Structure 10: Telefieldtrips. Although the activity structures that help students collect and analyze information discussed thus far have emphasized comparison and contrast (information exchanges) or collaboration to create a common product (database creation and electronic publishing), information-collection and -analysis activities can also help students experience telepresence; this is the case with what Al Rogers has dubbed telefieldtrips.
Local fieldtrips can be engaging and beneficial educational experiences, but money and geography sometimes keep schools from using them. The telefieldtrip is a popular online project that can open virtual doors to field experiences that even the wealthiest and most urban students would not be able to have. These rich multidisciplinary and multimedia virtual experiences offer many exciting possibilities.
So
far, this type of online project has two variations. In the
first, which is also the easiest to organize, students in
one location take a local fieldtrip and share their
experiences directly with other students who are interested
in similar curriculum-related
experiences.
This type of project also can let remote classes send
questions to fieldtrip participants, who try to find answers
during their excursions. Excellent examples are the Hong
Kong International School's Virtual
China week-long telefieldtrips in which one
group of seventh-grade students visited southern China by
bicycle and another studied in the ancient Chinese capital
of Xi'an. The travelers kept in touch with preregistered
classes using both e-mail and a question form at the KIDPROJ
site. The travelers were grouped into study teams, and each
team focused on a different aspect of the Chinese people and
their culture. The students shared photos from their trips,
their itineraries, and copies of messages that they
exchanged with virtual participants.
The second, and by far the most popular, type of telefieldtrip is essentially a virtual expedition. It is usually undertaken by adults who are researching scientific relationships or historical sites. Online participants are invited to experience the expedition, which is usually presented in multimedia form on the World Wide Web, and sometimes participants can remotely join the inquiry process. One of the best known and best developed examples of virtual expeditions is MayaQuest, which has frequently followed archaeologists and videographers as they travel by bicycle through Mesoamerica, exploring rain forests and Mayan ruins. Classes that subscribe to this project have interacted with the explorers and helped them solve the problems in their work. Rich information was provided on contemporary Mayans--especially children--and their towns, lives, and experiences. Classroom Connect offered AfricaQuest in October 1998, GalapagosQuest in spring 1999, and AmeriQuest in 2000.
Structure 11: Pooled Data Analysis. In all of the information-collection and information-analysis structures discussed so far, students either vicariously participate in an activity or gather, compare, and contrast information in different forms. The final activity structure in this category encourages learners to pool similar data from different locations and then analyze the patterns that emerge from the combined samples.
These sorts of information exchanges are particularly powerful. In the simplest of these activities, students electronically issue a survey, collect responses, analyze results, and report their findings to all participants. Many of the electronic publications at the National Student Research Center (Mandeville Middle School, Mandeville, Louisiana) are excellent examples of such reports.
Pooled-data
activities have also included projects in which students
collect environmental data at many different sites, then
combine and analyze it to reveal patterns that help address
current scientific challenges. Although many such projects
are offered on the Web, EnviroNet-sponsored
projects are among the best-designed and best-supported. One
of the most popular
in
the United States is RoadKill, which asks
students to report the numbers, types, and locations of
animals killed in the streets between the students' homes
and schools. Dr. Splatt, the fanciful project facilitator,
then helps participants observe, explain, and predict
seasonal and incidental patterns of roadkill. EnviroNet also
sponsors pooled-data analysis projects that help students
track ozone emissions and wild bird species, among
others.
<Getting
the Media Message> - the portrayal of
gender, race and information technology in the media
environment of middle school students.
Grades: 6-8
Ongoing? Yes
Getting the Media Message is a research project designed by
professors at Ohio State University to study what effects
the media exposure of middle school students has on the
development of gender and racial diversity in the field of
Information Technology (IT). The study developed from
observations that there are very few women and minorities
choosing IT as a career field. The research team is
gathering data to ascertain whether the media environment
experienced by students during their formative middle school
years has any bearing on their career choices later in life,
specifically with regard to IT. Students in grades 6-8
are asked to help gather and analyze data for the one of the
two tracks of research. The study developers have
created an imbedded, interdisciplinary curriculum that
promotes problem solving skills through the consideration of
real-world issues.
Clearly, this type of project can involve students in large-scale research efforts that use mathematics and scientific methods to answer complex and interesting questions.
