STUDENT PLAN FOR A POSITIVE APPROACHHP Authorized CustomerHP Authorized Customer202006-05-20T15:32:00Z2007-07-21T21:10:00Z2007-07-21T21:10:00Z17114056 Home Use339475811.6568APPLICATION 5: Student Projects on the WebStudent Projectson theWebRochelle HenelyJune 1, 2006 #6661T2005When man first became literate, to write your name was an accomplishment. Man grew to the literacy of retelling knowledge learned from text. (Ely, W. nd). These literacies fulfill the traditional definition of literacy (Wikipedia, 2006). Depending on the context, the meaning of literate leads to many different interpretations. Most definitions include both textual and numerical literacy as relevant. In the Information Age, the definition of literacy is extended to include the many visual aspects of society; especially in digital communication (Wikipedia, 2006). Students in today’s school systems can no longer learn just reading, writing, and arithmetic. Students need to gain information through many different medias; text, numerical, and visual. The following projects exemplify these literacies as demonstrated by studentsEducational websites or projects are a great resource for educators in the classroom. Whether your students are using their skills to create a site or using a site to learn new skills, the benefits are boundless. A particular source to reference when looking for sites and projects to use in lessons is ThinkQuest. ThinkQuest is a library of education websites created for and by students (http://www.thinkquest.org/library/ ).In the 1999 ThinkQuest winner (http://library.thinkquest.org/6377/), A Kid’s Guide to Fun Computation, the students use all the different literacies discussed by Dr. Thornburg (Laureate Education, 2004). This is a very basic site; the text, background, and design are simple. The learner is not distracted from the objective by an overly busy website. The body of the site has a textual description of the concept and an actual handwritten visual. Typically, the ThinkQuest sites identify the creators of the site. This particular one does not, but from the visual, the students seem to be young. The task of explaining a mathematical process in words is very difficult for students. On the NJ HSPA test, one of the past open-ended math questions was to explain multiplication to a fourth grader. Communicating mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to others is one of the standards required by the state of New Jersey ( New Jersey Department of Education, 2002 ). This task involves critical thinking skills in that the students have to digest, analyze, and describe a skill that has been learned. In a typical ThinkQuest site the students work fulfills all the needs of the learner. A site that I found particularly engaging was “The Virtual Classroom” (http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112393/ ). The math section has the graphics and words needed for the age level that it targets. I like the set-up and it is easy to navigate. The website recommended in the resources is amazing (http://www.redmond.k12.or.us/patrick/renz/classroomprojects.htm)! The home page is visual and simple, two very important aspects of a successful web site. It is unbelievable the amount of pictures and the timeliness of the material. I was disappointed when some links were just pictures (http://www.redmond.k12.or.us/patrick/renz/2005-2006/recycledpaper.htm), although I am sure that the children in the pictures were not. Others (http://www.redmond.k12.or.us/patrick/renz/2005-2006/escher.htm) were more substantial, incorporating pictures, words, results of work, and links. Mrs. Renz’s website is where I personally would like my own website to aspire.Oh, the places I’ll go! Whether I continue to use student websites in my curriculum, or create a project to add our own site to the thousands available, I will definitely incorporate ideas from the material learned this week into my school year. Using student web sites to explore mathematicians or create tessellation has always added flair to the student learning. They are engaged, interactive, and a curiosity is seen that in not always seen during a regular lecture. What a privilege it will be to add our own skills to creating a site for others to benefit.ResourcesEly, W., nd. Using technology to increase literacy. Retrieved from mson.edu/cle4_share/READ-/READ_-864-500-0308-CE/public.www/TECHNOLOGY_LITERACY/1Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2004). Program Seven: A new definition of literacy. [Educational Video]. Los Angeles: AuthorNew Jersey Department of Education, (2002). New Jersey core curriculum content standards mathematics. Retrieved June 1, 2006 from http://www.njpep.org/PAGE PAGE 1 Web Projects