Greetings!
Are you interested in having your school/class participate in an
interactive, Web-based learning environment? We are in the process of
creating an online community through the use of a Blackboard course
website. The word "course" is used here to mean a Web-based learning
activity, not an actual academic course in the usual sense. Schools are
being invited to have a group in the course, meaning one or two teachers
and a small group of interested students.
The content them for our pilot project is the game of Go, an ancient
Chinese board game. While learning about the history of the game and it's
place in Asian culture (art, literature), as well as how to play it,
students will be exposed to lessons and activities created by the teachers
involved in the project. Connections can be made between Go and math,
language arts, and social studies.
Take a few minutes to read about out project in the following text, and
visit out Blackboard course site to see the resources, links, materials,
and people who are involved. If you, or a teacher in your school, is
interested, please contact me. I will be happy to answer questions, and
provide more information about our goals and activities. This is work in
progress. From here on, much will be determined by the participants, and
we will all learn together!
Anton
-----
Pilot Project:
Central New York Scholastic Go
(We'll change the title if schools outside CNY area join the project.)
1. The purpose and the technical agenda of our pilot project...using
Blackboard with several schools:
Here in Central New York (the greater Syracuse area), we are developing a
small pilot project to explore the use of a Blackboard course site to
facilitate interaction, communication, and instruction among independent
classrooms in several school districts. We want to add a few schools from
other geographic areas, both within the U.S. and abroad. There are now two
middle schools in different school districts here with teachers who plan to
join hte project and will be learning to use the Blackboard online course
software.
We'd like to see if anyone outside Central New York State is interested in
joining our project. At the moment, we are considering various forms of
Web-based applications for distance education or group communication, such
as Blackboard, Yahoo Groups, and Listserv. The well-known Internet Go
servers are a possibility, however online game sites are usually blocked by
the network firewalls in schools.
2. The theme of our content is: The Game of Go (This should be especially
interesting for social studies teachers!)
If you are not familiar with the ancient Chinese board game called Go,
please visit the links below. Go is somewhere between 2,000-4,000 years
old, and it's true origins have been lost in obscurity. Needless to say,
the game wouldn't still be played all over the world today, if it weren't
at least as challenging and fun to play as chess!
If your school already has a Go club (like a chess club), or you want to
consider teaching students to play Go as part of a social studies unit on
the history of Asia, or perhaps in a math unit (games, logic, coordinate
systems), please contact me by email. I will be happy to answer questions
about Go and our project.
Want two FREE Go sets for your school? Of course you do!
The American Go Association (AGA) supports school teachers who want to
teach the game of Go by offering to provide free Go sets and materials to
help create school Go programs. Contact the AGA, and make a request on
behalf of your school or classroom. This support is offered only to
bonafide K-12 school teachers and administrators.
You might want to begin your exploration of Go by requesting this free
equipment, and then have your students invesitigate the game of Go for a
social studies or math project. English teachers may want to make the
connection between Go and Asian literature, such as the haiku about Go, and
the novel, "The Master of Go", by Nobel Prize winner, Yasunari Kawabata. Go
is embedded into almost every form of Asian culture. If your students being
searching the Internet for websites on Go, they will be surprised to how
many turn up - hundreds!
If enough interest develops beyond the assignment, and students want to
continue improving their skill, and to play with students from other
schools, you can join our project at that time. Meanwhile, your students
will learn about the oldest board game in human history, and gain some
insight into Asian culture.
What is Go? - by Mindy McAdams
http://www.well.com/user/mmcadams/gointro.html
American Go Association
http://www.usgo.org/index.asp
Free Go Sets for Schools!
http://www.usgo.org/teach/ed_main.html
And now, here's how to get to view our Blackboard site - CNY Scholastic Go:
Click here for the login screen
http://welol.cnyric.org/?bbatt=Y
Click on Login
Click on Preview
Click on the tab for Courses
In the Course Search box, type: cnygo
Click on the course title: CNY Scholastic Go
You should now be at the Announcements/homepage for the course!
These sections are open via the Guest Access view:
Announcements - homepage
Course Information - overview
Teachers - list of instructors & photos
Course Documents - materials for students (and teachers!)
Projects - collection of Powerpoints by school groups
Books - short list of recommended Go instruction books
Web Sites - resources for instruction, history, buying equipment
__________
Anton Ninno, K-12 Tech Integration Trainer
Voice: 315-431-8407 E-mail: aninno@cnyric.org
Rodax 8 -- 6075 Thompson Road, Syracuse, NY 13206
OCM-BOCES http://www.ocmboces.org/
NYGPS http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nygps/
CNYGO http://community.syracuse.com/cc/cnygo
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