ERIC ED456797: TAP into Learning, Fall-Winter 2000.

27 Pages·2000·1.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
IR 020 546
ED 456 797
Burns, Mary; Dimock, Vicki; Martinez, Danny
AUTHOR
TAP into Learning, Fall-Winter 2000.
TITLE
Stanford Univ., CA. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Media
INSTITUTION
and Technology.
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED),
SPONS AGENCY
Washington, DC.
2000-00-00
PUB DATE
26p.; Winter 2000 is the final issue of "TAP into Learning
NOTE
RJ9600681
CONTRACT
For full text: http://www.sedl.org/tap/newsletters/.
AVAILABLE FROM
Collected Works
Serials (022)
PUB TYPE
TAP into Learning; v2 n3, v3 n1-2 Fall-Win 2000
JOURNAL CIT
MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Computer Assisted Instruction; Computer Software; *Computer
DESCRIPTORS
Uses in Education; Constructivism (Learning); Educational
Technology; Elementary Secondary Education; *Hypermedia;
Interactive Video; Learning; Learning Activities; Multimedia
Instruction; *Multimedia Materials; Visual Aids
Reflective Inquiry; Technology Role
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This document consists of the final three issues of "TAP
The double fall issue focuses
into Learning" (Technology Assistance Program) .
on knowledge construction and on using multimedia applications in the
classroom. Contents include: "Knowledge Under Construction"; "Hegel and the
Dialectic"; "Implications for Teaching and Learning"; "How Can Technology
Help in the Developmental Process?"; "Type I and Type II Applications";
"Children's Ways of Learning and the Evolution of the Personal Computer";
"Classroom Example: Trial of Julius Caesar's Murderers and Court Case
Website"; "Glossary of World Wide Web Terms"; "Hypermedia: What Do I Need To
Use Thought Processing Software?"; and "What Do I Need To Make a Web Page in
My Class?" The winter issue, "Learning as an Active and Reflective Process,"
focuses on the process of learning and on using video in the classroom.
Contents include: "Action + Reflection = Learning"; "Paulo Freire and
Education for Critical Consciousness"; "Combining Action and Reflection in
the Classroom"; "Video Documentaries: Stories from the Past"; "Storytelling
in a Digital Age"; "Getting Connected"; "Screenwriting Software"; "Video
Editing Software"; and "Is There a Low-Tech Alternative to All of This Video
Editing and Screenplay Software?" Both fall and winter issues present a
framework for constructivism, highlighting six principles that were distilled
from a variety of sources on constructivism, brain research, and education
research as well as Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) staff
members' experiences as teachers, learners, and observers in classrooms. Both
issues include an annotated list of electronic resources.
(AEF)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
TAP into Learning
Vol 2, Issue 3, Vol 3, Issue 1 Fall 2000 &
Vol 3, Issue 2 Win 2000
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
BEEN GRANTED BY
CENTER (ERIC)
Of This
document has been reproduced as
received from the person or organization
3.
originating it.
Poko.x_c\
El Minor changes have been made to
improve reproduction quality.
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Points of view or opinions stated in this
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy.
1
BESTCOPYAVAILABLE
Volume 2, Issue 3
Volume 3, Issue 1
KnowIde und
Hegel and the
Fall 2000
Dialectic
Georg
IN THIS ISSUE
Wilhem
Construct
on
Friedrich
Using Hypermedia
Hegel
(1770-
1831) was
Knowledge under
Learning is a process of accommodation, assimilation, or rejection to construct
a German
Construction
1
idealist philosopher
new conceptual structures, meaningful representations, or new mental models.
Hegel and
whose key philosophical
the Dialectic
1
tenet was his proposal
Implications for
an isolated or static process, nor does it
Learning is not
that all of history, and
Teaching and Learning
3
occur in a vacuum. We enter learning situationsindeed, all
indeed all human thought
How Can Technology
situationswith some form of prior knowledge. As we interact
and experience, could be
Help in the Developmental
understood through the
with the world around us, and the infinite variety of images,
Process?
4
concept of the dialectic.
ideas, information, and other stimuli that comprise our world,
Type I and Type II
The dialectic is a tri-
we are constantly constructing, revising, and reconstructing
Applications
5
partite construction,
our knowledge and beliefs to create a new framework of
Children's Ways of
consisting of the idea of
Learning and the
understanding. Knowledge then is constantly under construc-
a thesis, antithesis, and
Evolution of the
tiona dynamic, evolutionary, developmental process. Think
synthesis. Our knowledge
Personal Computer
and concepts are con-
for a moment about your knowledge of the world and the
Classroom Example:
structed through opposi-
beliefs you held as a child, as a teen, and ten years ago.
Trial of Julius Caesar's
tion to something else.
Murderers and Court
How and why have your beliefs changed? Why did you
We form concepts of a
Case Website
7
hold the views you did at those particular points in time?
person, object or idea
Glossary of World
Learning is also determined by our level of biological and
through our interaction
Wide Web terms
9
psychological development. As the writings of the Swiss
with and experience of it.
Hypermedia: What Do I
continued on page 2
continued on page 2
Need to Use Thought
Processing Software?
10
A Framework for Constructivism
What Do I Need to
Make a Web Page in
My Class?
11
Learning is developmental. We make sense
Learners bring unique prior knowledge
of our world by assimilating, accommodating,
and beliefs to a learning situation.
or rejecting new information.
Knowledge is constructed uniquely and
Social interaction introduces multiple
individually, in multiple ways, through a variety
perspectives on learning.
of authentic tools, resources, experiences
To learn more about
Learning is internally controlled and mediated
and contexts.
by the learner.
Learning is both an active and a reflective process.
SEDL's Technology
Assistance Program.
These six principles were distilled by the staff of SEDL's Technology Assistance Program from a
visit our Web site at
variety of sources on constructivism, brain research, and education research as well as staff members'
http://www.sedl.org/tap.
experiences as teachers, learners, and observers in classrooms.
3
tAP into Learning
2
continued from page 1
Hegel and the Dialectic
For example, let's examine the way a young child
forms an understanding of a dog: She can touch it,
play with it, smell, see, and hear it. Her concept of
"dog" is formed by these
experience with this
particular canine. For
her, "dog" may be small,
brown, long haired,
with floppy ears, and a
long tail. This paradigm
of knowledge about
"dog" is the young child's
thesis.
However, she will soon encounter another image
of a dogdifferent from the paradigm she has con-
structed. This new dog will have different characteris-
tics: perhaps it is large, black in color, with short hair,
ears, and tail. Though perhaps not conscious of her
construction of knowledge,
the young girl must make
a decision: does she
continued from pa,ge 1
Knowledge under Construction
accept this new creature
as "dog" or reject this
psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) assert, children think and
creature as "not" dog?
reason differently at different periods in their lives. The cognitive
Hegel refers to this
development of a child passes through a series of stages: from the
confrontation of conflicting
sensorimotor stage, during which the child gains motor control,
information as the
through the pre-operational stage, when the child acquires verbal
antithesis. By assimilating/
skills. During the concrete operational stage the child begins to
accepting this information, the young girl's concept
deal with abstract concepts such as numbers and relationships.
of "dog" becomes more complex: the dog can have
many colors, be of varying heights and different
Finally, in the formal operational stage, the final stage of cognitive
breeds. Thus, by experiencing this contrasting notion
development, the child begins to reason logically and systematically.'
of dog (the antithesis) and assimilating or accommo-
Learning is oftentimes fraught with tension and conflict. If new
dating it into her original understanding or thesis
information matches our existing understanding, we can easily
of a canine, the young learner forms a synthesis
assimilate it. However, if new information does not match our
a fuller realization of "dog."
existing knowledge frameworkor threatens our existing corpus
This is a rather simplified example of a profound
of knowledgewe must either accommodate the new information,
process in human intellectual development. This
by forming new understandings or re-evaluating our prior
dialecticthe constant interplay of thesis, antithesis
beliefs and reconstructing our prior theories, or reject that new
and synthesisis an apt metaphor for learning: as
information.2 This continuous struggle between pieces of varying
we develop higher forms of knowledge, we constant-
and oftentimes conflicting informationthis dialectic of learning
ly confront more complex and abstract pieces of
occurs constantly, sometimes consciously; more often than not,
information and must decide how to reconcile often
unconsciously, and contributes to our overall construction of
divergent pieces of information. Learning is therefore
often a process of conflict resolution.
knowledge. Learning then is rarely a final product. More often
Hegel had an immense influence on American
it is a constant evolutionary, and sometimes revolutionary, process.
pedagogy. The American Hegelians, as they were
called, indelibly impacted the American educational
1 Plucker, J. Histoiy of Influences in the Development of Intelligence Theory and Testing.
system: William Torrey Harris, whose views on
http://www.indiana.edu/-intell/piaget.html. December 1998. Accessed August 2000. Piaget's
education helped to shape the public school
four stages of mental growth form the foundation in American education of our understanding
of intellectual development. Piaget himself is considered one of the fathers of constructivist
system; Susan Blow, the leader of the 19th century
learning theory.
kindergarten movement; and John Dewey, America's
2 Piaget, J. (1952). The Origins of Intelhgence in Children, 6. New York: International Universities
leading education philosopher, and considered
Press, Inc.
by many to be one of the founding fathers of
3 Hamilton, S. Hegel's Influence on American Education.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5079/hegedu.html. January, 1997. Accessed August 2000.
constructivist learning theory.3
4
TAP
into Learning
3
at ons fo
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and L
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ng
-eac
structures, higher order reasoning
Theory aside, as teachers, we know that
skills, and understanding complex and
learning is a developmental process. We see
often conflicting information. In fact,
the ways in which children, as they mature,
Piaget strongly advocated learner-centered
can handle more difficult cognitive tasks
environments that allow for discovery
and develop the ability for more abstract
of new ideas and materials: the teacher
and sophisticated thinking and expression.
should allow students the opportunities to
The idea of learning as a developmental
assimilate and accommodate new mental
process is also formalized in the American
models. Children, Piaget noted, need to be
educational system through Bloom's
active: exploring, manipulating, questioning,
Taxonomy.4 Bloom identified six levels
and discovering answers for themselves. As
within the cognitive domain, from the
much as possible then, instruction should
simple recall or recognition of facts, at the
be individualized, and the teacher should
lowest level, through increasingly more
act as a facilitator, motivating and guiding
complex and abstract mental levels, such
students, and providing for curriculum
as comprehension, application, analysis,
that allows for discovery.5
synthesis, and finally, evaluation, the
Activities should be developmentally
highest order. This classification system
appropriate yet challenging enough to
has influenced the way we structure
allow for a certain level of frustration
curriculum, impart information, and
on the part of the learner. Without this
design assessment tools.
disequilibrium (Piaget's term) or antithesis,
The traditional transmission model
the oppositional challenge to the learner's
(e.g., lecture/short answer format), arguably
framework of understanding, the student's
efficient in terms of transmitting large quan-
belief system is not challenged and the
tities of information within a compressed
potential for greater intellectual growth is
time frame, focuses too intently on the
stifled. Or to use Bloom's taxonomy once
product of knowledge (i.e., a certain
again, the learner should scale the levels
amount of information as evidenced by how
of intellectual development.
many pages of text were covered, notebook
Consequently, where and when possible,
pages filled, or grades received). As we
we should encourage students not simply
have discussed thus far, learning is equally
to think within their existing intellectual
a process that must be examined and under-
paradigm, but "outside the box," to develop
stood. Thus, the transmission model does
critical thinking skills, to challenge, invent,
not allow for the time that learners need to
and create. History is replete with evidence
engage with objects, people, and concepts,
that the great intellectual discoveries
and at the same time examine their relation-
and ideological shifts of the ages were
ships with such resources. Nor does it allow
accomplished by individualsCopernicus,
for the necessary reflection and dialoguing
Galileo, Newton, Einstein, to name but a
that allows teachers and learners to
fewwho confronted the boundaries of
track the development and unfolding of
the existing paradigms of knowledge and
procedural knowledge and to construct
began to explore and embrace new (and
meaningful representations of information.
often scorned) concepts, create new bodies
In contrast, learner-centered environ-
of knowledge, and transform our beliefs
ments appear to offer the best potential
about particular disciplines.6
for the development of new conceptual
4 WestEd. Bloom's Taxonomy. http://www.dfin.org/library/dlIguide4.html. July, 1998. Accessed August, 2000. Bloom's Taxonomy, devel-
oped in 1956, by Benjamin Bloom and a group of educational psychologists, is a classification of levels of intellectual behavior impor-
tant in learning. This system of classification includes three overlapping domains: the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective.
5 Ginn, W. Jean Piaget: Intellectual Development. http://129.7.160.115/inst5931/PIAGET1.html. July, 1995. Accessed August, 2000.
6 See Kuhn, T.S. (1962). The Structure of the Scientific Revolution. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
TAP
into Learning
4
&nu
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Can
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p
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process?
ta
opmen
the Deve
them, both concretely, through text, and
Since learning occurs by interaction
more abstractly and creatively through the
with somethinga resource, material, or
use of sound, video, and graphic represen-
personparticularly one that is challenging,
tations. With simulation software, or more
certain types of technology appear to help
interactive types of software, students can
with a child's intellectual development.
enter a virtual setting in which they are
When used appropriately, technology can
confronted with new organizations of reality
become a "mind tool, function(ing) as
and intellectual challenges, which they must
an intellectual partner with the learner to
overcome to advance or continue in the
engage and facilitate critical thinking and
game. In simulation applications that have
higher-order thinking." 7 Further, it can
an adversarial element (various chess
enable students to manipulate information
programs, for example), or a problem-based
in a manner that accelerates both under-
component (See, for example, The Energy
standing and the progression of higher
°Isis Game at <http://library.thinkquest.org/
order thinking skills. Finally, because of
20331/game>), learners must understand
the plethora of information available on
and anticipate the thinking of their virtual
the Internet, students can learn to question,
opponent, make split second decisions,
evaluate, and validate the veracity of the
strategize, simultaneously negotiate various
types of information they gather.8
options, and determine the effect of a
While Type I software often reinforces
change in variables.9
recall and recognition (lower developmen-
Hypermedia software, such as web
tally on Bloom's Taxonomy), Type II
editors and thought processing software,
software that allows for active discovery,
is highly interactive and structures learning
such as multimedia, hypermedia, and
as an active exploratory exercise in which
simulation software, appear to offer
students discover or share knowledge. Like
opportunities for higher levels of intellectual
multimedia software, hypermedia allows
development since they allow students to
learners to create and communicate
become designers of knowledge rather
understandings in a structure that is both
than consumers of information.
creative and logical to the student. More
With multimedia applications such as
flexible perhaps than multimedia software,
PowerPoint, AppleWorks SlideShow, or
hypermedia allows learners to determine
HyperStudio, students can communicate
relationships between pieces of information,
their understanding of the world around
in the form of hyperlinks. We discuss some
examples of hypermedia on page 10.
With many Type II software applications
in general, when students are allowed
to work together, they teach and coach
one another, argue about ideas and
understandings, and are challenged by
increasingly complex tasks. Technology
also allows learners to work individually
7.5.
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and autonomously at a pace that
is developmentally appropriate for
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7 Jonassen, D. (1996). Computers in the Classroom: Mindtools for Critical Thinking, 3. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall
8 Adams, S., & Burns, M. (1999). Connecting Student Learning and Technology, 27. Austin: Southwest Educational
Development Laboratory.
9 Ibid.
TAP
5
into Learning
Type I and Type II Applications
Not all instructional software is equal in
its educational outcomes, not even when
it shares the same content area focus.
Just as a saw and a plane shape wood
differently, each type of software tool
Generally stimulate relatively
Generally stimulate relatively
shapes learning in different ways. As
active intellectual involvement
passive intellectual involvement
educators, it's important that we reflect
on the part of the user.
on the part of the user.
on and think critically about the design of
software applications and how they support
Are usually aimed at accomplishing
Are usually aimed at acquisition
learning. The following classroom example
more creative tasks.
of facts by rote memory.
provides an illustration of the different
types of learning that occur with different
The user, rather than the software
The software developer
types of software.
developer, is in charge of almost
predetermines almost everything
Mr. LaGrange's 6th grade geography
everything that happens.
that happens on the screen.
class began the year as it always does:
with a unit on the United Statesidentify-
ing the states and memorizing the state
The user has a great deal of
The type of interaction between
control of the interaction between
capitals. Following a week of textbook
user and machine is predetermined
the user and machine, and there
by the developers of the software;
and map activities focusing on the 50
is an extensive repertoire of
the user's contribution must
states and their capitals, students utilized
acceptable user input.
conform to a very limited range
the freeware application, USA Puzzle (avail-
of acceptable responses.
able at http://www.torpedosoftware.com) in
which the user can assemble a puzzle
of the United States and match the capital
Everything the software is capable
It generally takes many hours
of doing can usually be observed
with its appropriate state. The software
of use before the user has seen
in a very short period of time,
has varying levels of difficulty from 1 to 20
everything that a specific program
frequently in ten minutes or less.
and provides the user with an automatic
is capable of doing.
feedback mechanism and score.
Working in pairs, students spent
C. Maddux, D. Johnson, and J. Willis (1997.) Educational Computing: Learning with
Tomorrow's Technologies, 2d ed. Boston: Allen & Bacon.
several hours using USA Puzzle. Because
the software is designed as a self-paced,
htm) to help his students in this task.
stand-alone application, Mr. LaGrange
observed but gave little assistance to his
While USA Puzzle was a self-contained
application that led students through the
students. Their time using USA Puzzle paid
off: when orally tested almost all students
activity, On Top of the World offered no
such guidance or feedback and thus
could recognize each of the 50 states
required more active participation by
and identify the various state capitals. The
educational outcomestudent recognition
the teacher. Mr. LaGrange employed
the scenario of sailors on a sea voyage
of state shapes and identification of state
capitalshad been achieved.
circumnavigating the globe. He guided
the students' exploration from one location
Later in the school year, the class moved
to another with a series of increasingly
on to longitude and latitude, a common but
complex problems centered on the concept
complex concept that involves mathematical
of latitude and longitude ("You are leaving
and spatial skills. Mr. LaGrange's goals for
this unit were more ambitious than for the
the west coast of Africa headed for New
states' unit: He wanted students to under-
Orleans. How will you get there?", "You
must now journey from Australia to the
stand the concepts of latitude and longitude
North Pole. Which line of longitude will
and be able to utilize them as a navigational
you follow?", "You're at the North Pole.
device. Again, Mr. LaGrange employed a
Travel forward one hour in time."). In
software application, On Top of the World
such ill-structured problems, the student
Light (available for $15.00 from
responded to the problem in differentiated
http://www.tiac.net/users/hlynka/ontorder.
continued on page 6
6 TAP into Learning
Type I and Type II Applications continued from pa,ge 5
application (On Top of the World Light)
and individual ways, based on his or
relied on the students' prior knowledge
her experience and reasoning processes.
to enable them to scale the ladder of
Furthermore, students had to learn to
intellectual development and understand
figure out the problem-solving process
abstract concepts, analyze and synthesize
as well as find the solution. Mr. LaGrange
new information and evaluate the
gauged students' success by observing
effectiveness of their decisions.
their ability to navigate from one point to
USA Puzzle is an example of a "closed,"
another and by assessing their ability to
"full," or Type I software application, while
comprehend the concepts of latitude and
On Top of the World Light is an "open,"
longitude, utilize analyze and synthesize
"empty," or Type II application. One is
information, and evaluate the fastest routes
not better than the other, nor are both
to circumnavigate the globe.
equally effective in achieving the same
Developmentally, by their very design,
sorts of learning. Like all tools, Type I
each type of software application resulted
and II applications by their very design
in very different types of learning. While
achieve different instructional outcomes.
the drill-and-practice software (USA Puzzle)
As with all tools their strength rests in
helped students recognize and identify
appropriate use.
information, the more open-ended
7 Children's Ways of Learning
and the Evolution of the
Personal Computer
,
Most adults appear to agree that children take to computers quite
easily, indeed almost instinctively. Why is it that five year olds
can effortlessly (and embarrassingly for their parents and teachers)
master technology while novice adults often struggle with moving
a mouse?
In the 1970s, engineers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
(PARC) labored on the optimal interface design for personal
computers. The computer, in its early form, was difficult to
understand and manipulate. Its interface was command-driven;
4
essentially the user typed lines of code that prompted the
computer to perform particular functions. Engineers wanted to
understand how computers could be made more intuitive and
user friendly. Using a group of children as their objects of study,
they noted the ways in which the children interacted with and
explored computers. Steve Jobs, the 24 year old founder of Apple
Computer, visited the PARC campus in 1979. Xerox had just
purchased shares in his fledgling company and in exchange
had invited Jobs to use some of its research ideas. Jobs observed
the engineers' innovations based on children's ways of learning.
Using these modifications, Jobs and his partner, Steve Wozniak,
created the Apple computer. Its inclusion of a "mouse" and its
user-friendly interface based on a graphical user interface and
object oriented programming, made Apple the first commercially
successful computer. Microsoft later adapted these innovations
for its Windows platform.1°
10 Compiled from a variety of sources, including Triumph of the Nerds hup://www.pbs.org and
Weyhrich, S. http://www.hypermall.com/History/ah08.hunl. July, 1998. Accessed August 2000.
BEST COPY AURA
8
TAP into Learning
7
Classroom Example:
Caesar's
Tr aD of
Q.ed us
nd C urt
urderers
ft
bs t
Case
and took a final unit
"Have you reached your verdict?"
test, on which most
the judge addressed the jury foreman.
did well. Yet, as she
"We have your honor. We find the
attempted to probe their
understandings of the complexity of circum-
defendants, Brums and Cassius, not
stances and motives leading to Caesar's
guilty of treason against Rome for
assassination by two Roman praetors,
the murder of Julius Caesar."
Brutus and Cassius, the teacher was dissatis-
fied. The students' understanding seemed
Elated, the defense team broke
superficial; their responses formulaic How
into high fives, hugs, and cheers.
could she best get them to think critically
about the events they had just studied?
The prosecution sat silently, showing
Because of its adversarial nature, a trial
no reaction to the verdict.
is an extremely nuanced and complex
Nearly two millennia after his death in
process. Attorneys must identify key players
44 B.C., the motives for the murder of the
and facts, recognize motives and patterns
Roman dictator, Julius Caesar, still arouse
of behavior, comprehend large amounts of
discussion and debate. Was Caesar a tyrant
information, organize ideas, analyze and
who planned on subverting the Roman
synthesize data, apply knowledge, choose
Republic by making himself king, thereby
among alternatives in problem-solving, and
granting himself absolute power? Were
evaluate ideas or actions. Further, they must
Brutus and Cassius, his associates and
formulate and put forth their arguments in a
assassins, patriots who saved Rome from
cogent and credible fashion and understand
probable tyranny, or were they anarchists
opposing belief systems and strategies in
who took the law into their own hands,
order to counter and manipulate them.
murdering Caesar for less noble reasons?
The teacher decided that a mock trial
The death of Julius Caesar had spawned
would be the best vehicle for fostering
a civil war, but no legal investigation
critical thinking skills.
into the motives of his assassins, Brutus
The trial was modeled on the American
and Cassius. Thus, in light of this grand
legal system, and two lawyers from the
historical omission, these fourteen year
community provided in-class consultations
olds stepped in where the Roman legal
about various legal and courtroom
system had left off: putting Caesar's murders
procedures and placed themselves on call
on trial. Were Brutus and Cassius guilty of
after school. Students were very excited
treason, or were they patriots who had
at having such "real-life" expertise at their
saved Rome from despotry?
disposal and approached the exercise with
This 8th grade Latin class at McMillan
tremendous gravity. The prosecution team
Junior High School in Omaha, Nebraska
(those representing Rome) and defense team
had just completed a three-week unit on
(those representing Brutus and Cassius)
the life and death of Rome's most famous
voted for their lead lawyers, produced a set
ruler and general, Julius Caesar. Students
of witnesses (e.g., Marc Antony, Cleopatra,
read Roman history texts, took notes from
Caesar's widow), chose witness roles, and
teacher lectures, viewed the film, Julius
began planning their legal strategies.
Caesar and parts of the movie, Cleopatra,
continued on page 8
9
8 TAP into Learning
continued from page 7
Trial of Julius Caesar's Murderers and Court Case Website
through her questions guided students to
a particular strategy or issue that they may
have missed. In particular she encouraged
students to anticipate the other team's
arguments, to think as the opposing team
would and in doing so address, defend
against, and manipulate their arguments
in a way that would best help their case.
During the trial each day after school,
the defense and prosecution met separately
in two classrooms using Inspiration to
map out that day's events, create decision
Chief line
trees, organize emergent information
of defense
and strategies, and plan the next day's
testimony and strategies.
Word about the trial spread through
Nurtured by
Could have
the junior high school and other students
Refused crown
Caesar; Went on
taken control
began to ask to be involved. Students from
three times
to become Rome's
of Egypt,
a 7th grade Social Studies class asked to
greatest ruler
but didn't
serve as jurors. One teacher volunteered
to give up her one of her plan periods to
serve as the judge.
While listening to her Latin colleague
All research was conducted via the
An Inspiration
discuss the upcoming trial during lunch
Internet and through library reference books
Concept Map
one day, the 8th grade Language Arts
after school. Class time was used for con-
teacher had an idea: Why not volunteer her
structing their legal strategy and preparing
Language Arts students as court reporters
for the trial. Because of the complexity of
and news analysts? But instead of having
the students' tasksgathering information,
her students word process the trial notes
organizing ideas, mapping strategies, and
and opinions that only they and she saw,
designing questions and possible answers
they could create a web site which all
for both their witnesses and opposing
witnessesthe teacher was concerned that
students could access for a daily trial
summary. Since one of the 8th grade
students have a powerful enough tool that
would help them unlock all of their ideas
Language Arts' outcomes was the ability
to write persuasive arguments, students
and strategies, brainstorm, and think and
could not only document the trial, but
organize ideas on multiple levels. Thus, stu-
also editorialize on its proceedings and on
dents used the thought processing software
the justice or injustice of the final verdict.
Inspiration® as an organizational tool for
Further, students would gain the valuable
planning their legal strategy. Each day, as
skill of learning how to organize and
they prepared for the trial, students used
present informationan online newspaper.
Inspiration to create timelines of events,
The Latin teacher enthusiastically agreed.
color code friendly and hostile witnesses,
As the trial progressed over the next three
organize and express their ideas, create
weeks, the Language Arts students con-
questions for both their and the opposing
structed their web page using a free web
team's witnesses, and map relationships
editor. They reported on the trial, organized
among key players. At the end of the day,
information, interviewed key players, and
they gave a copy of their Inspiration chart
inserted digital images. They searched the
to the teacher who checked it to make sure
Internet and created links to other sites on
each team was organized, prepared, and
Julius Caesar and to other famous trials (the
had logical and comprehensive strategies.
Scopes, Lindbergh, and Standing Bear trials,
She returned each copy the next day with
for instance). Most important, they evaluat-
comments and suggestions.
ed both the proceedings of the trial and its
In class, the teacher circulated between
outcome, and debated the merits and
the groups, listening to their strategies, and
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