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Copyright©2000
Mark S. Barnett
Last Revised:  April 28, 2000
mbarn@msbarnett.com

Participants: Team project comprising three or more members, preferably with one technologically skilled adult per team.

Age Group: Junior-Senior High. The older the group, the more sophisticated the requirement outcome.

Methodology: Open-ended, where learning best occurs on the backside (student-directed) versus the front-side (teacher-directed).

Topic: History: Pre-Statehood.

             Part 1. Make an extensive hands-on research study of the history of your state before it became a state, especially in regards to the area of the state where you live. It must show a competent knowledge of research, content, and accuracy. It must be well organized, clear, easy to follow, and pertinent to the time period specified.

             Part 2. This project is to be presented as a web site, and must include at least six-pages, and should be at least three levels in depth (main page, 2-3 divisional pages, 2-3 sub-divisional pages). In addition to the historical learning which this undertaking will supply, an equal purpose will be to demonstrate a fairly good knowledge of web-based technologies as well as presentation techniques. Each group must use at least 8 of the following 16 web technologies:

1. Pictures
2. Movies
3. Sound
4. Clip Art
5. Background color or themes
6. Multiple Fonts and colors
7. Animation
8. HTML Editors
9. Column structure with various sizes
10. Marquees
11. Page transitions
12. Banners
13. Maps
14. Charts
15. Comments page
16. Any other advanced web feature

All content must be appropriately and accurately referenced and linked if it is a web site link, using the APA citation format.  There also must be a Reference Page citing in alphabetical order all sources used in the project.

Weekly progress summaries must be turned in to the instructor every Friday afternoon.

Time for Project Completion: Nine-weeks.

Good luck, and have fun!

Introduction

There are so many ways to approach designing an EduWeb.  It can be traditional in the sense of being teacher directed, or it can be modern with the student taking direction of his or her own learning experience.

This is an example of an open-ended EduWeb which was designed to give great latitude and freedom to the learner.  Authorization is provided for infinite creativity and free-thinking to be used.  This project is intended to be worked on in groups, preferably with at least one web-skilled adult member per team.

For this project, I chose to demonstrate the back side of an EduWeb—the Finished Project.  One student, age 13 (my son), and one adult (myself) teamed together to create a detailed web site which portrays the pre-statehood historical period of the particular state where the participants reside.

Work Distribution.  For this project, work was divided evenly.  The student did most of the design and layout.  The adult provided the leadership in filling in much of the content. However, all parts of the research project were completed by both team members, and the two participated equally in taking pictures and movies as well as the much-needed editings.  Much traveling was made to the original sites for historical documentation.  The rest of the historical content was obtained through books found in libraries and museums, information on museum walls, and numerous web sites.

Overall, this hands-on project was a great success.  Both student and adult learned substantially more about their state's early period of history than any textbook or lecturer could ever have provided.  The web site for this project which follows only reveals a highlighted summary of some of the learning acquired during the research process.