Welcome To Group 1's Eastcoast Partnership:

The Study of Colonization

The Eastcoast Partnership consists of Middle School students in New York, New Jersey and South Carolina.  Using CAPspace, a social networking tool for educational collabortion, teachers from each state incorporated 21st century skills which allowed for technical integration in the classroom. 

The Study of Colonization Wiki was created by # students who used Google Applications to collaborate the project's entire procress from planning to presenting.  Each group of students were assigned a subtopic relating to colonization. Collaboration is a 21st century skill many businesses look for when hiring future employees.  Exposing students to local and global collaboration provides them with the experience they need to better prepare themselves for the workforce. 

Students used Skype to discuss the project through video conferencing.  Webcams and microphones were made accessible to students when collaborating with their team.  Video conferencing has many advantages when used in the classroom.  Distance-Educator.com suggests that "videoconferencing in the K-12 classroom is advantageous because it enhances the learning process, increases student motivation and participation, and encourages cultural diversity. It provides access to a vast array of information and resources to better meet students’ individual needs. Student comprehension of difficult or abstract concepts is easily understood through the face-to face interaction of videoconferencing. Positive relationships among educators, students, and community members are cultivated through videoconferencing, and it contributes to the more efficient operation of schools by reducing administrative expense. Videoconferencing establishes a visual connection between real world experts (presenters) and participants (educators, students, and parents).  Different learning styles are considered when emphasis is placed upon long-term, interdisciplinary, student-centered activities integrated with real world issues and practices. Various learning styles are addressed by a variety of educational materials available through videoconferencing." http://www.distance-educator.com/dnews/Article13828.phtml 

For information on how to use video conferencing in your classroom or techniques and methods for online collaboration, please contact the assignment directors via email. 

Dana Sirotiak

Jersey City Public School

New Jersey

dsirotiak@jcboe.org

Martha Bohnenberger

Sterling School/Charles Townes Center

Greenville County School District

South Carolina

mbohnenb@greenville.k12.sc.us

Brian Mannix

Great Neck South Middle School

New York

bmannix@greatneck.k12.ny.us