Final Blog Post for Group #2
4 August 2010Ethnography and Mapping the Batey:
Group 2 worked on a project to devise and implement lesson plans to help Global Potential students understand ethnography and mapping. The focus would be on data collections, analysis and human geography in order for the Global Potential students to see the batey in a new way.
We started off first trying to figure out the best means of communication as a group and Jenn sent out an email welcoming everyone to Group 2. We talked about a google group but ended up starting off with just emails and blog posts. After hearing more about the program from Frank and some video question/answer sessions, Venessa posted an overview of the project info drawn from Franks introduction and suggested some possible ideas to get us going. Everyone was still a little unclear on our objective and Venessa posed questions about what types of “tools” or online applications we should think about. Her overview covered all the main topics and helped get the ball rolling:
Josephine helped us out by explaining that as far as “tools” went, Frank was more talking about a process or methodology. She clarified Global Potential’s overwhelming platform base and mentioned utilizing Facbook and the Blog since they were already used the most. She suggested possible other platforms to incorporate such as Ushahidi and Textmarks but made clear that reverse mentoring would be a concern. The students and Global Potential staff would need to understand how the platforms we used functioned. She spoke about the blog being unstructured and maybe the possibility of collaborating with Group 1 working with blog posts.
Venessa pointed out that we needed to know which platforms were already in use and Jenn posted a list of these all (Facebook, Twitter, Ning, SL, Blog…)
Carolyn posted an idea relating to the Global Potential brochure and curriculum sent by Josephine about incorporating video documentaries into the lesson plans. Students all over the U.S. could post video questions and the Global Potential students could use their experiences in the village to record footage and form video responses. This could then tie into the collection of ethnographic data but in a video format.
Sofia pointed out that this question and answer format may not be effective for getting the point across, but liked the idea of incorporating video with Facebook and the Blog. This way these videos could reach out further to kids and parents and other groups. Jenn also liked the idea but was concerned that Global Potential students didn’t have access to video equipment. She also pointed out that the group needed to focus in on a topic. She spoke about looking into specific aspects of the culture and how it compared to the Global Potential students cultures. This way the teens would be more engaged and interested since it related to their own lives. She presented an example of National Teen Pregnancy awareness to give the group an idea of what she meant.
Erin agreed on the need for a focused topic and wondered if a lighter topic like fashion or dress would be better. Joe responded that he wasn’t’ so sure about the lighter topics, but was certain we needed to decided on a topic to get the lesson plan’s started.
Venessa wrote a clearer description of what Group 2 should focus on with our lesson plans, zeroing in on a methodology:
“meaning: helping the students understand how to ask the right questions, how to connect dots, how to write compelling and exciting posts, how to then spread those posts around the web to generate excitement, and how to build a larger community and engagement around the culture and issues of these people.”
Josephine agreed we needed to focus in on a topic and mentioned some that Frank had spoke of that were really pressing issues in the batey – then we could get going on the methodology. She confirmed that the students had no access to video equipment but suggested the incorporation of Flipcams or disposable cameras. So even though the group liked the video idea, it was not possible in the long run.
Carolyn suggested we use the Clean Water topic Josephine had mentioned and provided some websites with info to get the idea rolling. Everyone agreed it was a good topic and Erin mentioned an MTV special she found about it as well. At this point the group was beginning to familiarize themselves with the topic and gather resources. Joe also was experimenting with Survey Monkey and Zoomerang and reported he liked Survey Monkey better.
Jenn made sure everyone was on board with the Clean Water topic and then took the initiative to create a wiki page for our group. We realized our emails were piling up and hard to sort through, so she created the page. On it she placed basic info and outlines for possible lesson plans and we moved forward.
Venessa found a great resource of Working with Stories which helped the group understand more about collecting ethnographic data through collected stories. Erin also posted another great resource The Water Project, suggesting the students could participate with donations or at a more basic level using the site for research and understanding.
Sofia mentioned our need to start formulating our lesson plans wondering how many plans we actually needed and she provided two possible ideas:
“An example of one lesson plan: someway finding a way to have the students work with the Water Project in some way…..
Another idea: having students interview members of the community about their experiences with water throughout the years….reflecting on improvements that have been made or that need to be made, asking what the community members ideal clean water situation and what their basic needs are.”
Carolyn elaborated on Sofia’s second idea for a lesson plan suggesting the student’s interview community members and use info from the Working with Stories website to help them analyze them. Then with the conclusions the students could create blog posts and then follow up with thoughts on possible solutions.
Erin liked the interviewing idea as well and elaborated further suggesting each interview be accompanied by a picture (fro the flipcam or disposable camera Josephine had mentioned) as a way to humanize the issues. She also suggested incorporating a lesson plan of teaching the Global Potential students to speak at the batey schools and asking the young children what their knowledge of the issue was. She also mentioned having the kids draw pictures of their thoughts and scanning these onto Facebook. This would add some fun and creativity to our lesson plans.
Josephine was able to ask Frank our group questions making it clear that we had time for 2-4 lessons at 2 hours per plan. Once we heard these guidelines, Joe presented two lesson plan suggestions. The first related to what we had been discussing about interviews and ethnographic surveys and the second was about Survey Monkey. Josephine responded with some lesson plan examples from previous Global Potential participants.
Carolyn created a rough outline of lesson plan 1 and 2 using all the info collected thus far. Jenn ironed our some of the messy parts and posted six detailed parts that needed to be completed to create two lesson plans. We decided each member of the group would write one part and then we’d edit collectively on the wiki.
Joe wasn’t sure if our last lesson part about how to post to Facebook and the Blog was necessary, but Josephine reassured us that most people do not know how to optimize these programs with compelling posts and tags so a lesson in this would probably benefit the students. Joe also suggested some questions for the Global Potential student’s ethnographic interviews that we could incorporate into that part of the lesson plan.
Venessa emailed everyone some more great resources she found about conducting interviews and doing ethnographic research. She mentioned how she was very informed about online communities and networking and wanted to work on the facebook and blogging portion of the assignment.
Everyone began posting their work on the Group 2 wiki and the lesson plans started to take shape. We began getting everything organized and getting ready for our final presentation for the class. Jenn created the final presentation wiki where we all would post our finished work and lesson plans.
Here is a simple chart of some of the major problems we encountered and our solutions:
|
IDEA/TOPIC |
OBSTACLE/DIFFICULTY |
SOLUTION/MODIFICATION |
| Utilizing email and blog posts to communicate within Group 2 | Emails and posts began piling up and were hard to search through | Wiki page was created |
| Picking a “tool” or platform to use | Global Potential already has tons of platforms and it’s overwhelming | Decided to focus in on Facebook and the Blog |
| Idea of incorporating video into the Blog posts | Global Potential Students don’t have access to video equipment | Instead of video we could use the incorporation of Flipcams and disposable cameras |
| Focusing in a topic | Group couldn’t decide which direction to go – some wanted a lighter topic and some wanted a more serious one | Chose the topic of clean water since it’s a pressing issue in the batey |
| Starting to create lesson plans | Everyone was collecting resources but the lesson plans were not forming | From discussions and everyone building on each others ideas, we chose 2 lesson plans and created outlines of parts for everyone to contribute to |
Final Question…
How does your project leverage and create a richer learning experience for your specific target population?
There is an adage in Education these days that the teacher is no longer the sage on the stage but rather the guide on the side. It simply means that teachers no longer lecture to quiet note taking students. Rather, the students are active learners that spend class time researching and developing meaning with the guidance of the teacher. Students are no longer passive sponges that are expected to only soak up and squeeze out knowledge. Rather they are to be active researchers, guided by teachers, which participate in the creation of knowledge and meaning.
Group 2′s project consists of lesson plans that can leverage this adage by incorporating web based research in addition to lecture and discussion. Global Potential students research global clean water issues through such websites as … SUMMIT website: http://www.summitonthesummit.com PUR: http://www.PURwater.com United Nations Foundation: http://www.unfoundation.org Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program: http://www.csdw.org Water for People, Non-Profit: http://www.waterforpeople.org Working with Stories: http://www.workingwithstories.org/
In addition students research clean water issues in the Dominican Republic. Wikipedia description of water situation in Dominican Republic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_the_Dominican_Republic http://www.charitywater.org/ http://wateraid.org/drop/
Students can use this research as the basis for learning about ethnographic research on the topic of clean water issues in the DR Bateys. In this lesson, students learn not only what ethnography is but also how to do ethnographic research. They learn how to create questions that generate data that leads to deeper meaning, understanding, and possibly solutions to these issues. As part of or in addition to the lesson, students can research such sites as… Working with Stories: http://www.workingwithstories.org General Guidelines for Conducting Interviews: http://www.managementhelp.org/evaluatn/intrview.htm Basics of Conducting Focus Groups: http://www.managementhelp.org/evaluatn/focusgrp.htm How to Do Ethnographic Research: A Simplified Guide: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/anthro/anthro/cpiamethods The Witness Blog – how to effectively use video in human rights campaigns: http://blog.witness.org/
In addition, Lesson Plan 2.2 directs the Global Potential students to teach the Batey children some of the lessons they have learned. The GP students will direct the Batey students “to draw or paint a picture of their ideas about the clean water issue or even just of their feelings about water in general. For instance, they could draw a picture of themselves drinking a clean glass of water or taking a nice, clean bath. The Global Potential students may want to take a few minutes to draw their own pictures to bring down to the Batey with them. They could show their own artwork to the children, so they have an example of what’s being asked of them. Explain to the students that they will be collecting this artwork and bringing it back home with them to scan and upload onto the Facebook page for people to see. This artwork could be inspiration for people to help with the clean water crisis via donations or volunteerism. If the students choose, they could even figure out a way for this artwork to be auctioned off to raise money for the Batey children that they visited.” Thus actively developed meaning is leveraged on Facebook to both target population and the world at large.
The lesson plans will also include guidelines for optimization practices for blogging and tagging, as well as how to use Twitter effectively. This is important for the accessibility and persistence of this leverage knowledge content. Best practice sites include… http://www.chrisbrogan.com/40-ways-to-deliver-killer-blog-content/ http://www.thematrixfiles.net/blog/blogging-best-practices-part-two/ http://www.capturetheconversation.com/read/blogging-best-practices-checklist
In conclusion, the project’s lesson plans not only teach GP students existing knowledge that can be used to improve the lives of people who live in the DR Bateys, it also encourage GP students to research and create new knowledge. This new knowledge can be leveraged within internet based rich learning environments that are accessible, persistent, and perhaps potentially improve the lives of people around the globe.
All the lesson plans and final work for our project can be found on our Presentation Wiki
