Tip:
Can you get equitable participation with online learning activities?
Ideally yes. Realistically, don't expect this. Whoever coordinates a project will be taking on more work than other participants in making it all come together. That said, look for ways to encourage others to take their participation as far as they can.
For example: My Wildflowers of the World project was only moderately successful at my school site. I had the disadvantage of starting the project before we could get into the field. However the school in South Africa was experiencing spring time when they joined early on. The teacher was able to enter their project in ChildNet and won a trip to London that spurred a lot more collaborations. This project had benefits for years. I was so sad when Margaret Dugmore and Judith Bennett retired!
Interesting projects lead to a variety of collaborations where you each take on different levels of involvement. Teachers will actively pursue collaborations year after year if they have had successful collaborations.
Janice Friesen also shared:
I am guessing that you mean that all participants are involved in the same level. I think that it is important to design a project so that it is worthwhile for all of the participants. If the project is collecting data for the class that starts the project there needs to be some way that it benefits the participant classes besides just sending Email.
Submitted by:
Cheryl Vitali
vitali-c@kcusd.com
Reading Recovery Teacher
Alta Elementary School
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