Online Tools Allow Distant Students to Collaborate on Research Projects

The Wesleyan Academy and Moravian School in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, recently joined forces with Evergreen Elementary in Fort Lewis, Wash., to collaborate on a research project using My eCoach Online (http://my-ecoach.com) as the primary medium to share information, post ideas and findings, and develop inquiry projects on 10 topics about water.

“Involving students at distant locations encourages exploration outside of their own environment,” says project coordinator and teacher Meredith Blanche, who went to the Virgin Islands for several months along with co-coordinator and teacher Vicki Albrecht to help complete the project. “Through project-based learning and using technology as a tool to complete their projects, the students absorbed so much more knowledge about their subject compared to what they are accustomed to with a textbook alone.”

Coordinators of the project from each school received virtual coaching from My eCoach to develop the goals and design of the project, and then passed that training on to their lead teachers. Each lead teacher worked with 10 teams of two to three students from their schools to guide them as they conducted research and engaged in hands-on investigations. Using the collaboration and communication tools from My eCoach Online, students shared information and discussed their research findings. The teams then used the site’s curriculum builders to create an inquiry project.

“Not only did the students in the Virgin Islands get to learn about the cold water of the Puget Sound salmon habitat as they made their way from local streams to the ocean, but the students in Washington learned what a Conch was,” says James L. Smith, Enhancing Education Through Technology program supervisor for the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Smith went on to say that the process, althoughnotperfect,wasagreat opportunity for students of different cultures to share their thinking around a common subject.

Project topics included natural disasters and the effects on water, animals in our watershed,and pollution and its effects on sea life. “The students’ overall response to the program was extremely positive,” says Blache. “They truly learned much more about their topics and enjoyed sharing their understanding through their hands-on projects and demonstrations.”

Featured

  • cloud icon with a padlock overlay set against a digital background featuring binary code and network nodes

    Cloud Security Auditing Tool Uses AI to Validate Providers' Security Assessments

    The Cloud Security Alliance has unveiled a new artificial intelligence-powered system that automates the validation of cloud service providers' (CSPs) security assessments, aiming to improve transparency and trust across the cloud computing landscape.

  • robot brain with various technology and business icons

    Google Cloud Study: Early Agentic AI Adopters See Better ROI

    Google Cloud has released its second annual ROI of AI study, finding that 52% of enterprise organizations now deploy AI agents in production environments. The comprehensive survey of 3,466 senior leaders across 24 countries highlights the emergence of a distinct group of "agentic AI early adopters" who are achieving measurably higher returns on their AI investments.

  • laptop with a neural network image, surrounded by books, notebooks, a magnifying glass, a pencil cup, and a desk lamp

    D2L Updates Lumi with Personalized Study Supports

    Learning platform D2L has introduced new artificial intelligence features for D2L Lumi that help provide more personalized study supports for students.

  • cloud with binary code and technology imagery

    Hybrid and AI Expansion Outpacing Cloud Security

    A survey from the Cloud Security Alliance and Tenable finds that rapid adoption of hybrid, multi-cloud and AI systems is outpacing the security measures meant to protect them, leaving organizations exposed to preventable breaches and identity-related risks.