|
USING
THE INTERNET TO INCREASE
MULTICULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Teaching With the Internet:
Cheryl Chan's Class
• The students in her class were doing Internet
Inquiry 
in a unit designed to increase multicultural understanding and
build a classroom community. Celebrating different cultural traditions
helped to accomplish these goals. Students had been working in groups on
Internet Inquiry projects.
• Each group had selected a different culture to
explore. One group had selected a Hispanic theme and were reading literature
and studying about the many different Hispanic cultures. They had found
many useful locations on the WWW by beginning their study at the Latin American Network
Information Center LANIC, especially the site for Primary
and Secondary Education. They were now exploring
México para Niños and the English version
Mexico for Kids. They were trying to determine
who developed these sites, why they developed them, and what this suggested
about the information located here. Cheryl had introduced the unit with
an activity on critical literacies and this group was putting the information
they learned to good use.
• Others had picked an African-American theme and
had decided to focus on the connections they saw between the poetry of Langston
Hughes, the actions of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil
rights struggle. They had located a wonderful model of a web page they
were going to follow as they put their report together, Timeline of
the American Civil Rights Movement. Two members of the group knew
how to make web pages so they were all hard at work gathering information
and exploring the connections they found between poetry by Langston Hughes
and the civil rights movement.
• Another group had picked a Japanese theme and
were studying the literature and cultural traditions of this culture. Through
Web66: International School Web Site Registry this group had
linked up with another class in Kyoto and were exchanging e-mail messages,
discovering many important insights about each other’s cultural traditions.
• Desmon’s group was studying Native American literature
and cultures, especially the common respect they all expressed for Mother
Earth. Desmon’s group had read many of the prayers, poems, and stories on
the Internet at locations such as Indigenous
Peoples’ Literature and Index of
Native American Resources on the Internet as they developed a growing
respect for the traditions, struggles, and views of Native Americans.
A Line
in the Sand had been especially useful in understanding why many
Native Americans did not want their sacred traditions widely distributed
over the Internet. In addition, they read a number of books from the library
including: Thirteen Moons on Turtles Back, by Bruchac and London,
Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Chief Jake
Swamp, Ceremony -- In the Circle of Life by White Deer of Autumn,
Buffalo Woman by Gobel, and Chief Sarah: Sarah Winnemucca’s Fight
for Indian Rights by Morrison. They had also been exploring some of
the many Native American sites on the web.
• They were excited when they found a great location,
First Nation Information Project,
and discovered useful links that included resources for learning about Native
American cultures in Canada and around the world.
• Cheryl said that she had found a location on the
web at the
Grassroots section of SchoolNet, where Native American
and non-Native American classes who wanted to exchange e-mail could do so.
She wasn’t certain if this was open to their class but she said she would
send a message and see if this would be possible.
Central Sites
to Increase
Multicultural Understanding
|
The best central sites to support instruction
in multicultural understanding include:
• Yahooligans:
Around the World
This may be one of the better central sites for classrooms in the elementary
grades exploring cultural diversity. Especially useful is the section on
cultures, but all areas will have links to resources that may be immediately
used in the classroom. Set a bookmark!
• Diversity
This is an enormous collection of links to sites on the WWW related to
diversity and multicultural education. It is part of the larger History/Social
Studies Web Site for K-12 Teachers. Sections include: general sources,
disabilities, migration and immigrant resources, Jewish resources, Asian
American resources, African-American resources, Women Studies resources,
Native American resources, and Hispanic resources.
• Cultures of the World
Here is a central site with many extensive resources selected by the American
Library Association as appropriate for children from preschool to age 14.
Many great resources.
• Walk A
Mile in My Shoes: Multicultural Curriculum Resources
Developed by schools in the Albany, New York region, this location is designed
specifically for teachers new to the Internet and includes many links in
areas such as multicultural literature, multicultural sites for kids, locations
for multicultural e-mail exchanges, sites with links on specific cultural
groups, and sites with links to schools all over the world.
• Multicultural Pavilion
Located at the School of Education at the University of Virginia, this
location is very well organized and growing very rapidly. The most useful
area is a “Teachers’ Corner” where you will find a set of links to important
locations on the WWW for multicultural education, links to on-line resources
for teachers and students, several historic archives, and links to on-line
literature for students.
• Latin American Network
Information Center
A great location with many sites and resources devoted to the study of
Latin America. The education area is especially useful. Some of the locations
are in Spanish. Set a bookmark!
|
E-MAIL FOR YOU
From: Bill Farrell
One of his favorite sites is Web66, the International Registry of schools
on the web. This site has links to many, many schools around the world.
These links will tell you about a school and many times have e-mail links
to the schools. |
Keeping it Simple: Using Internet
Workshop
|
Here are some examples of Internet Workshop
that might be used to support greater multicultural understanding:
• On the Line
See how people in eight different countries on the meridian line from Europe
through Africa share the same time of day but lead very different lives.
Have students select one country and come to the workshop session with a
presentation on the culture of their country.
• Mancala
This strategy game from Africa is often found in classrooms. Here it is
in a virtual form. A great site for your students to play this game against
the computer as you study African or African-American cultural traditions.
It contains clear directions and the program will even give you hints if
your game is not going very well. Share strategies during your workshop
session. Make a bookmark!
• MultiCulturalPedia
This site has been compiled from information about culture and customs
sent by individuals from around the world. The site is also in Japanese.
• Afro-Americ@'s Black
History Museum
For older students, this is one of the finest collection of resources on
several important aspects of African-American history. It includes important
sections on resistance during slavery, The Tuskegee Airman, Jackie Robinson,
The Black Panther Party, Black or White, The Million Man March, The Scottsboro
Boys, and World War II. Be certain to devote a number of workshop sessions
to explore each of these areas in your social studies program.
• Kid’s Window
Developed in a joint project between Stanford University and NTT from Japan,
there are enough great resources here to design Internet Workshop sessions
for an entire unit on Japan. Audio is included throughout the site. This
location is probably most appropriate for the elementary grades, but everyone
can enjoy the wonderfully rich insights into Japanese cultural traditions.
Invite students to read one of several classic Japanese folk tales such
as Momotaro or listen to it read aloud in Japanese and
English. Have students order lunch and then write what they ordered in
both English and Japanese. Have students attend language class in Hiragana,
Kanji, or Katakana and then share what they learned during Internet Workshop.
Have students finish up by following the directions to make an origami
crane.
• Martin
Luther King, Jr.
An outstanding site designed for teachers and students to reflect on the
legacy of this famous American. Developed by a newspaper in Seattle, this
location includes an interactive timeline of his life and contributions,
audio clips of important speeches, reflections on his life from many individuals,
a photo tour of the civil rights movement, information about the national
holiday in the U.S., classroom ideas, and opportunities to communicate with
others about the significance of Dr. King’s accomplishments. A must for
celebrating his life with many resources for Internet Activity. Set a bookmark!
• Kwanzaa Information
Center
Kwanzaa is the African-American spiritual holiday initiated by Dr. Maulana
Ron Karenga in 1966. Today it is celebrated in an increasing number of
homes. This location at Melanet provides a rich set of information resources
about this holiday. It explains how it is celebrated and the meaning of
the important symbols. Have your students read the information at this
site and come to Internet Workshop prepared to share what they have learned.
• Maya/Aztec/Inca Center of the Lords of the Earth
A rich site with many resources designed to help students recognize the
many accomplishments in history, geography, geology, astronomy, archaeology,
anthropology and art that existed in the Americas before Christopher Columbus's
arrival. Have your students explore these pages and bring one important cultural
achievement to share and explain during Internet Workshop. Use this time
to discuss the rich heritage that existed in the Americas before its discovery
by Europe.
|
Using Internet Project
TEACHING TIP
It is important to study different cultural
experiences in order to better understand the diversity that defines our world.
It is also important, though, to go beyond understanding to social action,
seeking to make our world a better place. Seek ways with your students to
engage in community action projects, either right in your community or over
the Internet. Students have used the Internet to support relief efforts in
devastated parts of the world, to support efforts of famine relief at locations
such at The Hunger
Site, or to support the purchase of rain forest habitat at locations such
as Rain Forest Care.
If you are working at the high school or middle school level you might
wish to seek other social action or volunteer projects in your community
by visiting
Project America. This resource, originally developed by two high school
students, puts you in touch with organizations in your immediate area who
seek volunteer assistance with a number of projects, many of which permit
your students to act in positive ways on their developing knowledge of diversity.
It is a wonderful resource, enabling all of us to make our world a better
place. |
• The traditional sites for Internet Project described
in previous chapters may be useful as you seek out projects with classes
from different cultural contexts. Sometimes, though, it takes a special
effort to contact classrooms from other cultural contexts. You may have
to initiate contact directly with teachers and schools. Locations to help
you to make these contacts include:
|
• KIDLINK
You must visit this site if you are interested in participating in an international
project with your class. The goal of KIDLINK is to create a global dialog
among the youth of the world. It is open to all students through secondary
school and is run by KIDLINK Society, a grass roots and volunteer organization.
Here you will find many wonderful forums for your students to communicate
with children around the world. Language translation services are available
as well as IRC chat sessions
. There are locations for student-to-student
as well as classroom-to-classroom contact. Both Internet
projects and e-mail keypal exchanges are available at this outstanding location.
Set a bookmark!
• Intercultural
E-mail Classroom Connections
This exceptional service is provided by St. Olaf College in Minnesota to
bring together schools from all over the world. When you join one of the
mailing lists at this location, you will have e-mail access to teachers and
schools around the world. Your school can take part in a variety of e-mail
exchanges and classroom collaborations as invitations appear on the list.
Or, develop your own and invite others to join. Be certain to thank the organizers
at St. Olaf College for their wonderful contributions, bringing many different
classrooms together from all over the globe. Set a bookmark!
• International WWW Schools Registry
Visit this site and travel around the world to visit the home pages of
schools in Australia, Japan, Canada, the U.S., Europe, and many other locations.
Contact some of the schools to see if they are interested in an Internet
Project with your class.
|
There are several search engines
devoted to locating people on the Internet. You may wish
to try Bigfoot or
WhoWhere? . Each
searches large data bases of people such as phone books and e-mail directories.
You may also use a regular search engine by typing in the complete name of
the person you are looking for, in case they are listed on a web page somewhere
on the Internet. Use the complete name and use a search engine such as
HotBot that enables
you to search for “The Person.” |
|
Examples of projects you may wish to consider
joining or developing to increase multicultural understanding include:
• Breaking Bread Together
Breaking bread together is a traditional way to begin a cultural exchange
about important matters. Invite several classes from around the world to
participate in an email collaborative project as you exchange foods from
your countries and eat a common meal on the same day. Each class sends a
small package of culturally significant foods to participating classes along
with directions for their preparation. Before the common meal and on the
day of the celebration, classrooms exchange information via email about each
type of food and its significance within their culture. Differences in time
zones may prevent immediate back and forth of e-mail messages, but some classrooms
schedule their event on a weekend day or in the evening so they can communicate
in real time. Other classrooms have their email exchange take place during
the following days. Great fun and very important insights always result
from this activity.
• Who are our Heroes?
Invite classes from several different cultural contexts to participate
in a heroes project. Each student in participating classes can write a
description of their greatest hero, explaining what it is about this person
that makes them admirable. Classes then exchange these essays in order
to understand who students in different cultural contexts admire. Then,
provide an opportunity for students to ask questions of one another about
their essays, especially information that may relate to their culture.
Use Internet Workshop to share essays and discuss the qualities each hero
shares. These essays and conversations provide an ideal opportunity to
discover important aspects of different cultures. This project could be
extended to include heroes in different categories: parent/guardian heroes,
teacher heroes, sports, heroes, politicians, etc.
• Weekly News from Around the World
Invite classes from around the world to contribute two or three news articles
each week from their classroom about local events. Have one class collect
these articles via e-mail and distribute a weekly world newspaper to each
of the participating classes. Writing about local events for students in
another cultural context forces students to develop greater sensitivity to
the needs of their readers from different cultural contexts. Use Internet
Workshop to plan new articles and read those contributed by others. Discussing
these events develops a better understanding of the cultural context in different
parts of the world.
• Explanatory Myths from Around the World
Every culture contains a set of explanatory myths that explains the creation
of natural elements -- why the sun comes up each day, where fire came from,
how a mountain or lake was created, or where the face in the moon comes
from. Invite schools from different cultural contexts to research, write,
and share these stories with students from different cultural contexts.
Read these stories during Internet Workshop and discuss what each may say
about the culture from which it came.
• KeyPals During the course of the
year, help your students develop KeyPals with several classes around the
world. Share these individual messages during Internet Workshop and discuss
what each suggests about its cultural context. You may wish to also visit
Intercultural
E-mail Classroom Connections, or KIDLINK to make
contact with classes who wish to participate.
|
Using WebQuests in Your Classroom
|
• Six
Paths to China
This outstanding collection of activities includes both the full WebQuest
described in chapter six, Searching for China as well as a number of other,
more focused WebQuests. As a complete package, it is the perfect place
to begin your exploration of this diverse and fascinating culture. Be certain
to set a bookmark!
• Tuskegee Tragedy
An outstanding WebQuest for secondary school students, enabling them to
explore the tragedy of Tuskegee, compare it to other events such as gun control,
abortion, and the use of internment camps, and then determine whether Tuskegee
was a unique event or one that we must continually guard against. At the
end of their research, students write letters to the authors of articles
they have read and researched on the Internet, sharing their opinions. A
powerful WebQuest with equally powerful learning outcomes. Part of the many
fine resources at Blue Web'n.
• Black
History: Exploring African-American Issues on the Web
An excellent collection of resources at Blue Web'n permitting you and your
students to study a number of important issues related to many African-American
experiences. Included are a Black History Hotlist with links to many sites
on the Internet, an Interactive Treasure Hunt and Quiz, a series
of short explorations called Sampling African America, and a full WebQuest
on racial desegregation called Little
Rock 9 Integration 0?
|
E-MAIL FOR YOU
From: Dana Eaton
When Dana and his colleagues decided to build a MiWok Roundhouse in our
fourth grade classroom, they successfully scoured the Internet looking for
pictures and instructions. They also found legends, rituals, and even a
movie that showed the construction of a roundhouse foundation. http://www.indiancanyon.org/roundhouse1.html
They have worked hard to organize these resources so that they are more
useful for their school. Michael Price, David Larson and Dana have spent
the last few years creating a Searles Surfers section of their school
homepage that allows students a safe and quick directory of useful Internet
sites. (http://www.nhusd.k12.ca.us/Searles/searleslinks.html)
With the help of their local Iditarod expert, Diane Douglass, they embarked
on a two-week long thematic unit on the Iditarod. They were also able
to research local animals and cities that were checkpoints along the way.
(http://www.dogsled.com/)
|
Visiting the Classroom:
The Harriet Tubman Page Developed by Terry Hongell and Patty Taverna in
Bew York
• A visit to
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, developed
by Terry Hongell and Patty Taverna, teaches each of us important lessons.
There are, of course, the many lessons we can learn about the life of this
famous African American and the important work she accomplished. You will
discover these as you explore the many links and resources created by these
two, very talented teachers and the students with whom they work.
Instructional Resources on the
Internet
|
• Africa Online: Kids Only
A nice location for your students to learn about Africa. They can read
Rainbow Magazine-a Kenyan magazine for kids, play African games and decode
messages, learn about the over 1000 languages in Africa, meet African students
on line, find a keypal, or visit the home pages of schools in Africa. Set
a bookmark!
• Amazon Interactive
A wonderful site for learning about Amazonia and the people who call this
beautiful place home, including the Quichua people. Many exciting learning
activities appear here.
• Cranes for Peace
Cranes for Peace began as a project to collect paper cranes to be sent
to Hiroshima for the 50th anniversary of the bombing as a wish for peace.
It was based on the book Sadako and the 1,000 Cranes. A Japanese
legend holds that folding 1000 cranes (senbazuru) so pleases the gods the
folder is granted a wish. Now, this is a location to celebrate peace each
year by making origami cranes and sending them to be placed at the memorial
to Sadako in Seattle or to the peace shrine in Hiroshima. Visit this location
to find out more about this wonderful book and the many Internet projects
it has sparked for peace. Set a bookmark!
• Jewish
Culture and History
One of the more extensive sites on the Internet on Jewish culture with
many links to other locations including links to Virtual Jerusalem and the
Tour of Israel. More appropriate for older students.
• KIDPROJ’S
Multi-Cultural Calendar
Here is another wonderful resource for your classroom developed by KIDLINK,
a non-profit organization. This location contains a great data base of
celebrations each day taking place around the world along with ideas for
connecting the calendar to your curriculum. Set a bookmark and let the good
folks at KIDLINK know how much you appreciate their efforts.
• Latin American
Children's Resources
From Zona Latina, this location contains links to a number of children's
resources from Latin America, including many in Spanish.
• National Civil Rights Museum
The home page for this museum. Take the interactive tour of the exhibit
to learn about this continuing struggle.
• Native
American Indian Resources
One of the richest locations on the Internet for the Native American community.
Information about Native history, literature, biographies, herbal knowledge,
environmental concerns, schools, politics, you name it. A companion
resource provides information about art, culture, education, history,
science. The talented webmaster for this
site recently passed away, so it is not clear yet if this resource will
continue its important work. We hope someone will step forward to continue
her mission. Set a bookmark!
• Native Web
Resources
This is a great location for resources on Native cultures. It contains
many useful links to a variety of Native American resources including information
about tribal units, literature, newsletters and journals. Other Native
Amerian Internet resources are available from Internet School Library
Media Center.
• The
First Americans
A great project developed by the 3rd graders at Germantown Elementary School
in Illinois, providing us all with a new resource for our study of native
Americans.
• The National Women's History Project: Links
A wonderful collection of resources on the Internet about women's history.
Set a bookmark!
• The Simon
Wiesenthal Center
The homepage for this organization with links to thousands of important
resources covering the Holocaust and other issues of Jewish struggle.
• The
African American Mosaic
An on-line exhibit from the Library of Congress exploring Black history
and containing many primary source documents.
|
Listservs/Mailing Lists for Increasing
Multicultural Understanding
|
• CULTUR-L
- listserv@vm.temple.edu
A discussion group on cultural differences in the curriculum. Follow typical
listserv procedures to subscribe.
• MCPavilion
- majordomo@virginia.edu
This is the WWW location for an active discussion group at the Multicultural
Pavilion web site.
Directions for subscribing are located at: http://curry.edschool.Virginia.EDU/go/multicultural/issues.html
• MULTC-ED
- listserv@umdd.umd.edu
A discussion group on multicultural education, K-12. Follow typical listserv
procedures to subscribe.
• MULTICULTURAL-ED
- listproc@lists.fsu.edu
A discussion group on multicultural education. Follow typical listserv
procedures to subscribe.
• NAT-EDU
- listserv@indycms.iupui.edu
A discussion group on K-12 education and Indigenous Peoples. Follow typical
listserv procedures to subscribe.
|
Back to the top
|