Putting It Together: Yourself

The focus of the first two units of the course was on two main ideas:
* New ways of teaching and learning linked to the major reform movements.
* The use of telecommunications to enhance teaching and learning.

The focus shifts now from what is possible and available to what can and will be done in your classroom. Consequently this is not a lesson in which you seek out new information, but rather one in which you consolidate what you have found out and come up with a plan of action.

The action takes two forms. The first is to take a manageable part of your curriculum and consider what changes you would like to make. If you are a high school teacher, you might take one of the courses that you teach, or even a unit within one of your courses. If you are an elementary teacher, you might take one subject area, or you might consider a multi-disciplinary theme. Now plan, in concrete terms, what changes you would like to make to that portion of your curriculum. Consider, in particular, the ideas that you read about and discussed in lesson two.

Activity
Write up a plan for changing a portion of your curriculum as described in the paragraph above. As a rough guide, consider at least a four week segment. Look ahead to the activity below as well. Choose a topic which will lend itself to a telecollaborative activity. Share the plan with others in your group if you are doing this lesson as part of a course

Ask for input from others on your plan and be ready to give feed back to those who share their plans with you.


The second part of the action is to find or design a telecollaborative activity that fits the plan that you have outlined and to take part in it along with your class. The theme that runs through this entire course is collaborating online in order to explore new and better ways of teaching and learning. However, the only way to get the most out of the course is to jump in and take part in a collaborative activity. For this reason, a collaborative project is strongly recommended as part of this course whether you are taking it for credit or just on your own. This part of the lesson may take months to complete. You will first need to find a suitable activity, and then you will need to find others with whom to collaborate.

Activity
Find a suitable telecollaborative activity. Two places to start looking are:
Reach for the Sky Telecollaborative Activities

Global School House
In addition, each of lessons 3,4,5 and 6 list possible activities.

Remember, however, that your telecollaborative activity must be meaningful in the context of your curriculum. It should add to some dimension of your students' understanding - not simply make the unit "more fun." The goal is better teacher and learning, not the use of computers for their own sake.

Find teachers and students in other schools who are willing to do the activity with you. Some of the activities provide starting dates and registration forms. Alternatively, if you are taking this lesson as part of a course, there may members of your group who would like to try out the same activity as you.

Course Project
To summarize, the course project is to:
1. Plan to change a four week or longer segment of your curriculum.
2. To find and incorporate a suitable telecollaborative activity into the new portion of your curriculum.
3. Put the plan into action.
4. Reflect on the changes that have occurred, and what you have learned from this course in general. See the activity in "Final Reflections" of Lesson Eleven for more details.