active engagement when designing a
learning environment, meant to decisively shape individual
understandings. From the students providing the technology expertise to
their sharing of that expertise with peers and other schools, this
activity was designed for them to take ownership and direct their own
learning.
Student
Characteristics:
I happened to have a very mature
group this time. They have
the self-confidence needed to facilitate a multi-school conference.
They are also very technology minded and were not afraid to
“play” with the software until they became the experts.
A couple of them would be hard to motivate in a typical
classroom setting and this environment and ownership allowed them to
fly.
How the Activity Has Evolved Over Time:
This activity is still in the process of evolving.
Each new group of students will add their own twist to the
project.
(Learning
activity format adapted from National
Educational Technology Standards for Students Connecting Curriculum
& Technology
http://cnets.iste.org/students
)
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© 2000, INTIME.
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Questions: intime@uni.edu
Last updated:
03/18/08
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