Projects

Group Inquiry Project

I. Objectives

1. Students will work in groups to:
   1. Research an assigned “Topic of Interest” to share with classroom teachers.
   2. Create an on-line wiki highlighting important information on the assigned topic.
   3. Send a message to all classmates inviting them to view and add new information to the wiki.
   4. Add new information to other groups’ wikis upon their invitation.
   5. Write a short reflective essay on your views and experiences on using wikis in education.
   6. Your Teaching Assistant will give you information on how to link your wiki to your ePortfolio.

II. Requirements

1. Wiki
   1. You will be creating a wiki with Confluence, a product licensed by The University of Iowa. In accordance to the licensing agreement your HawkID will not be able to view or access this or other wikis you may create after graduation. In education the following wiki programs are popular: WikiSpaces.com; Wikipedia.com
   2. Your group’s wiki will be judged by the quality of its content, design and by meeting the below requirements.
      1. Have a home page that identifies the topic and the participating group members.
      2. Clearly labeled titles, headings, labels, spaces and pages.
      3. Content and organization is easy to read, understand and navigate.
      4. Contain at least 6 pieces of important information on the topic that is useful for teachers. See guiding questions under each topic found later in this lesson.
      5. At least one link to other relevant website, an inserted graphic, and a link to a supportive video.
      6. Have a table of four or five URLs (Internet addresses) citing journal articles your group used as information sources.
          
         Note: At least two of the sources must be journal citations found using EBSCOhost. State which search engine or database was used. See guidelines for referencing Internet sources within EBSCOhost itself or under the heading “Citing Resources for Tables of URLs” found later below in this lesson. Adding at least one piece of valuable information or viewpoint to another group’s wiki when invited to do so.* 
2. Reflection
   1. Write a short reflection addressing your thoughts regarding this project and your opinion on how wikis can be used in your classroom and the pros and cons of relying on wikis when teaching your students. You reflection will be uploaded to your ePortfolio.
      1. Link to the group’s “Topic of Interest” Wiki from your course page (07es102_coursepage.htm) and Standards page. Link your “Group Inquiry Project” reflection to your course page (07es102_coursepage.htm) and Standards page.
      2. Publish your reflection and the updated Course and Standards pages to your ePortfolio.
3. Export
   1. Export to PDF.
      1. Upload to ICON Dropbox for feedback.

III. Applications

1. ICON
2. Confluence
3. Web Browser (Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer)
4. MS Word
5. MS SharePoint Designer
6. WS_FTP
    

IV. Instructions and Resources

1. Detailed instructions on:
   1. Group Inquiry Project with Wikis
      or
   2. www.education.uiowa.edu/resources/tech_guides/wikis.pdf
       

V. Topics of Inquiry

1. Copyright and Ethics
   1. What copyright laws affect teachers and students? What are the implications and possible consequences?
   2. What is intellectual property and fair use? What is the “fair use” exception? What is “public domain?”
   3. What are we – as teachers – allowed to use in our classrooms?
   4. Give recommendations for teachers and students on how they can work within the law.
   5. What can teachers do to curb cheating and plagiarism from term paper sellers, study guides such as SparkNotes, and inaccurate information from web sites and wikis?
   6. What do you think should be done to students who violate copyright or ethical principles? From what you have seen or experienced what can teachers do to curb these types of violations?
2. Safe Computing, Viruses and Privacy
   1. What are “Internet dangers?”
   2. What is the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA)? What is the status of the Act?
   3. What is a computer virus/worm? What can be done to guard against these hazards?
   4. What is “filtering” or “blocking” software? When should it be used in schools? Are there times not to use it?
   5. What are some “school rules” or “internet rules” to keep kids safe on the Internet?
   6. What are some tips for safeguarding personal information on the internet?
   7. Has your privacy or someone’s you know ever been violated? If so what were the consequences? What do you think should be done to prevent these types of invasions?
3. Social Networking and Online Communities
   1. What are blogs, chat rooms, social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, etc.), and virtual worlds (Second Life)?
   2. How popular are these sites and how are they commonly used?
   3. How are they misused? What are some disadvantages of each?
   4. How can they be used beneficially by students and teachers? Give examples.
   5. What can teachers and parents do to help safeguard against misuse?
   6. What experiences have you had, do you think schools should use them?
4. The Digital Divide and NCLB
   1. What exactly is the “digital divide?”
   2. How big is it? Why?
   3. How is the divide being “bridged” or narrowed?
   4. What countries suffer most from the divide?
   5. How does the divide affect peoples/cultures in the world?
   6. How are educators around the globe, in the U.S., and in Iowa trying to bridge the divide?
   7. How does the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal educational policy of 2001 attempt to redress the divide?
   8. As a teacher what do you think about the above issues? How will they affect how you teach?
5. Distance Education
   1. What is distance education?
   2. How prevalent is it? Why?
   3. What are the different kinds of technologies used in distance learning?
   4. What are advantages and disadvantages of distance learning?
   5. What does this resource offer teachers and students?
   6. What is the future of distance education?
   7. What do you think about distance education? Is a teaching method you feel comfortable learning from or teaching with?
       

VI. Citing Resources - Group Inquiry Project [Table of URL's]

1. Consistent citations/references make your work look more professional and make it easier for visitors to your site find interesting and relevant information. Following are a few examples of citations/references using the American Psychological Association's (APA-style). For more details, refer to an APA publication manual; APA documentation, or APA-style electronic formats. [example of a resource citation wiki page ]
2. Notice capitalization, italics, and periods in the following examples:
   • Book (1 author) Dewey, J. (1910). How we think. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
   • Book (many authors) Sansone C., & Harackiewicz, J.M. (Eds.) (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: A search for optimal motivation and performance. San Diego: Academic Press.
   • Journal (from Ebscohost) Carliner, S. (2005, May). E-Portfolios. American Society for Training & Development, 59, 70-74. (retrieved from Ebscohost)
   • Journal (many authors) Pechone, R., Pigg, M.J., Chung, R.R., & Souviney, R.J. (2005). Performance assessment and electronic portfolios. Clearning House, 78, 164-176.
   • Web site The University of Iowa College of Education. ePortfolio Resources. Last accessed June 23, 2005 from http://www.education.uiowa.edu/resources
   • Example of a PowerPoint resource citation slide: