DreamALittleDream

The [|Executive Summary: Collaboration in K-12 Schools: Anywhere, Anytime, Any Way] by the [|Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)] contains the following excerpt: "When educators dream, it probably looks like this: A group of fifth graders takes a series of field trips to local water sources where they use handheld computers to gather water samples. When they return to the classroom, they upload their results to a database on the school portal, which aggregates their findings. Then they log onto the project Wiki to document their expedition, allow teachers and administrators to assess their work, read what other classes in the district have found, and share the process with parents and appropriate members of the community. At the local university, the scientist in charge of the pollution project studies the aggregated findings and decides the data shows the source of pollution is not any one factory but runoff from gardens and driveways adjacent to the river. He sends an instant message to the students, teachers, and administrators thanking them. 'Gathering this data would have been impossible without your help,' he says. 'I simply don’t have the staff. But I have the evidence I need now to submit a report to the local government so we can stop this pollution from destroying our rivers.' The students are excited to be part of an effort to save the beach and rivers they love; they don’t want to stop there. They set up a blog to publicize their findings. This ultimately leads to a news story, increased local awareness of the pollution problem, a response from the local government, and an eventual reduction in runoff and pollution. The students are galvanized by their success. That they learned a great deal about government, scientific study, and ecosystems is evident from their test scores. And school personnel—even across school boundaries—enjoyed collaborating on the project."