Timothy Ratliff
SLM-521
Elective #3 – Collaboration
May 29, 2006
A LIST OF ONLINE SOCIAL STUDIES COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
Below is a list of five online social studies collaborative projects that I felt would be useful in the instruction of social studies on the secondary education level. The following links have different strengths and weaknesses compared with each other, but all five would be excellent educational aides in the classroom.
United Nations Cyber School Bus - This site is powered by the United Nations and is an excellent source for 6-12 social studies classes. This site contains a list of various resources that students can use. One of the neatest resources is the "Infonation" which allows students to use basic or advanced search options to locate statistics on up to six countries at the same time. Students can search for information on population, economy, health, technology, and environment. Each of these main categories contains a list of accompanying statistics. The search results are displayed with colorful graphs and all of the United Nations member countries are included. There is a UN news center, an art gallery full of international art, and a book of the month selection. In addition to all of these great features there is a Curriculum section that has hot links students and teachers can use for such topics as World Hunger, Human Rights, and Poverty. All in all, this site is a top pick for any secondary Social Studies curriculum.
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus
Date Visited: 05/29/2006
Global Schoolhouse Internet Projects Registry - This site allows the student or teacher to view projects conducted by teachers all over the world. The viewer can either search for various projects, join an existing project, or create a project. This site is useful for K-12 because of the advanced search options that are available to teachers. Teachers can search on a variety of topics of instruction for a range of student ages of five to nineteen years of age. The viewer can sort the projects by the project start date, age level (youngest to oldest or vice versa), or project title. After choosing a Curriculum fit of Social Studies, Math, Science, English, etc. the viewer can decide what type of technology and information were used in the project such as audio, video, spreadsheets, graphics, etc. The search engine allows educators to find the right fit for their students. If nothing seems to match, they can create their own project that meets their design specifications.
http://www.gsn.org/gsh/pr/index.cfm
Date Visited: 05/29/2006
The Odyssey: World Trek for Service and Education – Although the information on this site ranges from 1998 thru 2000, it is still a good social studies educational aide for grades 6-9. I decided to cut off the age range to High School Freshman year because the information, while good, is presented in a format for a younger audience. The information is split into five stages labeled, Mexico Trek, Latin America Stage, Africa Stage, Middle East Stage, and India & China Stage and was compiled by a team of educators that actually traveled to and immersed themselves in the cultures of the various stages. Each Stage has a collection of “diary entries” that allow students a window into a new world of varying cultures and ideas. The site contains a lot of photos and graphics that students will be able to enjoy as they navigate the site. The project makes the student feel as if they are on an adventure overseas and provides a ton of multi-cultural information that will help enhance not only their education, but their understanding of the world and its many peoples.
http://www.worldtrek.org/odyssey/index.html
Date Visited: 05/29/2006
Peace
Corps: World Wise Schools – This site contains a list of lesson plans
for grades 6-9 and is powered by Coverdell World Wise Schools (CWWS). CWWS was created in 1989 by Paul D.
Coverdell and allows US students to communicate with Peace Corps volunteers all
around the world. The lesson plans
are divided into seven groups covering topics such as Geography, Science, Math,
Art, etc. This site would be very
useful for a social studies teacher teaching the above mentioned grade levels. This particular online collaboration
would be most helpful in a class studying Africa or Central Asia because the
lesson plans for the Geography and Social Studies section focus mainly on
Africa and
http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/lessons/grade6.html
Date Visited: 05/29/2006
The Odyssey: United States Trek – This collaborative project seeks to do the same thing as the Odyssey World Trek project does, except to focus on American history and culture. This particular project would be useful for Social Studies teachers of all grades. The site has two groups of K-6 and 7-12 that could be chosen. The project also contains a “Teacher Zone” to help educators learn how to use the site in aiding their classroom instruction. The project is great because the set up is based on a timeline that makes it easy for students to navigate. They can start with the founding of the nation or cruise right on to World War Two. The eight “Trekkers” really bring history to life and make it interesting by the way the information is presented.
http://www.ustrek.org
Date Visited: 05/29/2006