This text below provides a brief overview of the project design process.
Goal of the Project
When we talk about the goal of each project, we are referring to what the collaborating classes are trying to find out, create or develop? What is their project about? An example of such a statement of goal is: "This project will seek to develop a young people’s Visitor’s Guide to the NY and you link's city and publish the guide on the Web." You may wish to involve students in helping to define the goals of your project.
Objectives for Students:
When we talk about objectives, we are referring to what specifically the project will accomplish for your students? What will your students learn from participating in the project? How might they grow? Objectives may relate to specific learning or to a change in attitudes and interests. Please do not omit objectives that may be difficult to measure or that you do not have the time or resources to measure. Feel free to indicate all of the ways you think the project will impact on your students.
Activities:
You may want to include students in project planning, particularly since it will help to contribute to their feeling of interest in and ownership of the project. Early planning should also go on collaboratively- between the classrooms. At the earliest stages, you will want students to create a welcome package and other activities that will help students in far away classrooms get to know one another. Introductory letters always makes for a good start.
Once your project is clearly defined, your students may be involved in any number of activities. These activities may take place inside their classrooms, at school after the school day, or as part of their homework. They should include doing research and reading online and offline, communicating with experts, regularly collaborating with peers in their own classrooms or the classroom at a distance, etc. Teachers will spend varying amounts of class time on project activities. More time will be spent when the activities are closely related to the aims of the curriculum. It’s a good idea to encourage students to go beyond the transmission of data. They should react and respond to project information, ask questions and engage in dialogue around the project topic.
Using the Internet:
The Internet itself is a wonderful resource that should be used for all projects. In addition to the vast number of sites that have information to contribute to a project, experts can be found to support your students’ work.
Final Project:
We envision nearly all projects resulting in some final product. This may be a report, a short book or pamphlet, a videotape, a Web site or any of these in combination. In addition to specific product, you and your students may decide to take individual or collective action that helps deal with what they may have discovered, learned or produced. As in any inquiry process, your project should spawn lots of questions and ideas for new collaborative projects.
Dissemination:
Each project should find some vehicle for dissemination. Your school's web site can host thee results of your project or you can post it to a Web site that you create.. Upon completion of the project, think about ways of letting your school administrators know about it as well as parents and members of your local community.
Evaluation:
You can conduct an evaluation of one or two of your project’s objectives. This may be in the form of questionnaires to participating students, keeping of anecdotal records, and any other measures you decide to use or develop. You can also use project-wide questionnaire and a sample of students seeking to obtain their opinions about the value of the project.