I will be developing a web-based learning experience for my business and personal law class. The web has a slew of resources about the different topics we discuss in law, as well as many examples of case law that pertain to that area of law. Since I started teaching this subject I have used the web for many different activities. I would have to say that some of them are merely fact finding, but with the law and understanding it, it surely requires critical thinking skills that are included in my Internet activities that I have made for them. Since that is one of the main components for the learning experience, I’m used to doing it (at first it was difficult) I feel very comfortable with this.
So far in EDTEC 448 we have learned ways to go deeper into the Web and find more resources. With this newly-learned skill, I hope to add a new activity for my students in one of our chapters - I will probably go with Torts and Personal Injury Laws to start. I already have some things developed in this area, but I want to go deeper with it. I didn’t do much updating in my business law curriculum this semester so I think it will be great to do this and use next year. Ideally, I might be able to find so much information on Torts that I can use that as our “chapter” instead of basing it off the book. I definitely wouldn’t mind this as our book is about a decade old!
In a previous post - I think it was on WikiSpaces - I mentioned the OYez Project. This is a great site that has all of the Supreme Court rulings in summary format, including the assenting and dissenting opinions. It’s always important that students have access to a site that is easy to understand - and this site does just that.
In terms of design and layout, I think I will be using Weebly and see how it is to use. I already use WikiSpaces and like it for some things, but I don’t think this will be the best option for my learning experience. I have been designing web pages since I was in high school so it’s fun to be able to do this for my students!
Jason,
ReplyDeleteHave you looked into Ning? (www.ning.com) That might also work for your project.....
I was thinking if you were doing your project on something with the law maybe there could be an online mock trial website that you could use. I found 2 things that might be interesting to check out:
ReplyDeletehttp://giftededucation.suite101.com/article.cfm/online_court_and_trial_games
http://www.abc.net.au/mocktrial/default.htm
Just some thoughts!
There are tons of free print materials available through the US Government Printing Office. In addition, "Ben's Guide" at
ReplyDeletehttp://bensguide.gpo.gov/subject.html#government
has a fairly extensive list of websites intended for kids about government and law. However, the stuff may be too juvenile for your students. Finally, another place you might want to check for resources for this is The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Through the Annenberg Center they provide materials and support for teachers regarding the Constitution. Their on line materials can be found at
http://constitutioncenter.org/ncc_edu_Online_Activities.aspx
I just had a good time with one of the activities - finding out which of the Founding Fathers I am most like.
This project sounds like it will be very interesting. I think the students will be able to find more relevant cases through the project you are setting up then through the outdated textbook. It takes alot of time to develop new material and this sounds like the perfect opportunity to improve the class.
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