Justice+Project

I. Synopsis II. Visual Breakdown III. Examples of student work IV. Reflection- what worked, challenges

__Project Introduction/Synopsis__ The Justice Project is a culminating engagement in 8th grade Social Studies where students identify a social issue of Mumbai, research it in depth, and work with a young social entrepreneur to make a difference in the community. While still being refined, the two year old project shows how students in a 1:1 program develop and use 21st century skills to understand and contribute to issues in the community they live in. There are two enduring understandings that students explore in the project: (1) Justice in the world is shaped by many factors, including the action of global citizens **and** (2) Global citizens engage in their surroundings to support a diverse, equitable and sustainable world. The project calls on students to develop and use 21st century skills including digital-age literacy, inventive thinking, effective communication and high productivity. The project is briefly outlined here in four sections, with the primary focus being on which 21st century skills were integrated and developed.

The project is divided into the following segments: (1) Issue identification (2) Web Research (3) Community visits/research/planning/reflections (4) Project design and implementation/Community exhibition

Self-Direction, High productivity ||<  ||
 * < Project Step ||< Technology Application ||< 21st Century Skills Used ||<  ||
 * < Issue Identification ||< Ning (Social Network), Blogging, Google Forms ||< Communication, Collaboration,
 * < Self-directed Research ||< Ning, Diigo (Social Bookmarking), Google docs ||< Digital-Age Literacy, High productivity, Communication ||<  ||
 * < Community visits/field research/reflections ||< Ning (groups, discussion forums, videos), Video/Digital photos, Blogging ||< Communication, Collaboration, Inventive thinking, High productivity ||<  ||
 * < Project Design and implementation/Community Exhibition ||< Google Sites, Prezi, Glogster, Wordle ||< Inventive thinking, Self-Direction, Communication ||<  ||

__Issue Identification__ The project began with a study of the United Nations', specifically UNICEF's, "Declaration on the Rights of the Child." After exploring the various articles of the document, using UNICEF's media rich website, students identified rights that they were particularly passionate about and interested in exploring. Students wrote reflections, using blog posts on the Ning. Students then visited and commented on the blog posts of peers, with the intention of developing their understanding of child rights. After this work, students met with a panel of Ashoka Youth Venturers. These Youth Venturers are young 18-22 year old Mumbai residents who are committed to serving their community around various human rights including health, education and child marriage. After meeting each of the 10 panel members, students used a google form to identify which social entrepeneuer they were most interested in partnering with. Each of the 10 Venturers joined the class social network, and created a group, where students, project partners and teachers could communicate and collaborate throughout the Justice Project. The visuals corresponding to each group in the image below were designed and selected by students. This is an example of creative and inventive thinking.



__Web Research__ The next step in the project revolved around students researching their topic. Students generated questions relevant to understanding their issue's history, stakeholders, causes, and current approaches to solving the issue. To increase productivity, as well as collaborate, students used Diigo, a digital information management tool, to track, note take and annotate sources the found related to their topic. Using Diigo's groups and friends capabilities, students were able to share their findings with classmates, while also allowing me to monitor their progress and guide them in their explorations. Instruction during this phase included discussions on note taking, tagging for relevance, evaluating resources, etc. Students also used Google Docs, Mindmeister, and other digital collaborative tools that they had learned from earlier in the school year.

__Community visits/research/planning/reflections__ In the course of the project, students visited their project partner's site twice. For each visit, students were involved early on, planning and communicating about what the visits would be like, how to prepare, and so on. In the process, students developed their communication and collaboration skills, by discussing problems and generating solutions. For example, in the image below, in one particular group students, chaperones and project partners discussed "Ideas for May 12th" (what would be done on the visit), "Information on fundraising", and "May 12 Reflections." A majority of such discussions involved students from different class periods, project partners, chaperones and the teacher. The May 12th Plan discussion has an impressive 29 replies.

__Project design/implementation__ The students' final project was to design a visual tool that could be used to explain their learning throughout the project, as well as celebrate their project partner and their work, and acknowledge their contributions to the community. While students were encouraged to use Glogster, some chose other tools, like Weebly and Google Sites to prepare their projects. This part of the project involved significant student self-direction. The teacher provided an example Glogster, as well as videos providing suggestions of how to design projects that would be media rich, with various examples, while also being efficient and effective tools to share with an audience. Students were given a basic timeline, and then the teacher used class time to check in with students on their project progress. This segment of the project required inventive thinking skills, as students determined how to creatively and effectively combine and design the layout of their understanding, into a visual that would appeal to their audience. In the example below, the student used Wordle to capture main ideas and key details from their research, and then organized them around required topics ("Stakeholders and NGOs" and "My Justice Project Experience"). The example also includes video, images from the Ning and other sources. In the process of designing their visuals, students encountered various design issues, which required collaboration and problem solving to resolve. Many students shared their Glogsters with peers throughout the process, so they could share ideas and give feedback to each other. At a culminating exhibition, students used their tablets and Glogsters to explain their learning and service to the community.



__Reflections and Next Steps__ It was exciting to lead students, and the participating adults, in the Justice Project. The use of all the technology and 21st century skills gave students learning a depth and complexity not easily graspable in a 20th century approach to such a project. For example, when working with many students on such a complex, multi-layered project, it is impossible for one teacher to monitor and give feedback on everything. However, the social networking tools allowed project partners, chaperones, and other teachers the opportunities to guide students and give feedback. Some of the feedback included helping students see other possibilities in problem solving, pointing out misunderstandings, and in one case, plagiarism. In nearly every class period, we had class discussions about different skill development. Following the second implementation of the Justice Project in 2011, students reflected on what they learned and what skills they developed. When given a list of 21st century skills (based on ISTEs definitions), and asked "Which of the following did you do in your project?", students responded:



Initially, the data seems disappointing, as less than 70% of students acknowledged using all but one of the 21st century skills. However, knowing from Ning participation that 100% of students communicated with others not in their class, I realize that data showing that 64% of students is skewed. I am not dismayed by the quantitative data. Rather, I see it as an opportunity to extend discussions in class around the skills. The data also encourages me to be more deliberate in teaching the skills, taking time to break them down, and helping students to understand the skills and how they can be applied beyond the project. Aside from the quantitative data, the student survey provided useful qualitative data. The following quotes reflect student development of 21st century skills--self direction, collaboration/communication, literacy, inventive thinking:

"I think this project made me feel am much more independant with my work and i think this project has shown me how i have a better understanding about India." "The collaboration was a good learning experience, because other people had different ideas and notes and this was really helpful." "I think that the ning was a really good resource for communicating with the project partners when we had questions." "It was kind of hard to get glogster to work 100 percent of the time but it worked in the end. Google docs really helped me and my peers share information." "I think my best learning experience was to prectices being a responsible global citizen" "Working with the Glogster was a lot of fun and it gave me options to change my design, make it my own, and I thought maximizing into pictures was really cool."

In addition to the above comments, students identified difficulties they had, providing areas where the project can be improved in the future. The most prevalent comment regarding difficulties in the project revolved around Glogster, especially regarding saving/losing work.