Initially, at the suggestion of Mike Walker, I took a look at the website www.cybernations.net as a focus of my Project Based Learning endeavor. Cybernations is an intriguing site which allows the user to design their own nation while taking a multitude of factors into consideration: government system, economics, society, military, resources, and culture to name just a few. It is very involved and very time consuming but I think it poses some real possibilities for use in class. Our first unit of the year - in many ways our most important unit - covers this very same information and I've been looking for ways to make it more interactive over time.
I can see Cybernations being used in two main ways. First, it may appeal to a certain segment of students individually as an enrichment opportunity. For those students who are true gamers or have an intuitive knack at "Risk" type simulation games, this game is perfect. It requires a fair amount of high level thinking, reasoning, and imagination. Secondly, I think it could be used in a group situation where one group designs a nation and periodically updates and makes decisions on the nation. It could even be something that I assign at the beginning of the year and the students play for the rest of the year with time given periodically in class and also assigned out of class.
This is a shot of my nation on cyber nations ... still in its infancy.
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War is an option for Anderland since 5/30/2011.
The next chunk of time I used on the 20 percent project was creating a social media presence for my US Government class. In doing this I created both a Twitter account (@MrAndersonGov) and a Facebook fan page "MrAndersonGov." Originally, I was just going to create the Twitter feed, but a Social Studies teacher that I follow on Twitter suggested Facebook as a better platform since more kids are on Facebook and it allows for more features. But, I then learned that I could link the two together so that a Facebook post appears in the Twitter feed. So, I'm going to start with the two and see how it goes. I am very excited to explore the use of these resources for disseminating information and for extending the classroom walls of my class. However, I also want to think about whether this is something that might all just be better accomplished using Moodle. In the end, I want this to be valuable for kids but I don't want to kill myself doing it.
My plan with Twitter and Facebook is to use the features it provides to make my class better. I don't want to socialize, I don't want to debate, and I don't want to place myself in any uncomfortable situation. So, I want to spend time with the district policy and clearly lay out expectations to my students if they follow the Twitter feed or become a fan of the Facebook page. But, I think it presents wonderful opportunities to expose students to information and ideas that go beyond what we can do in class.
In looking at the ISTE standards, I think that I really hit on these two:
b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning
The use of Twitter and Facebook pages -or even if it ends up using similar features on Moodle-does exactly what is stated in (B). Students will become more active participants setting their own goals and managing their own learning. The interactive nature of Twitter and FB I think will allow me to pique student interests and trigger student discussions that I would not be able to do within the traditional classroom setting.
To achieve a success in part B, I will definitely need to work on part D. I am shocked at how poorly students navigate the online world right now. I plan on modeling appropriate online usage of these tools and lay out clear standards for students who wish to contribute to either site. In addition, the cybernations game has an interactive component where you are competing with thousands of others. In my two weeks on the game, I've already received multiple emails from other competitors. Teaching students how to properly and safely negotiate these online contacts would be vital.
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