CI-TEAM Demo: Project-based, Collaborative Learning with Google Earth and Wikis (GooWi)

这个为期两年的示范项目汇集了蒙大拿大学的研究人员，蒙大拿地理联盟的K-12教师和蒙大拿州的小企业，以开发和测试一个框架，支持真实的，以用户为中心的，基于项目的，协作学习在中学课堂。该活动的总体主题是过去几个世纪北美的文化和环境变化，使用最初的欧洲接触作为学生驱动项目的时间基线。这些探索几乎涵盖了美国所有的沿海和内陆地区，代表了第一部关于风景、自然历史、气候条件和美洲原住民文化的书面历史。虽然不是所有的文字记载都留存至今，但古生态、古气候和考古记录，以及美洲原住民的口述历史，都可以用来丰富过去的情况。利用这些数据，学生可以比较和对比来自独立代理人和各种文化视角的信息，以深入和牢固地理解历史上自然和人类引起的景观变化，该项目的一个目标是在学生的学术生涯中尽早向他们介绍一套可转移的21世纪世纪网络劳动力技能。学生将学习使用基于网络的工具进行学术研究，与同行有效合作，并与目标受众进行专业沟通。该项目通过提供一种可扩展和可持续的方式，向学生介绍通常在大学阶段才能使用的基于网络的技能，解决了我们世纪劳动力对网络基础设施教育的重大需求，尽管事实上，一些研究表明，年轻的学生非常有能力获得它们。这个想法是，较早地介绍适当的，道德的和专业的使用基于网络的研究和通信工具将帮助学生培养思维习惯，这将增加他们在未来的努力取得成功。学习在团队中有效工作，包括以相互尊重的方式进行同行评审，也是21世纪重要的劳动力技能，需要培训和实践。学习成功地采用各种技术，包括内容组织，写作，布局和基于网络的演示文稿中的图形设计，以及使用虚拟地球分析和显示地理空间和地理时间数据，应该是既具有挑战性，又赋予学生权力。该项目应向学生展示基于网络的工具和资源在构建新知识方面的力量，并帮助他们将自己视为信息的创造者，而不仅仅是消费者。通过与国家地理联盟网络的连接，该项目将为国家乃至国际地理教育工作铺平道路。以用户为中心的具有地方或文化意义的项目，涵盖广泛的内容领域。学习活动的开放式架构及其对免费在线工具和资源的独家依赖将使几乎任何教师都可以访问。通过这一项目开展的四个案例研究将用于鼓励新教师参与，并向他们介绍各种情况下的最佳做法。我们的愿景是创建一个自我维持的实践社区，教师和学生在其中进行实验，启发和告知他们的同龄人。

This two-year demonstration project brings together University of Montana researchers, K-12 teachers of the Montana Geographic Alliance, and a Montana small business to develop and test a framework for supporting authentic, user-centered, project-based, collaborative learning in middle school classrooms. The overarching theme of the activity is cultural and environmental change in North America over the past several centuries, using initial European contact as a temporal baseline for student-driven projects. These explorations covered virtually all coastal and interior portions of the U.S. and represent the first written histories of landscapes, natural history, climatic conditions, and Native American culture. Although not all left behind written accounts that survive today, paleoecological, paleoclimate, and archeological records, together with Native American oral histories, can be used to develop a rich picture of past conditions.Using these data, students may compare and contrast information from independent proxies and various cultural perspectives to develop deep and robust understandings of natural and human induced changes on the landscape over historic time, and their implications for modern society.A goal of the project is to introduce students to a specific suite of transferrable 21st century cyber-enabled workforce skills as early as possible in their academic careers. Students will learn to use cyber-based tools to conduct scholarly research, collaborate effectively with peers, and communicate professionally with their intended audience.Intellectual merit: This project addresses a significant need in cyberinfrastructure education for our 21st century workforce by providing an expandable and sustainable way to introduce students to cyber-based skills that typically are not employed until the college level, despite the fact that a number of studies illustrate that younger students are very capable of acquiring them. The idea is that an earlier introduction to the appropriate, ethical and professional use of cyber-based research and communication tools will help students develop habits of mind that will increase their success in future endeavors. Learning to work effectively in groups, including conducting peer review in a mutually respectful manner, is also an important 21st century workforce skill that requires training and practice. Learning to successfully employ a variety of techniques including content organization, writing, layout, and graphic design in web-based presentations, as well as using virtual globes to analyze and display geospatial and geo-temporal data, should be both challenging and empowering for students. The project should reveal to students the power of cyber-based tools and resources for constructing new knowledge, and help them view themselves as creators, rather than simply consumers, of information.Broader impacts: Through its connection to the national Geographic Alliance Network, the project will pave the way for a national and even international effort in geographic education.This effort would be realized by individual teachers in place-based, user-centered projects of local or cultural significance, covering a broad array of content domains. The open architecture of the learning activity and its exclusive dependence on free, online tools and resources will make it accessible by virtually any teacher. The four case studies developed through this project will be used to encourage new teachers to participate and to inform them of best practices for various situations. Our vision is to create a self-sustaining community of practice in which teachers and students experiment, inspire, and inform their peers.