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Collaborative Online Projects Made Easy

Module 1: Getting Started with Collaborative Projects; Exploring a Variety of Projects; Using the Success Formula to Select a Project

	Is one of your favorite pastimes hanging out with your friends after school - playing, talking, laughing and sharing ideas? Well, imagine hanging out in cyberspace (exchanging files, sharing data, co-authoring a story) with new friends from all over the world! Picture yourself chatting with a NASA expert about the Hubble telescope or tracking marine animals on the other side of the globe. The possibilities are endless when you begin to use the power of the Internet to collaborate with others. (Hey, and they won’t know when you’re having a bad hair day. . .unless you’re videoconferencing!)
	What is collaboration? Collaboration is the act of working together with others to accomplish something or to solve a problem. You probably collaborate with friends and family every day. What are some examples? Gathering neighborhood friends to organize a game of backyard football or basketball Calling classmates for help with math or social studies homework Discussing and planning refreshments for a birthday or class party
	Communication and teamwork are more important now than ever before! In no time, you’ll be living and working in a new age of global interconnectivity where information continues to change and grow rapidly. Many of the skills you will gain over the next six weeks will be essential survival skills for living and working in the future. You will: Work with others as a team to collectively solve real-world problems and satisfy your own curiosity. Look at a situation from many different perspectives and draw your own conclusions. Act responsibly in regard to information, contributing to your own learning and the learning of others.
	Judi Harris, author of Virtual Architecture, describes many thrilling online collaborative adventures and provides links to many examples for each category. Spend this entire class time reading the short descriptions she gives for each example and exploring only the sites that spark your curiosity. Be prepared to list the Web addresses of three collaborative online projects that you believe would be the most exciting for your class to join.
	Look at your list of the three "most exciting online collaborative projects" and place a star by the ONE project you believe your class would enjoy the most. Share the Web address of this project with your teacher.
	Wow! Look at how other students your age have changed the world by sharing their knowledge with people around them. You can too! Surely you’re an expert on your topic by now. Start thinking of ways you can use all that knowledge and make a difference!

Teacher Space

Homework for the Teacher
It is very important to spend this class session simply exploring the huge variety of collaborative projects available on the Web. In addition to the Week 25 activities, take a minute to browse Surf Report's Guide to Web-based Projects. While you’re taking the time to see what other educators have done, and thinking about which projects to pursue or design, keep this image in mind.

On the other hand, some of the best intentions in the area of online collaborative projects can turn sour in a flash -- if you’re not prepared. Take a few valuable minutes to learn "Why Telecollaborative Projects Sometimes Fail" by Judi Harris, ISTE.

Here are some other questions you might have, with links to all the answers.

Reading Strategy Spotlight
Retelling or synthesizing requires the putting together of ideas in a new way. It pulls together the processes of recalling, ordering and recreating of information into a coherent whole. It invites students to collect an array of facts and connect them to a central theme or idea. Giving students the opportunity to synthesize generates a deeper understanding of what they read.

Student Activity Sheet
Printable pages designed to complement the current week's Reading Strategy Spotlight and to help students organize their thoughts, reflect upon reading material, and look for organizational patterns in online text.

BBs: Weekly Nuggets of "Best Practices" and "Brain Research"
What are 6 ways movement can help in your classroom? Link to Teachley's!

TechKnow Disaster Preparedness Page
Printable Computer Skills Mini-Posters & activity sheets for those times when the network crashes or equipment is unavailable. You can print a different page each week.

NC WiseOwl:
Web Sites of the Month

NC DPI Web Resources

Check your progress to date with information and computer skills!

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