IOC 2006 Online Learning supporting international collaborative literature project

Instructional Design of Projects

Sharon Peters of Lower Canada College has two classes of twenty-three grade 10 students. One class worked with Neveh Channah and the other worked with Rabin High School. A rubric for online participation was used by Sharon for both of the class projects.

LCC - NC design:

This project used a cooperative learning approach. That is, the students worked in groups with peers from their own school to create materials that would later be presented to the students from the other school. The students would then interact and respond to the products in the moodle LMS.

Learoh created an assignment and an assessment rubric for her students. Sharon also created her specifications for the assignment as well as an assessment rubric that was distributed to the students and posted in the FirstClass course area.

Leorah, Reuven and Sharon met on several occasions during July and August of 2005. It was decided that short stories would be used for this year's project. Leorah chose "The Name" by Aharon Megged for the Neveh Channah students to read and present to the LCC students. Sharon chose "The Hockey Sweater" by Roch Carrier, which is a beloved children's story that is also a parable of the two solitudes of French and English cultures in Canada and in Québec in particular. She wanted a second story and found "Everyone Talks Loudly in Chinatown" by Anne Jew; however, the students suggested "David", a famous Canadian poem featuring two teenage hikers who face a tragedy while hiking in the Canadian Rockies. The students were asked to vote for their choice in the LMS and explain and justify their choice. The responses were so impressive for both pieces of literature that we decided to present both pieces to the girls in Israel.

The students made their introductions to each other in late September and early October.

In mid-October, tragedy struck the community of Neveh Channah and Etzion Bloc when Palestinian terrorists opened fire and killed three young people in a drive-by shooting. It was the first act of terrorism since the Gaza withdrawal. The students from LCC reacted and responded with deep sympathy for their new friends in Israel. For the Canadian students, it was an authentic learning experience to be personally touched by an event that took place thousands of miles from their own country.

LCC - Rabin design:

A collaborative learning approach was used for this project. That is, students from both schools formed the teams that worked on the webquest assignment together.

Nellie and Sharon met in early September to discuss their approach to this project. Nellie had created a webquest based on the novel The Giver, by Lois Lowry, for her students the year before. This short novel explores the concepts of utopia and societal expectations which fit in quite well with LCC's grade 10 English course theme of self-maturation and independence. The assignment for each team can be found on the webquest website as well as the rubrics used for assessment.

The students introduced themselves in the LMS in October and responded to the satirical essay Nacirema as a way of exploring viewpoint and cultural differences.

2006 Illinois Online Conference for Teaching and Learning Feb. 15-17 2006 Online Learning Supporting The International Collaborative Literature Project Israel-Canada partnership in online collaborative learning
HOME LCC Moodle LMS IPNCL Tools used Timeline Students' feedback Teachers' Feedback Design of projects Multimedia showcase LCC ICLP 2006 NC-LCC ICLP 2004-2005 Lower Canada College Neveh Channah Rabin High School	Instructional Design of Projects Sharon Peters of Lower Canada College has two classes of twenty-three grade 10 students. One class worked with Neveh Channah and the other worked with Rabin High School. A rubric for online participation was used by Sharon for both of the class projects. LCC - NC design: This project used a cooperative learning approach. That is, the students worked in groups with peers from their own school to create materials that would later be presented to the students from the other school. The students would then interact and respond to the products in the moodle LMS. Learoh created an assignment and an assessment rubric for her students. Sharon also created her specifications for the assignment as well as an assessment rubric that was distributed to the students and posted in the FirstClass course area. Leorah, Reuven and Sharon met on several occasions during July and August of 2005. It was decided that short stories would be used for this year's project. Leorah chose "The Name" by Aharon Megged for the Neveh Channah students to read and present to the LCC students. Sharon chose "The Hockey Sweater" by Roch Carrier, which is a beloved children's story that is also a parable of the two solitudes of French and English cultures in Canada and in Québec in particular. She wanted a second story and found "Everyone Talks Loudly in Chinatown" by Anne Jew; however, the students suggested "David", a famous Canadian poem featuring two teenage hikers who face a tragedy while hiking in the Canadian Rockies. The students were asked to vote for their choice in the LMS and explain and justify their choice. The responses were so impressive for both pieces of literature that we decided to present both pieces to the girls in Israel. The students made their introductions to each other in late September and early October. In mid-October, tragedy struck the community of Neveh Channah and Etzion Bloc when Palestinian terrorists opened fire and killed three young people in a drive-by shooting. It was the first act of terrorism since the Gaza withdrawal. The students from LCC reacted and responded with deep sympathy for their new friends in Israel. For the Canadian students, it was an authentic learning experience to be personally touched by an event that took place thousands of miles from their own country. LCC - Rabin design: A collaborative learning approach was used for this project. That is, students from both schools formed the teams that worked on the webquest assignment together. Nellie and Sharon met in early September to discuss their approach to this project. Nellie had created a webquest based on the novel The Giver, by Lois Lowry, for her students the year before. This short novel explores the concepts of utopia and societal expectations which fit in quite well with LCC's grade 10 English course theme of self-maturation and independence. The assignment for each team can be found on the webquest website as well as the rubrics used for assessment. The students introduced themselves in the LMS in October and responded to the satirical essay Nacirema as a way of exploring viewpoint and cultural differences.