It is a peace conference for my World Literature
Class. The objectives are to broaden the students' point of view, and to engage
them in critical reading and thinking skills. The major players in last year's
conference were Israel,
Palestine, United States
and Amnesty International. I realize that Amnesty International was not a
realistic partner, but they were really willing to partner and help me make the
project real for the students. This was a group project for the students, with
each political faction being represented by a group of students. My major goal
was to make the conference as real as possible. I did not want any easy
solutions and I hoped that there might be some real standoffs.
The assignments were as follows: Make a map of your
country Read the political history of the country Read a novel that is written
about your country and write a report what you learned about the country, the
culture of the people and how historically accurate the book is based upon the
student's research of the country and conversations with representatives of the
country. Each group worked with an adult representative of the country who gave
them materials that represented their viewpoint of the situation and problems.
This person worked with the group and also gave a presentation to the entire
class.
In addition to the adult, each group had college
students who represented the country/Amnesty International who also worked with
them and helped them prepare. The college students also were present the day of
the conference and worked along with the students to negotiate and prepare the
resolutions.
Attached is the brochure
and the conference activities.
What worked well? The students used technology to
read newspapers from Israeli and Palestine to learn how the people from these
regions really feel The representatives from Palestine and Israeli showed their
true feelings at the peace conference and gave the students a real view of the
difficulty in creating peace and developed an understanding of why someone
might want to fly a couple of airplanes into the World Trade Center. Students
have returned and told me that this was the first time they had really looked
forward to keeping up with current events and when they hear or read articles,
they ask themselves what is missing?
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Comments:
What is Essential?
What
strengths do you see?
What
possible areas of improvement do you see?
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Technology
Infusion Possibilities
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Internet/Web
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Application
Software
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Specific
Software and Hardware
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Subject-matter
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Students learn about regions and countries of the world
and sources of conflict.
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Internet contains numerous sites
containing information about countries, regions, and sources of conflict.
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E T M
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N/A
A E
T M
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N/A
A E
T M
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Resources
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Students use the Internet to learn more about their
countries.
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News, current events
Official country web sites
Images
Videos
Maps
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E T M
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N/A
A E
T M
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N/A
A E
T M
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Learning activities
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Research, presentations, and role playing.
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Students could complete webquests designed to help them prepare for aspects of
the conference.
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E T M
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Students could use PowerPoint to
build presentations on their oountry or point of
view on a conflict.
Students could construct a database
of all the world’s wars and other conflicts
A E
T M
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Students could use GIS software to
create maps of their regions or sources of conflict
Students could make videos of their
role playing.
Students could play games designed
to simulate global conflicts
A E T M
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Communication activities
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Presentations to the class.
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Students could construct web sites
that contain information and links related to their country or conflict
Email to contact natives of country
or regions or ask questions of country representatives or experts
Use Internet resources to build an
itinerary for a peace-seeking mission in the region
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E T M
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Use of PowerPoint to make
presentations
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T M
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Webcams
to allow for videoconferencing with natives of the countries or regions
A E
T M
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Assessment activities
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Unclear.
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Internet-based quizzes
A E T M
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Rubrics to assess projects created
by students
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E T M
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Computer-based assessment
activities
A E T M
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Comments