Project 1: Rural Connections

  General Information

  Project Overview

Presently in Democracy 2102 the students respond to current political and social issues and submit their responses to the teacher for evaluation each month. This proposal suggests that these same articles be submitted to the school web page for response. This page, although somewhat dormant in the past few months, has received considerable attention from alumni of the school. These alumni are now scattered across the globe and as a result can offer interesting responses to existing concerns.

The second part of the project is to create a linkage with other rural students across Canada. Rural students on the prairies and in the North have shared many of the same concerns for years.

  Curriculum Connections

This project will enhance the Social Studies, English and Technology curriculum of the school. It is directly related to courses such as Democracy and Canadian Issues. Rural connections enhances critical thinking, responsible citizenship and develops a comparative perspective. The English curriculum is addressed through essay writing and the development of communication skills. The Technology component is the means used to transfer the ideas and to communicate with a greater, global audience.

Learning Outcomes:

• Assessing the nature of political values.
• Democracy is based in the worth, dignity, and integrity, of the individual person; in equality of opportunity; human rationality; and in the ability of people to govern themselves and solve their problems cooperatively.
• Democracy is dependent upon the processes of free inquiry, exchange of views, and group decision making.
• Canadian citizenship involves both rights and responsibilities.
• Formulate rational opinions.
• Use global communications equipment.
• Develop an understanding of online communication.
• Develop an understanding of technology, technological systems, and technological processes.

  Resource Connections

This project is based on the ability to have students submit articles to the school web page and also to allow these students to communicate with other rural students across Canada. The addition of a SLIP connection at our school which would allow these students access to the Internet is imperative to the success of the project.

Access to the Internet at present is restricted to one computer and one modem which is located in a room which is not often accessible to these students. The addition of a SLIP connection would allow several other computers access to the Internet and thus allow greater student access.

  Evaluation

Observation and evaluation of essays would occur five or six times throughout the term.

Technology aspect would be evaluated through observation and through the ability of the students to complete the tasks outlined in the learning outcomes.