QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN CONSIDERING
A WEB-BASED CURRICULUM PROJECT FOR YOUR CLASSROOM

What are the attributes or characteristics of an interschool web-based project that foster constructivist pedagogical goals?

Here is a list of characteristics that can help you make instructional decisions about web-based curriculum projects that you are considering for use in your classrooms.

OVERALL

  • What kind of learning environment do these projects create

NATURE OF THE TASKS

  • What instructional tasks will the project require and/or foster?
  • How many tasks that involve technological literacy are involved?

EQUITY AND ACCESSIBILITY

  • Are my students at an educational level that they can participate in all aspects of the project?
  • Do my students have the technology to participate fully in the project?

ROLES OF THE PARTICIPANTS

  • What role will my student-participants play?
  • What role will I as teacher play?
  • What roles will others (experts, mentors, parents...) play?


LEVEL OF COLLABORATION

  • Who will my students collaborate with?
  • What is the nature and degree of collaboration?
  • How am I as teacher involved as a collaborator?
  • Is there a community that develops from sharing the work?
  • How does the technology amplify the collaboration?


SOCIAL AND CULTURAL AWARENESS

  • Is the final product of value to the wider community?
  • Does the project help students see themselves differently?


THE WHOLE IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THE PARTS

  • Does the project's work, when shared, add up to more than any one piece?
  • Is it cumulative?
  • Does it enable participants to see a pattern that they would not otherwise be able to see?