Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: Chasing Seals Online Project

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level(s): 6th-8th Grade
Content Standard Addressed:
Georgia Standards of Excellence 6th-8th Grade Social Studies Standards

Technology Standard Addressed:

ISTE-S Standards
3) Knowledge Constructor:
3C) Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create
collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.

7) Global Collaborator:
7B) Students use collaborative technologies to work with others, including peers, experts or community
members, to examine issues and problems from multiple viewpoints.

Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity:

Aaron Doering’s Online Project Chasing Seals

URL(s) to support the lesson:

http://chasingseals.com/, this is a link to the online project I would like to incorporate within my future
classroom that teaches social studies content.

Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom:
I would like to incorporate the online project Chasing Seals into my future middle grades social studies
classroom. Having a lesson, built around students doing research and collecting data from the website can be
beneficial to their learning. Students could have a choice to work individually or in pairs. This site would
provide great information for social studies classes because of the amount of information it has on the
world’s culture and geography.

Even the videos and gallery images on the website would be great to incorporate within the classroom.
Students would be able to listen and watch first-person interviews of natives in the areas that they are
studying in class. The gallery also has great images that captures the culture and geography of areas
throughout the world. In all, the Chasing Seals online project has a lot of useful information that can be
beneficial to students’ learning when incorporated into the classroom.

What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom?
Laptops or tablets would be required to implement the Chasing Seals online project into the classroom.

Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them may not be
addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
a. Collaboration with peers, near-peers, mentors outside their classroom and often beyond their
school: When working with the online project Chasing Seals, students would have the ability to
collaborate with other classrooms and researchers when looking into solve problems and engage in
investigations.

b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): The Chasing Seals online project, is a student-centered
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 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities
website that allows them to learn about the topics of culture and geography of the world in relation to
the social studies content area. The information that they collect from this website will allow them to
create original data.

c. Higher-order thinking: When using the online project Chasing Seals, students will need to use high-
order thinking skills to communicate and navigate the website in order to research and collect data
that will be beneficial to their studies/learning.

d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: N/A

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☐ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☒ Level 1: Awareness ☒ Level 2: Exploration ☒ Level 3: Infusion ☒ Level 4: Integration
☒ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

Engagement:
Regarding the engagement principle of universal design for learning, students will be able to become
interested and engaged with learning because they are using technology in a way that makes them become
interactive learners. Students are the ones that do the research and collect data on areas that they are
learning about within the classroom. Also, anytime that technology is used within the classroom, student
engagement always increases.
Representation:
Regarding the representation principle of universal design for learning, content and information is presented
in a different way than the traditional way for learning. Students are able to learn content from learning
standards through an online project that provides necessary information that is beneficial to their learning.
Action and Expression:
Regarding the action and expression principle of universal design for learning, this lesson idea allows students
to show their understanding of content through an alternative way. Students are able to show their
understanding of content through the creation of original data related to learning standards.

Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies:

When using the Chasing Seals online project within the classroom, I will first inform parents and school
administrators of the benefits of it uses within the classroom. I will inform all, including students, about the
district’s internet safety and student privacy policies and let them know that this site was fully reviewed
before being used within the classroom to prevent the breaking of any of the laws/policies.

Reflective Practice:
I think that the Chasing Seals online project incorporated within the classroom could greatly impact student
learning. The information that the website provides on different areas’ cultures and geography is where
students learn and retain the most subject matter relating to the social studies content area. I feel that this
activity is as extended as it can be and no other technologies than the ones listed in the previous section
could be used to enhance this activity.

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