by Siri Anderson

May 15, 2012

There were many stages in the development of the curriculum and resources in this wiki. In order to facilitate the creation of more useful open educational resources I want to share our process here.

1) Course Leadership Expanded

Students were enrolled in an online undergraduate teacher licensure course, ED 3240 Social Studies Methods. Due to various budget constraints we combined two sections into one. To accommodate the larger number of online students and to facilitate a personal connection with a K-6 classroom, Stacy Bender Fayette was hired as an adjunct. Additionally, a Teaching Assistant was brought in to help facilitate some of the discussions and content creation.

2) Weekly Overviews of Content Progressively Build Skills and Content Knowledge

Within the course management software, d2l, students were exposed to key principles in Social Studies methods in weekly discussions. Weekly overviews of content focused student attention on the value of authentic learning, primary sources, integration of online technologies, and best-practices for meaningful embedding literature into Social Studies instruction.

Course Syllabus_ Social Studies Spring 2012.pdf

Calendar Social Studies Spring 2012.pdf

Week One Spring 2012.pdf

Week Two Primary Sources.pdf

Week Three Collaboration and Community.pdf

Week Four SS Spring 2012.pdf

Week Five Overview Using During Reading Strategies.pdf

Week Six SS Spring 2012.pdf

Week Seven SS Spring 2012.pdf

Week Eight writing lesson content.pdf

Week Nine.pdf

Week Ten SS Spring 2012.pdf

Week Eleven Final Projects.pdf

3)Collaboration with Teachers in a Second/Third Grade Classroom

Faculty working on a "habitat" based year of study with students and an experiential learning school in Bemidji share their student's questions and their instructional strategies with us throughout the semester. You can see these interactions in videos embedded in the content of this wiki. For instance at:

Schoolcraft Learning Community

Trash

Materials

Energy

4) Opportunities for Applying Web 2.0 Skills Scaffolded into Course

VoiceThread

Licensure candidates were partnered one-to-one with Schoolcraft students on research projects involving habitat protection for specific animals. They interacted using audio, video, text and images on VoiceThreads set up by Stacy Bender Fayette with the help of their teachers.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

After learning how to comment on a VoiceThread, students created personal 20th century history projects -- connecting their own family history with that of the nation, and utilizing the voices of their family in some cases to add color and texture to their narratives.

Example Family History

Example 2 Family History

Example 3 Family History

Streamlining Communication and Assessment with Google Docs and Google Forms

5) Creation, Feedback, Reflecting, Improvements

All work is developed with input and ideas from others. Students use rubrics to guide their peer feedback. Suggestions are made using the comment feature of the wiki, by editing directly into the wiki, through email, over the phone, or within a discussion board thread.

Through multiple drafts and varying who is giving and receiving feedback the collaborative work continues to improve and move closer to exemplary.

A "wiki guru" is elected by the class who helps the faculty guide the process and shape the outcomes.

Leaders emerge and are appreciated by students and faculty publicly and privately.

Slow-to-start students receive encouraging prompts and some specific directions from students

The promise of an opportunity to give evaluations to each other about contributions to group work and feedback responsibilities maintained relative peace within the group.

Examples of Feedback on Standards:

People, Places and the Environment

Science Technology and Society

Production, Distribution and Consumption

Using Inquiry and Problem Solving

The Importance of "Belonging" and "Family Connectedness"

Return to Front Page