Exchange program

OVERVIEW & RESEARCH

Educational exchange programs can be many things. Some involve students going to other countries and living with a family, while attending school there. Some involve exchanging ideas and collaborating on projects, in person or virtually. For a major, year-long project, your exchange program would need to have many parts. Consider all of the tools that today's technology offers to exchange programs -- social media, for example, can make cross-district or even inter-continental collaboration possible.

When researching your project, consider the following questions, which should help you plan the year-long development of your program:

  • What are successful exchange programs, and what do they look like?
  • How does a virtual exchange program work? What tools make it successful?
  • To create your own exchange program, what support do you need and who will provide it?
  • Who are the people that play the most important roles in helping you create your program?
  • What kind of budget, if any, do you require, and where will the money come from?
    • For example, if you are using a web-based tool like Skype, how will you set it up? You'll need webcams.
  • What role does the community play? How do you get stakeholders involved in your reform movement?
  • What stumbling blocks will you have to overcome? If using web tools, many are blocked by our district firewalls. How will you overcome this?
  • What other issues/questions can you come up with along the way?

PLANNING

Consider that you have roughly 24 weeks to complete your project. We will have three checkpoints (grading periods). You should work backwards from the end of the school year, when your organization is complete to the end of each quarter. What will be completed by the end of each 9-week grading period, heading into June?

Break down each quarter into smaller checkpoints.

  • For example, your research and written proposal should be finished by November 30.
  • Would talking to any school leaders help? When will those meetings take place? Hint: you need to plan far in advance to meet with school administrators.
  • If you need support from community or school members, plan on getting it and set a goal for when you'll have it in place.
  • You may need formal proposals to district administrators to make your program a reality. When will they be ready?
  • When will your financial plan be complete?
  • Other checkpoints?

MATERIALS & PROCEDURES

To complete your project, you will need to use a variety of tools and skills. Please use as many of the following as possible to demonstrate mastery of the applications and expertise in these areas of language arts:

    • Numerous sources for research -- books, web sites, encyclopedias; Noodle Tools will be used to complete the research
    • Your Barnesclass.com web site, including the message board and a special web page that leads me to all parts of your project
    • A Diigo group, containing at least 10 web sites that demonstrate ongoing research and production
      • A variety of web tools that contribute in some way to your project and demonstrate expertise in the use of these applications -- see the web tools page for help
      • Writing throughout the project that supports it:
        • advertising
        • instructions
        • brochures
        • posters
        • proposals
        • e-mails
        • requests for assistance
        • speeches

 

  • What else? your own materials and procedures, which you clear with me