Date: Thu, 27 Jan 94 13:55 pst
From: arogers@bonita.cerf.fred.ORG
Subject: Keys to Successful Projects

Want to conduct an exciting collaborative learning project online?
Here are some guidelines which may help you organize and advertise
your project idea.
----------
How to Design a Successful Project

Over the years, Global SchooNet has  evolved a number of guidelines and
principles which have led to many successful collaborative projects
involving hundreds of classrooms and thousands of students. Like many
aspects of successful teaching, we have found that planning is the key
to success.

The guidelines  presented below have been  validated in numerous highly
successful classroom based projects on the FrEdMail Network. These
guidelines, along with the template for writing you own "Call for
Collaboration" will help guide you through a successful online learning
experience with your students.

1.   Design a project with specific goals, specific tasks, and
     specific outcomes.   The more specific, the better;  the more
     closely aligned with traditional instructional objectives, the
     better. Avoid "sister school" and "pen pal" projects.

2.   Set specific beginning and ending dates for your project, and set
     precise deadlines for participant responses.   Then, make a time
     line and provide lots of lead time to announce your project. Post
     your first call for collaboration at least six weeks before the
     starting date. Repeat your call again two weeks before the starting
     date.

3.   If possible try your project out with a close colleague first, on
     a small scale.    This can help you troubleshoot and solve both
     technical problems as well as problems with the basic project design.

4.   Use the template at the end of this article to design your call for
     collaboration.  Then post your call to CALL-IDEAS@ACME.FRED.ORG and
     we'll forward it to our international mailing lists for you.  If you
     provide us 6-8 weeks lead time, we'll re-post it for you again two
     weeks before the project begins.

     In your call for collaboration, be sure and include:
     - Goals and objectives of the project
     - grade levels desired
     - how many responses you would like
     - contact person
     - Time line and deadlines
     - Your location and complete contact information
     - what you will do with the responses (The best projects provide some
       form of interaction; in any case, be sure you provide some form of
       "payback" to your contributors so they will have incentive to
       collaborate with you.)

     Also, be sure your call includes examples of the kinds of writing
     or data collection which students will submit.  This is important
     to the success of the project.

5.   Find responsible students and train them to be part of your
     project.   You're probably already doing this if you are using
     technology in the classroom.   This will be a big time saver.

6.   At the conclusion of the project,  follow through on sharing the
     results of the project with all participants.
     - If you publish any student writing, send a hard copy to all who
       participated.
     - Have your students collaborate on writing up a summary of the
       project, describing it, what they did, what they learned, and
       what changes they would make in the project.   Post that message
       on the network for all to see (not just the project participants).
     - Send a copy of this summary, along with project proceeds, to your
       principal, PTA president, superintendent, and board of education
       president.
     - Have your students send a thank-you message to all contributors.

======================================================================
This is a Global SchoolNet project template. 

It will help you better market your project by giving your readers clear
guidelines and expectations regarding your project.  Teachers should be
able to tell at a glance whether or not they wish to participate in your
project. 

Remember, this is only a template. Please feel free to change in any way
which will best suit your particular project.

After describing your project in this format, send it to:
    call-ideas@acme.fred.org
We will post it on FrEdMail, SCHLnet, and HILITES, where it will
be distributed to networks around the world.

--------------------------START TEMPLATE-----------------------------
Please print and distribute this call for collaboration to teachers
you know who may be interested in participating.

Project:       Name of your project

Date:          1 line: Give the starting and ending dates of the
               complete project.  Leave at least 4 weeks before the
               start of the project to permit enough people to respond
               to your call for collaboration. 

Purpose:       2-3 sentences: give a brief summary of the purpose of
               your project: What will students who participate in this
               project learn?

Subjects:      1-2 lines: State the curriculum areas which will be
               addressed by this project. Most projects are
               multidisciplinary... list as many as apply.

Grade level:   1 line: Indicate the appropriate grade levels for this
               project.

Summary:       1-2 short paragraphs: BRIEFLY describe the project. This
               paragraph should catch the interest of your readers. You
               will have a more detailed description later.

Number of participants: 1 line: Indicate the number of classrooms that
               you wish to work with.

Project Coordinator:
               Give your name and email address. You may wish to
               include your school mailing address and phone number.

How to register: Provide complete instructions for registering with
               you to complete this project. Don't forget to include
               your email address. You may want to request all or
               some of the following information:

        Your full name:
    Your email address:
           Your school:
              District:
        SCHOOL address:

    School voice phone:
      Home voice phone:
       Grade(s) taught:
            Subject(s):

               Hint: When requesting registrations, require potential
                     participants to be as specific as possible about their
                     intentions to participate. Many teachers will casually
                     agree to "participate" and then "forget" or "change
                     their mind" or encounter some other problem which 
                     prevents them from fulfilling their commitment). 
********************************************************************
In addition to the above call for collaboration, you should consider
providing some additional details.  We recommend the following
information:

Timeline:      Break down your project into very specific steps with
               dates, including starting and ending dates where
               relevant. This should in effect summarize all of the
               important steps of the project described below.

Complete project outline and procedures:
               Describe your project in greater detail. Make an
               effort to be specific regarding who does what: what
               the other teachers and students do, what you do. This
               description should give participants a clear idea of
               what you will expect of them, and they of you.

               This section may be one or more pages in length.



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Al Rogers                                 Global SchoolNet Foundation
PO Box 243, Bonita, CA 91908                             619-475-4852
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