Sunday, October 22, 2006

Thoughts on Collaboration in a Web 2.0 World

After ruminating all day long I have come to the conclusion that the most meaningful interaction with students is on the one-to-one basis. What better, more efficient way to do it than a blog?

This week I will present resources for an AP U.S. History research project. Students will be doing individual topics and writing a 6-8 page research paper. They need a variety of primary and secondary sources. It is necessary that students show an ability to have meaningful engagement with ideas and synthesize a wide array of sources.

I will introduce NoodleTools as an option for taking notes in electronic format. These can be shared with the teacher/librarian. Noodle Tools does bibliographies in MLA or APA format. Since the bibliographies are to be completed in Chicago Style format, students have a choice of using the Citation Machine or the IMSA Bibliographic format tool.

They will receive instruction on the New Trier Library catalog, and these databases: Annals of American History, History Resource Center U.S., Expanded Academic Index, and scholarly articles in ProQuest. I will also show them a great site for primary sources --History Matters.

I will invite students to reflect on their research experiences in the New Trier Library blog.

1 comment:

Maggie Schmude said...

This will be a great idea if the teacher is willing to go along with it. I know that sometimes teachers are unwilling to give up their time, but on a big project, the additional help from a librarian would be wonderful. For some assistance with the Chicago Style Manual, we might turn to Questia, since none of our other bibliography tools feature Chicago style.