Thank you for your interest in strengthening teaching
about Asia.
Please visit our updated Asia in the K-12 Curriculum site.
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Thank you for your interest in strengthening teaching
about Asia. |
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Developing Communication Skills Improving Reading Skills Many of the research tasks discussed on the Developing Research Skills page require students read a wide variety of interesting and Asian studies-focused materials. The speed with which students can consult web dictionaries and other reference aids may facilitate the development of effective reading practices. The majority of web resources, however, are not written with secondary school readers in mind. Fortunately there are many exceptions, including the sites of publications and television programs aimed at younger audiences. For example, National Geographic's August 1999 issue focuses on globalization. The lead story opens with a discussion of whether the world was becoming a giant mall. A number of kids-oriented country-specific websites now exist as well (e.g., Kids Web Japan). Improving Writing Skills Web based writing assignments have the potential to enhance writing skills by providing opportunities for rapid sharing of one's work with others who can provide equally speedy feedback. I believe in combining the posting of assignments to the web with intense use of traditional word processing programs. This is useful because while web posting allows for quick feedback, most posting programs do not provide the sort of writing aids available in basic word processors. Some teachers complain that spell checking and grammar checking programs, like electronic calculators hamper acquisition of much needed skills. I find, however, that students who use these programs are demonstrating concern with getting the spelling and grammar right and the process of checking and correcting is invaluable semi-rewriting practice. Rarely can a teacher afford to sit with each student and go through each line of an essay -- but students in a computer lab can do just this. Then they can post their writing to web discussion boards so that others may read and respond to their ideas. Teachers at Portola Middle School have been working with the USC and UCLA Centers for East Asian Studies to integrate technology and Asian studies into their sixth and seventh grade curriculum. Teacher Joe Sterbinsky and others have been discussing early Chinese heroes, Buddhism, and other topics with their students. Creating Web Pages Student work is showing up all over the web. In some cases teachers are handling the web page creation process (e.g., Urbana 6th Graders on early Chinese philosophy) and in others the students convert word processing documents or presentations into web pages. Among the most ambitious efforts is the "Investing for Kids" site by students at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. Beginning in 1998, participants in the UCLA Center for East Asian Studies Summer Seminar for Educators have been trained in the creation of simple, but effective web pages for use in presenting lessons, and in posting assignments and student projects. Beyond this, teachers have been trained in using spreadsheets to organize and process data and to create graphs to present this data. Examples of what can be done in this regard can be seen at the CEAS statistics index page.
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