Culturespace is a discussion board created by 7th grade social studies teacher Vince De Tillio with assistance from EIMS technology coordinator Marc Alter. Culturespace grew from Vince’s desire to provide his students with a space for ongoing discussion and exploration of class topics. He wanted to harness the built-in motivation of a technology that’s part of most students’ everyday life. “I think the discussion board taps into a mode of communication most students are very familiar with.” says Vince. “Many of them already spend time communicating online and this tool builds upon that to provide opportunities to develop skills in higher-level thinking.”

Culturespace was built from the ground up using the free discussion board service, freeforums.org. In several short lab sessions students were introduced to the use, rules, and etiquette of Culturespace. After participating in a few practice discussions they were off and running and Culturespace quickly became a fixture in Vince’s teaching. Students access the board during class time and often post messages from home.

The questions and topics that Vince posts to Culturespace are carefully crafted to draw students into discussion and critical thinking about topics covered in the social studies curriculum. Through these exchanges students drill into the essential questions posed by the state social studies standards. Lauren, a seventh grader describes what she gains from use of the board. “Culturespace allows us to take things further. The questions that Mr. DeTillio posts on Culturespace ask us our opinions related to social studies topics that we’re studying. The questions don’t just test us on what we know. They relate back to our life. It allows me to make connections. I can understand history and social studies better if I understand how they relate to my life and might effect me now.”

Vince also saw an opportunity to use technology to address students’ varied learning styles and different comfort levels with class participation. He explains, “The discussion board offers a platform for students to express their opinion after they have thought about material covered in class. Unlike a face-to-face conversation, it doesn’t require immediate response therefore the posts are more thoughtful and well-written. This year we’ve witnessed students who have a tough time in large group discussions participating at a high rate on the discussion board. I think this is a result of the safe environment it provides. Before you post you can read others' work and spellcheck your writing.” According to David, a seventh grade student, these advantages go a long way. “I like the fact that I can think about what I’m going to say. I can read over it before saying it. It also gives me a chance to go back later and look at what I’ve said and to see how other kids have responded to my thoughts and ideas. I like that it gives everyone in the class a chance to talk”. Maureen, another of Vince’s students elaborates, “In a class discussion you hear what kids in your class know and what their opinions are. On Culturespace you hear even more opinions and more information since all of Mr. De Tillio's classes use it. Some people in other classes may understand some things that our class doesn't understand and you can really learn from that”.

In addition to using this resource for teaching and learning Vince uses Culturespace for ongoing formative assessment. He says it’s improved his teaching by providing a permanent record of student understanding. He explains, “As I continually work to write better questions and come up with more intriguing discussions, I’m able to use what I observe in the discussions to determine the level of understanding that individual students have regarding a topic”. A key component of effective formative assessment is using information gained through assessment to modify teaching to maximize each student’s learning. Vince says, “I’ve used information from discussions to justify reviews of tough concepts and as inspiration for new connections to the content. The discussion board has given me the ability to watch student-centered learning take place and adjust my instruction accordingly.”

If you’d like to visit Culturespace point your web browser to www.culturespace.freeforums.org. Access to posting is limited to EIMS 7th grade students with password-protected accounts. However, visitors may browse the forum, follow discussions, and enjoy the wisdom. For more information contact Vince Detillio (vditillio@grandviewschools.org). You may also contact Marc Alter (malter@grandviewschools.org) for information about technical aspects and applications of discussion boards in teaching and learning.

Prior to reading Julius Caesar, Ms. Acton's Honors English class began a webquest project where students investigated how much actual history was incorporated into Shakespeare's writing. As undercover history professors, the students' goals were to discover if the characters and events in Julius Caesar were based on actual historical events or from Shakespeare's imagination. They were also interested to know if Shakespeare changed aspects of characters and events to make his play more entertaining.

With the help of High School Librarian, Lori Stalteri and HS Technology Coordinator, Denise Lutz, the students used a webquest format to research factual information and collaborate online using a wiki site. After reading the play, the class will return to the wiki site, draw conclusions and present summaries of their findings.

This activity can be viewed by going to the High School Staff Directory page and clicking on the website link under Valerie Acton's name. We used www.pbwiki.com to set up the class wiki. Staff members can learn more about how to use PBWiki by accessing the tutorials posted on Atomic Learning. Teacher's can also find educational examples on how to incorporate a collaborative wiki into your curriculum from http://pbwiki.com/education.wiki.

Freshmen Geography Students Go Global

In September 2007, Freshman Geography teacher, Ray Corbett, in collaboration with Denise Lutz and Lori Stalteri, modified and developed a unit that investigated issues surrounding the member countries of the Organization of the American States. Each student was assigned a member country, had to complete a country profile, and then write a descriptive essay surrounding three issues currently facing that country.

This essay could have been word processed, formatted in MLA style and submitted for grading, but why should the teacher be the only one who could see and reflect on all of this learning? Instead, we looked for a way to engage the group and have their work become more authentic in a public forum. Students published their work to the GHHS Tech Discussion Board, read the work of others, and replied to what had been written. They took the assignment seriously. Students knew that the work they produced had the potential to be read by anyone navigating Grandview’s website. They wanted to produce a quality product and made every effort to do so.

Mr. Corbett was able to monitor and grade the students' work without any printed papers. The entire project was online and accessible to him anytime and anywhere. During the course of the unit, we discussed how the WebQuest could be revised for next semester and how Ms. Acton could become involved in the writing process.

In talking with a few students from the class, they commented that they “liked the freedom of the project.” Freshmen Henry Hansen said, “I liked how we could look at other projects and give your opinion about countries’ issues.”

Check out the class project at http://www.grandviewschools.org/corbett_webquest