by Steve FeldTitle of plan: Web Site Design as a Tool for Multiple Perspectives Grades 6-12
Prerequisite Skills:
Familiarity and fluency using Netscape and PowerPoint (or Corel Draw 7.0).
Prerequisite for participation in use of website tools and activities access to the Internet using Netscape or Explorer. For independent collaboration follow up website design familiarity with PowerPoint or Corel Draw's ability to save documents as HTML Documents.
Learning Context: Multiple context possible dependent on purposes of instructor.: independent, students work in teams or whole class modeling.Purpose of Lesson:
1. To actively engage students in the use of already developed student designed web site as a tool for multiple viewpoint learning.
2. To involve students in generating and designing individual, collaborative or class multidisciplinary websites to examine additional viewpoints, issues and concerns.
3. To offer students opportunities for use of PowerPoint/multimedia skills as a vehicle for reaching and teaching internet audiences' multiple viewpoint/ perspectives analysis
Materials Required:
PowerPoint Internet connection with Browser.Optional: Corel Draw 7.0 may be used in lieu of PowerPoint. Projector and screen for demonstrations. Scanner to enhance presentations with visual material Digital camera Photoshop software for graphic enhancement
Time required: for website activities 5-8 days of classroom - can be expanded or contracted as per teacher's need/focus.
Steps to follow:
1. Opening activity would be to show a picture of Mona Lisa. Pose the questions: Who is she? Why is she smiling? Ask the students to be creative as possible with their answers
2. Let them share their replies from their notebook entries.3. Display the Lillian Schwartz Page either on the Internet or as handouts. Examine her ideas and evidence she uses to support them. Decide, based on her evidence and her presentation whether they agree or disagree with her theory, which has not been universally accepted.
4. Another researcher who read about Why is the Mona Lisa Smiling? through a local press release in the Bronx Shopper contacted us. She wrote a fictional book which included her answers to these questions. To what extent do you agree with her dream vision. How convincing is her theory? What questions or issues do these theories raise for you? If you could communicate with the researchers, what questions would you ask them?
5. Give them a chance to explore the guestbook. The Guestbook is a way in which you can share your comments, see how others have evaluated the viewpoints and view their questions about the research.
6. Show the Template form for adding to the guestbook. Explain how to fill it in and submit the form. Combining their original notebook entry of their initial thoughts and what they would like to say to the researchers, students should formulate a guestbook comment to express their concerns and issues.
7. To demonstrate how to utilize the capacities of the Internet to excite and motivate learners of various ages and backgrounds in exploring multiple viewpoints, take the students on a guided tour of the site. As they tour the site have the students identify how sensory/special learner abilities are tapped by the activities. Highlights of the tour include: listening to Leonardo's music, sign language, morphing, musical multilingual postcards, taking the quiz or the chance to create their own quizzes, and filling in the site survey.
Follow up and extension activities
1. Challenge students to come up with, in teams of 2-3,students each a question, issue or dilemma which interests them, but has no single immediate answer. To model the activity for them, suggest topics suitable for grades 6-12 such as:
Should we clone humans, if we have the scientific ability to do it? - Is Huckleberry Finn a racist book or not?
- Should school authorities have the right to censor student publications and discipline students for inappropriate Internet activities?
- If Mark McGwire breaks Maris' homerun record while utilizing legal steroids should that be considered breaking the long standing sports record?
2. Give them time to generate their own questions.
3. Share questions they developed.
4. Ask them to design a web site which focuses on one of these questions.
5. Using PowerPoint they can preview their web site design ideas .
6. Each team presents their ideas (using PowePoint/Corel Draw) for a multiple perspective web site.
