Blending Project Based Learning into the Classroom and Community
The people in
community of
The idea is simple.
Teach the students and others around the world about the Koyukon Athabaskan
language using the Internet. This project has been in the works since the
beginning of last year. I started with typing and using word processing. By
Thanksgiving we were working with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe PageMaker. Then
after Christmas last year we had Frank Odasz help work with the students for a
couple of days. After that we began using digital cameras and Adobe PageMill®.
With the help of his book Common Ground – A Self-Directed K12 Internet Guide I began studying web page design and
publishing. By spring we had created a basic Internet site. This year we have
worked a lot with keyboarding and Adobe PageMill. The first quarter we spent
working on creating tests and quizzes on local servers. Each student was
responsible for one question on a given subject then they created a small site
for that question. When the question was answered correctly the user would be
linked to the next question. The second quarter this year we developed the idea
of using the Internet to teach about the culture of the people of
In order to teach
the language we are using an idea from LITTLE EXPLORERS
by Enchanted Learning, 1998. At this site they post the picture, the word
in English, then the word in Spanish, or some other language. We are also going
to add the sound created using Sound Edit 16, at
the bottom so the student can pronounce it. Here is an example.
Some of the
pictures are being created in or modified with Adobe
Photoshop. The students are shrinking them down so that they are less than
10K. Most of the original pictures come from Master
Clips Vector Clip Art. The sound file too is saved with very low quality to
make it small. Each page will have from 9 to 12 words at a time. We have
started saving the sound in three different formats so that it could be heard
by all computers. After careful consideration and because of the wide
availability of QuickTime we are
going to save the sound in only the QuickTime format.
We are staring out
by teaching nouns, verbs, and short phases. These have been easy to develop
pictures for.
I am originally
from
In order to assess
the projects impact we will put a counter on the school home page and then one
on the language page. From that we will be able to determine how many people
are visiting the home page because of the language page and how many are
interested in other aspects of the home page.
To view the
completed PBL activity go to http://kyu.yksd.com/athabaskan/athabaskan.html
You can see below
that this project ties into every Alaska Technology Standard. It does more than
that, however. It ties in with
Tie to
|
|
How this project addresses that standard. |
|
A student should be able to operate technology based tools |
Students operate Adobe PageMill® and Photoshop, Sound Edit, Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Quick time and Microsoft Word. |
|
A student should be able to use technology to locate, select, and manage information |
Students
research the site and found many related sites such as Little Explorers, American
Sign Language, Spanish Lessons for Children, Instant Communication |
|
A student should be able to use technology to explore ideas, solve problems, and derive meaning. |
The students explored the sites above experimented with different applications and then helped solve problems presented by putting all these different types of files together in a single page. |
|
A student should be able to use technology to express ideas and exchange information. |
The students will be exchanging information with others from around the globe. They will also express their ideas through the different items they translate. |
|
A student should be able to use technology responsibly and understand its impact on individuals and society. |
This project is a very responsible use of technology and the counter should show the students the number of people they are having an impact on. |
Conclusion: (A written reflection of the project)
I originally envisioned the project a lot smaller. The kids have really enjoyed working on their pages and instead of doing 1 or 2 pages each student created 4 or 5 pages. We have not been without obstacles though. We had a hard time at first finding an appropriate application program to create the pronunciations of the words. We overcame that obstacle when we found Sound Edit 16. We had an old version that did not work with OS 9.2 so we downloaded an update from Macromedia. At our school students seem to be more migratory than most. Of the thirteen students I had last year this year I have 6 of them back. I also have 4 new students whose computer skills we behind those students I had last year. Fortunately, my returning students have done a great job helping those unfamiliar with Photoshop, sound edit, microsoft word, and PageMill®. With the help of all the students working together we have gotten through most of the hurdles.
The students also became searching wizards. This was an unexpected bonus. The students were searching for everything from free clip art to free animations. They had a lot of luck but most of their images still came from Master Clips Vector Art.
If others are going to try and duplicate this project there are very few concerns they need to have other than the ones already mentioned. One thing you can do for your art. We didn't think of until this until just recently. The quickest and easiest way to complete this is to have the students draw their own images by hand and then scan them in. They are not as professional but they give it a very personal look. The more friendly and personal you can make the site, the better.
To view this project click http://kyu.yksd.com/athabaskan/athabaskan.html
Bibliography
by Adobe Systems Incorporated Copyright © 1993
American Sign Language date unknown URL: http://where.com/scott.net/asl
Han Zaadlitl'ee
Common Ground – A Self-Directed K12 Internet Guide ©1998 by Frank Odasz You can find the handbook on line at http://lone-eagles.com/guide.htm
Instant Communication
Language learning simplified. This page has a list of teaching resources for
several languages but most of it has to be paid for. It was last Modified:
Learn Spanish, A free online tutorial. This page is an excellent resource for teaching Spanish but the pages lack graphics and it is rather dull to the average teen-age mind.
LITTLE EXPLORERS by
Enchanted Learning Software
Little Explorers-A multi-lingual picture dictionary with links to
educational activities and games. Even preschoolers can surf
carefully chosen kids'
URL: www.EnchantedLearning.com/Dictionary.html
Last modified on:
Master Clips
Vector Clip Art by IMSI,
Spanish Lessons for Children by Angelfire creation date unknown make contact at hadas07@hotmail.com
Copyright © 1995 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved
Macromedia, Inc.
http://www.macromedia.com/index_gif.html