The Wired Classroom

Jan Zanetis of Tandberg presented at MODLA last week on KC³ Kids Creating Community Content. Last year was the first year of the student videoconference project, and they plan to continue it into this school year. Here are some details from the guidelines listed on the website:

PROJECT OVERVIEW

From east to west, urban or rural, we each live in a unique community. What can we learn from our area, from our varied citizens or natural resources? What can we share with others that will enhance their view of our country or our world? This standards based project seeks to tap into the creative nature of students as they look at their community with new eyes and explore ways to share their findings with others using videoconferencing and technology as a resource.

Requirements include, in part: 

• Student Teams will research a topic in their community. Examples of this might include a historical place or figure, a natural resource, a unique place of interest.
• Students will develop an informational program geared toward a specific audience educating them on the topic.

Students all over the country participated- from Oklahoma to Hawaii! Jan shared some clips from the videoconferences that were really great. Students were teaching others about their community; for example, the students in Honolulu taught their mainland peers and about hula and about aquaculture. Students in Texas educated others on Fire Ants. The kids on both ends were totally engaged, as were the participants in Jan’s session. I can’t wait to get St. Louis area schools involved.