Skip to main content

The Alice Project

By
Yesterday, I had the pleasure to sit in on a Webinar put on by John Pederson, Educational Technology Liaison with WiscNet in Madison, Wisconsin (And Tri-State PLP Community Leader!), featuring Christian Long. Christian shared an activity he has created for his students, "The Alice Project". As John eloquently stated in describing the seminar:
This project turns 16 groups of high school students loose on the book The
Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition. Teams of students use various “Web 2.0″ technologies to build a public presence for their learning, develop an ongoing (and carefully edited/maintained) digital portfolio of their discoveries, and demonstrate the use of these tools as story-telling/presentation catalysts. Behind the scenes, Christian is consciously shifting his “teaching” efforts to that of co-learner, collaborator, and advisor. He’s connecting his students with the rest of the world using the technology and helping them experience a real world audience.
During the seminar, Christian shared that this authentic learning project came to him about 6 weeks ago, and the students have taken it and run with it. For evaluation, he has invited educators to sign up to be jury members. In his message to students, Long shares a passage from the original text that gets to the heart of the project:
For those of you new to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this exchange between
young Alice and the Cheshire Cat (who she meets along her journey through
Wonderland) might offer a hint of what you’ll experience during this
project:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
[asked Alice]“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.“I don’t much care where –” said Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.“–so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
***
When in doubt, trust your instincts. If an ‘idea’ rabbit piques your interest, follow it. See where it leads you.
Just remember to let the rest of us know where it led you.
Take a look at the Alice Project. Go down the rabbit hole. Would it work in your classroom? How could you modifiy it for your curricular area? How rich of a learning experience could you make it?
Trust your instincts! I look forward to your comments.
Labels:

Comments

Mike Dronen said…
One question I've been thinking about "the boat leaving the shore" or the rabbit taking off - "Could a teacher and class "survive" if all paper and print and all non web-browser software were off-limits but students had access to a browser?" Not for the sake on not using paper, but for the sake of using robust web 2.0 technologies as if we truly believed they can revolutionize the instructional, collaborative and learning processes. So, not so much about modification, but revolution. What a great experiment (adventure) to take!
December 8, 2009 at 10:24 AM
Unknown said…
That would be very disruptive! Is there any mandates from NCLB that would limit what could be taken away?
December 14, 2009 at 12:33 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nos Chemins vers la paix: Award Winning Video!

By
Valley View Middle School French Imersion teacher, Heather Palmer created this award winning video, Nos Chemins vers la paix , for the Tel.A.Vision " Vision For America " Contest. Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com Powered by One True Media , Tel.A.Vision.tv allows students to create videos that share their vision for the future. Heather wanted to use this video to promote the Wiki she and her students created for "6 Billion Paths to Peace." On the wiki, Palmer states: Our project was inspired by the program " Six Billion Paths to Peace ", an initiative of the Shinnyo-en foundation. We like the challenge the program offers us: commit to making a difference in this moment, in this day, in this lifetime! Palmer received her award last week at the National Service Learning Conference, in Nashville, TN. Way to go, Heather! NOTE: A few weeks ago while looking at the copyright free music available on the site, I notice a cover of the "Spinal ...
Post a Comment
Read more

We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint! A Reflection

By
Today, the New York Times ran an interesting article regarding the use of PowerPoint in the military, We Have Met the Enemy and He is PowerPoint . It was a fairly damning critique of an organization that gets most of its information or lack of information through PowerPoint slides. Here are a few quotes from the article: “PowerPoint makes us stupid" - Gen. James N. Matti “It’s dangerous because it can create the illusion of understanding and the illusion of control...Some problems in the world are not bullet-izable.” -Gen. H.R. McMaster And the following comment that I think has a great impact for us as educators: " Commanders say that behind all the PowerPoint jokes are serious concerns that the program stifles discussion, critical thinking and thoughtful decision-making ." And this... "Commanders say that the slides impart less information than a five-page paper can hold, and that they relieve the briefer of the need to polish writing to convey an analytic, persu...
9 comments
Read more