Team Assignment:Teams from Brawerman and Village are assigned indentical challenges, corresponding to their team number. For example, if Brawerman Team 8 is working on the “dancing robot” challenge, that means that Village Team 8 is working on the same challenge. This assignment aids students in following the blog of their partner team. Blogging:Originally, prior to collaborating with Brawerman, Village students created a Power Point presentation that documented each team’s weekly progress and final reflections. In order to share this project with another school, the documentation was moved to a blog. Using e-pals, we set up one account that is shared by both schools. Teams are named by team number then school, so that blog posts are organized by team number (i.e. Team 10 Village and Team 10 Brawerman). Initial teach directions are public, allowing anyone who happens upon the site to know what the blog is about. Students posts are private, only viewable by students, teachers. One guest login is created for parents and other interested parties. This guest login is read only, unable to comment on the blog postings. In addition to being private, all student posts and comments are moderated. Each week, the team’s recorder writes a blog posting containing goals, accomplishments, and photo documentation of their progress. (See Process for more information.) In addition, the recorder also checks on their partner team’s blog, to see their progress, leave comments, or ask questions. Skype/iChat:Bi-weekly Skype or iChat sessions are scheduled to allow students to build relationships, share progress, or ask questions in real time. These sessions are brief, usually 5-10 minutes. Sometimes, specific team numbers are highlighted, allowing a few partner teams to share their projects with the group. Other times, they are open Q&A’s or social “community building” meetings. Showcase:
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