Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: My HERO project

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level(s): 8th Grade
Content Standard Addressed: L6-8WHST6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and
publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.

Technology Standard Addressed: 1.6.d Customize the Message: Students publish or present
content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.
Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity: My Hero

URL(s) to support the lesson: My Hero

Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing

Opportunity in your classroom: In my lesson I plan to use a publishing site. This will be an end of
the year project. Students will find someone from Georgia history they find interesting. Then they will
work independent to thoroughly research them. After their research is complete, they will publish on
My hero project.com. This site is free and allows students to publish however, they desire. They could
do a video, artwork, photo, or even written. The options are truly endless.
After they have completed their project, they will present to the class. Students will share what
they learned about their “hero”. They will also walk us through why they choose to do what they did.
Giving them the freedom to create and publish their project promotes student engagement.
What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a
classroom? A Chromebook/laptop, phone for recording, and paper for brainstorming

Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them
may not be addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
 Collaboration with peers, near-peers, and mentors outside their classroom and often
beyond their school: Students will work independently to create this project. However,
publishing their work online allows them to reach people they never thought about. They will
present to their peers in the classroom.

 Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or

producing original products as a result of engaging in a project): Students are researching
a historical figure from the year. They will create a project to explain what they have learned
about this person. They have free creativity to accomplish this.

 Higher-order thinking:

 Remembering- Students are recalling what they learned throughout the year to pick a historical
figure to do my hero project on.

 Understanding- Students are doing research on this person to understand why they are
important in history.

 Applying- Students are applying their skills to complete their project.

 Creating- Students are creating a research project on their historical figure to publish online and
share with their peers in class.
 Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

 Evaluating- Students need to make judgment calls on what is important for their research
project.

 Analyzing- Students must find the best evidence to support their claims about their historical
figure.


 Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product:
Students will publish online at my hero project.com. This is a publishing website where
students can share why their historical figure is important.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

✘ Remembering ✘ Understanding ✘ Applying ✘ Analyzing ✘ Evaluating ✘

Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level): (Select the best level)

Level 1: Awareness ✘ Level 2: Exploration ✘ Level 3: Infusion Level 4:

Integration

✘ Level 5: Expansion ✘ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Using my hero project.com allows students creativity
freedom. This freedom allows students to show their knowledge in different formats. This is
beneficial for students who struggle to write or even engage in the classroom. This project also will
help students who struggle to read or write. They can research via videos, text to speech, and then
publish their work in different formats.
Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies: First, I would go over the school’s
internet safety polices with my students. I would then explain to them that they are only allowed on
certain websites to research on. When they are ready to publish online, we will do it together.

Reflective Practice: This project will impact my students learning for the positive. They will
remember they got to choose their historical figure and given the freedom to present. I could open up
the historical figure to more than just this year. Students could draw on their background knowledge
to find someone they really are interested in to do research on. I could even allow students to do
someone in their life or community to do research on. This will allow them to conduct interviews and
see that heroes are ordinary people just like them.