A Tale of Two States
A Tale of Two States is a Distance Learning Unit that will link 25 5th and 6th grade students from an independent school in Indiana with 25-30 6th graders from a traditional school in Hawaii. The yearlong thematic unit will use experts from both Hawaii and Indiana to relate the geological, ecological and cultural histories of these two unique territories through two-way interactive video. Both classes will use research skills, field experience and data collection and field trips to explore the uniqueness of their state history. The intended outcome of this unit is to give both classes a better understanding of who they are by looking at the past. Although both groups of children are demographically diverse, through shared responsibility, they can realize how much they have in common. Distance learning technology allows this exploration to occur. It is only through two-way interactive video that these children are capable of collaborating efficiently and effectively.
Final Evaluation for "A Tale of Two States"
Level One: Student Learning
"A Tale of Two States" was a full year, multi-connection thematic unit that incorporated three various sections: 1) New experience/ New information (including ecological, geological and cultural history) 2) Collaborative Research 3) Projects and student presentation. In each of these stages, the distance learning equipment was utilized to heighten the experiences and understanding of the students.
Section One: New Experience/New Information.
From Harmony Perspective:
This thematic unit would take place over
a period of one school year. It began in September of 1999, and concluded in
May of 2000. This yearlong unit consisted of five various distance connections
between Indiana and Hawaii. Each connection was designed with a specific focus
revolving around the topics of ecological, geological and cultural history of
the two states.
The first connection was designed to be an introduction and 'getting
to know you' connection. At this time, the students introduced themselves to
their penpals and shared various aspect of research they had done relating to
the theme. The Harmony students used the end of the connection to demonstrate
the small group projects that they had been working on as a class. These projects
centered on Native American tribes of Indiana.
To prepare the students for this unit, Harmony students visited Adena-Hopewell
ceremonial mounds at Mounds State Park, the Sun Dance grounds in Story, Indiana.
They also utilized Indiana University and the Glen Black Lab of Archeology.
Here they experienced the art of 'flint knapping'. Students demonstrated a sound
understanding of various aspects of the pre-history of Indiana by creating small
group projects and various class readings. Each group decided what their project
would be, allowing the students to work to their level of ability.
The distance learning technology played a critical role in the deliverance
of this information. Not only did the students get to meet each other and they
presented the research and work that they had accomplished. This is a good way
to engage the students, they like the hands on work, and they seem to enjoy
being on screen. Because of this, part of the purpose of this first connection
was to familiarize the students with the technology. The class behavior improved
with each connection as the students became familiar with the equipment. This
also gave the instructors time to train students to use the remote control and
be involved with the connection.
From Hawaii Perspective:
The videoconference portion of our partnership consisted of 5 connections.
The connections were powerful in general for the Keaukaha students. Many of them had not ever been to the University (University of Hawaii at Hilo) and none of them had ever been in a studio with so much technological equipment. They were impressed by what it means to have a video connection and it was impressive how quickly they learned to be comfortable with and use the technology.
The conferences which were the most successful (in my opinion) were the ones where the students actually presented. It is a compromise, however, because the experts that we had were also impressive and engaging. We struck a good balance for this first collaboration and, due to the fact that we tried many different formats for exchange, we are able to get a good sense of what we would keep and what we would tailor differently for next time.
From a curricular standpoint however, having the students present made the buy in greater---they were taking a risk and they were responsible for helping their learners to understand the material. In an exchange such as this, that has really inflexible time constraints, it is very helpful to exchange some information prior to the actual videoconference (for instance, an outline of what will be presented, a vocabulary list, etc.) This was done for a few of the conferences. It helps the students listen for important information in a setting where body language does not get transferred 100%.
I was impressed with how many learning opportunities stemmed out of the partnership. It would have been easy and more than enough to base my curriculum for the entire year just on what we were covering in the partnership. We were able to bring in guest speakers to our classroom (for instance, Peter Mills, archaeologist, who carved spear heads out of obsidian for us and talked about geology and its impact on early humans). As part of our ecology exchange, we studied Weather and had guest speakers come to our class to discuss various aspects of that topic.
It would have been good to be really consistent in exchanging videotapes, etc. of field trips or guest speakers from the two sites (Harmony, Keaukaha). This is something that we will work on and improve next time.
Curricullarly, this partnership also set up wonderful opportunities for student ownership and the chance to set up models for learning. Because the students at Keaukaha felt that they had a "real" audience, they were much more invested in what they were studying and tried much harder to take ownership of the process and product. We had many wonderful projects stem from this and will need to think of ways to share more in the future.
Section Two: Collaborative Research
From Harmony Perspective:
The collaboration of research happened in several ways
during the course of this unit. Students from each school collaborated via e-mail,
pen pal writing, distance learning connections and the use of similar supplies
that were acquired through this grant. To understand more about the similarities
between the students, pen pals exchanged greetings and asked questions to each
other. Bridging cultures and finding similarities by looking at diversity was
a key component to the function of this unit. This was demonstrated with the
students exchanging e-mails and letters. These included sending postcards, holiday
greetings and exchanging videos and photographs.
Distance learning connections were used during each phase to enhance
understanding and collaboration. Harmony School brought in Dr. John Rupp, a
professor of Geological Sciences at Indiana University. Dr. Rupp shared information
on the geologic prehistory of Indiana, with maps, pictures and demonstrations.
During the cultural history section of the grant, Kevin McDowell came in during
a connection and put on a Hoagie Carmichael performance. Both of these experiences
were unique and new to each class.
The final aspect of the group research included the individual school
experiences attributed to the supplies ordered through the grant. Each school
obtained different kits, tools, books and visual aides to aid in research for
each concept (cultural, geological and ecological histories). An example of
this, is that students measured and predicted weather patterns in their states.
They had the same tools, but different climates. It was noted that in Hawaii,
it is almost always 85 degrees and sunny, while in Indiana, the weather changes
within minutes. Grant money allowed the Harmony Students to take a field trip
to the fossil beds of Brookville Reservoir and collect fossils for themselves
to take back to school and identify. Rock identification kits were obtained
to help with the introduction to geology. These hands on experiences were not
shared in common locations, but they were shared with common spirit.
Section Three: Projects/Student Presentations
From Harmony Perspective:
The distance connections were set up to allow equal time
for student presentations as well as experts coming in and sharing with the
classes. The project and presentation part of this unit occurred during each
connection and each theme. An example of this is the geology connection. Harmony
School brought in John Rupp and Keaukaha School used this time for students
to present information about local geology. They demonstrated various types
of lava and showed how the crystal formation was related to the cooling rate.
At the same time that these connections were taking place, Harmony School
was also utilizing other distance learning programs that related to our topics.
For example, the students from Harmony experienced a connection with the Indiana
State Museum on Ice Age Mammals in Indiana. This was a hands on math program
that involved student projects and presentations. It also directly related to
the geological history of Indiana.
These distance connections led to a wonderful experience for a few Harmony
students and the whole class at Keaukaha. Aided by the new experiences and meeting
new people, four Harmony students visited the students in Hawaii. They were
able to experience first hand the scope of this unit, to see how similar we
are without losing our differences. This was culminated in one of the students
doing their graduation project on Hawaiian culture and history.
Level Two: Effectiveness
Kathy Boone and Scott Evans both believe that this model of learning
had a great impact on the students. Effectiveness is hard to measure due to
the differences in each student's ability, but, the structure of the unit was
flexible enough to allow each student to focus on their individual strengths.
For example, during the Native American theme, each student had to do a project.
The choice of what type of project they would do was left up to them. Consequently,
they chose art if they painted well, they chose to build, if they were good
with their hands, or they did research if that is what they wanted to do. For
both instructors, this appears to be a great method for students retaining information.
Let the students learn what they feel is interesting.
Another important aspect of this format is taking field trips. Experiencing
first hand what you discuss in the classroom is an effective tool in learning.
Fossil collecting, visiting the National Weather Service Forecasting center,
going to Falls of the Ohio State Park, going to the Indiana State Museum's Underground
Railroad, these were all experiences that aided the students learning. Because
of our positive experiences with two years of distance connections, we will
try to write a grant and incorporate this technology into our classroom every
year. Taking ideas that work from this format and evolving it into new and innovative
lessons.
From Hawaii: Perspective:
I touched on some of the effectiveness of the learning model in my comments in part one. However, here I will go into more specifics and talk about each connection and also how the technology enhanced and limited the learning.
Connection One: Introduction of Partnership and introduction
of students
The technical aspects of the connection went fairly smoothly. We may have been
a bit late on establishing the connection, however, this was okay since it gave
the students (Keaukaha) the opportunity to see just what is involved in such
a connection. By the time we were actually ready to start, they already knew
the names of many of the main "players" since Bart and Scott, etc. kept ducking
in and out of the picture and checking sound etc. They could also absorb the
aura of Harmony and look at the kids all clustered there for awhile.
There was too much teacher talk on this first connection. Something that we
did not know before we started, but do know now. If we do this again, we will
present the partnership differently to our classes (either a videotape explaining
the lay out and expectations or just talks in our respective classrooms) which
will enable us to dedicate more time in the first connection to student talk
(getting to know you, curriculum). We did have our pen pals already set up at
this point, however, so the kids were excited to see each other. By the end
of the conference, most of the kids in my class knew every Harmony student's
name and whose penpal they were, etc.
Connection Two: Geology
This was probably my favorite (as the teacher) connection. Primarily due to
the fact that my students were split into groups and presented on different
aspects of the Geology of the Hawaiian Islands. They were so nervous and so
good and so prepared and so precious. They handled all the technology (mikes,
document camera) and made relatively good use of the space (eye contact with
the camera, transitions of document camera, body positioning). The professor
who presented for Indiana was also excellent and engaging. It would have been
helpful to have an outline of his presentation in advance due to the fact that
he covered a lot of material with a lot of unfamiliar terms. However, we do
have a videotape of the conference and were able to watch the presentation again
(of course, the students were most interested in seeing themselves present!).
I think that this model (one school presenting, one expert presenting) works
well and the two schools could alternate using this format for most of the connections.
It might be a bit much to expect students from each school to present each time---the
variety of presentation formats probably works better.
Connection Three:
This connection did not work due to the fact that the Harmony group was at Harmony
and the connection was set up for Indiana University. Keaukaha had arranged
to have Civil Defense Administrator, Harry Kim, present on Tsunamis. What we
ended up doing was videotaping his presentation and then sending it to Harmony.
This miscommunication was unfortunate, but we made the best out of it. They
Keaukaha students still loved having Mr. Kim present since he is something of
a local hero.
Connection Four: Culture
Harmony planned on having Kid Kazooey come and present on Hoagie Carmichael,
so Keaukaha took its cue from them and decided to also do something with music.
The students decided that some of them wanted to present a hula and some wanted
to play some songs on the ukulele. We also had Keoni and Jessie's grandpa, a
local slack key artist, come to talk about and play slack key guitar. John Kua
("Papa John") was excellent.
This was a time when having two adult "experts" present worked well because
they both were very engaging. Kid Kazooey especially was able to engage the
kid audience and keep them involved. On the Keaukaha side, the kids planned
enough of their own talent presentations that they were able to keep involved.
This was the conference when it would have been nice not to have to conform
to the strict time limits. However, Papa John could have played endlessly, so
we needed to cut him off at some point.
Connection Five: Wrap Up and Aloha
By this time, we had experienced enough variety of presentations that it was
really up to the kids to decide how they wanted to structure this last connection.
They wanted to look at and talk to each other, so we structured it so that each
set of penpals could talk briefly to each other. It was wonderful and you could
see the engagement and feelings that these kids had for one another.
Settings:
Harmony has their equipment in one of their High School rooms. This enables
the whole group to sit in a casual bunch, which is wonderful. It also makes
it harder to zone in on one person and they need to be really careful to keep
noise down or you tend to hear a steady drone.
Keaukaha had to drive to the University of Hawaii at Hilo and use their distance education studio. This was great because of the wonderful technology. Sound and video were not a problem. However, it caused us to have to be more formal and limited in our movement than we would normally be. We also had to rely on parent drivers a lot. Attempts were made to include the parents in the connections, however, much more could and should be done in this area.
Level Three: Technology Effectiveness
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ISSUES
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RECOMMENDATIONS
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| A key issue for this specific grant was the effect of time on the connections. Hawaii and Indiana are five hours different from each other. When it is 2:00 pm in Indiana, it is 9:00 am in Hawaii. It was near the end of the day for our students and the beginning for them. There was a different energy involved, our students tended to be less energetic and more distractible while the Keaukaha students were more aware and focused. | Emphasize the time difference as a teaching moment and take the opportunity to explain how that works. Also, the difference in energy and focus can be dealt with by planning activities that maximize interaction and could facilitate these variations in attention and energy. |
| The distance between the states also restricts communication between Hawaii and Indiana. Phone charges during the day are too expensive, if anything comes up at the last minute, the individual school has to pay the phone charges. In one instance the Distance Learning Coordinator was out of town in a conference when a scheduling problem came up. The teacher involved had requested the wrong date. This was not realized until the class was staring at a black screen and Hawaii was on the phone asking what was going on. They had to travel to the University of Hawaii to have a failed connection. Generally, the technology was effective and efficient, human error and communication breakdown was the key issue. | Try to communicate as much as possible by e-mail. In sudden case emergencies, either school to eliminate long distance charges could use cell phones. Always keep records handy of phone numbers critical to the connection. Also, be aware beforehand of the scheduling protocols and who to contact in case of emergencies. |
| The length of the connection being an exact hour was an issue at times. It is hard to anticipate presentation times for both the experts and the students. During the first connections, some people did not get to introduce themselves to their pen pals due to time limitations. Another connection cut off before the Keaukaha students were able to do a Eukalayle presentation for the Harmony students. Also, experts that only have 22.5 minutes to give a scope of a concept are limited to the amount of questions they can answer and feedback they can give. | Schedule fifteen extra minutes to the end of each connection. This would allow for closure and limit the need to rush through information and activities. |
| Communication issues were the biggest barrier to the success of the technology. Human error cannot be calculated. To schedule an event, there are so many channels that need to be gone through, that the chance to make a mistake is increased. | If you make a schedule change be sure to resubmit scheduling change to distance coordinator. Also, don't rely on phone messages or e-mail, hard copies of paperwork are necessary for efficient scheduling. |
| With the format of our school (K-12) and the size of our building, we were limited to the usage of the distance technology room given the time differences. There were other classes using the room where the Athena is located or the student were involved in a multi-age class during the 1:00-2:45 time slot. | If possible, locate the Athena into a room that is not occupied by other classes. Otherwise, make sure to pre-arrange connection times with the other teachers involved with plenty of notice. |
Level Four: Social Learning
From the Harmony Perspective:
This phase of the unit exemplifies the purpose of the grant. By learning and investigating our pasts, our differences and uniqueness, we can understand ourselves and appreciate others for what we have in common. By using distance technology, e-mail, pen pals, videos and photographs, students from both schools bridged the Pacific Ocean and realized that the are young boys and girls that want to grow up and succeed. They both like to play basketball or listen to pop music, read a book or play soccer, skateboard and go to the movies. They both like Harry Potter and live in places that are much older than they are. They both had predecessors that were integral to the development of their culture. Each student spoke English (although they spoke other languages as well) and got wet when it rained outside. Most importantly, each child was in 5th or 6th grade and could laugh when inspired or cry when saddened. This was all possible because of the collaboration of students and teachers.
From Hawaii Perspective:
We never can tell exactly what each student takes out
of an experience like this partnership. However, it was obvious that learning
was happening all over the place.
Besides the actual connections, we set up email exchanges, snail mail
exchanges, picture exchanges, swapped videotapes, etc. The students truly felt
that they had a partner school and a partner class. Since I (Amy Baum) had taught
at Harmony before, I was able to supply information about the school and, indeed,
about many of students in the 5th/6th classroom. And ask questions they did.
One of the most beneficial aspects of this partnership was providing
a real audience with whom to share your learning. The times when we were studying
for and preparing for our videoconferences were times in which the students
were so engaged in their projects. They worked in groups with few problems because
they knew that they had to get it together. They took pride in respresenting
the school and the children of Hawaii. They wanted to do a good job.
The opportunity came to have four of the Harmony students come to spend
time in our classroom. This was amazing. It was a true opportunity for cultural
exchange and opened many eyes. If/when we continue this partnership, there are
so many ideas for growth and continued exchange. We would like to involve families
and the community more. And to enhance our efforts even more to exchange information
via different formats not just the actual connections.
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Created: Apr. 4.2000 Last updated: Nov.25,2000. Comment to Dave Bartlett.