Race, Gender and Student Achievement!
Part IV, Websites that integrate the Internet into the classroom around issues of Diversity and Multicultural Understanding

Hi guys! It's Wednesday again and I am culminating the Race, Gender and Student Achievement series with K-12 websites that are interactive and integrate the Internet into classroom projects about diversity and multicultural understanding. I would also refer you back to my resources list that was an early Wednesday Website titled Internet Integration in the Classroom, to the other diversity resources previously mentioned as well as these general resource lists for this kind of work:

I found a whole bunch of stuff via the above resources:

Student Ambassador Program

I found this link from one of these student ambassadors: Straight Talk about School -- great site talking about gender, and other issues, in school for and by students with links for educators.

Kidlink's list of Special Projects for youths 10-15 are globally oriented, kid centered and generally really interesting -- For example, Kidlink's Family Heritage Project, Multicultural Calendar, My Hero and Me projects, Virtual Trek in a Sumatran Rainforest, etc.

Community Share Web
"To demonstrate the positive impact that the Internet is having on education, classrooms around the world are being asked to create one or more web pages describing an aspect of their local community that they are proud of. These student created web pages will be available on-line and searchable by school, city, project category and language. Each month we will sponsor a new activity designed to strengthen the bond between schools and their local communities. Schools are also encouraged to take the next step and participate in our featured International Schools CyberFair web building and peer review competition."

MayaQuest
"Takes your students on a real-time investigation of an ancient civilization. Students interact with participating archaeologists via the Internet! This project provides an exciting way to teach about the ancient Maya and their relationship to modern-day civilization. This is a great way to teach research skills. Students pose questions and research key issues as they receive updates from the field, view site photos, and chat with kids around the globe."

International School Cyberfair
"At the core of ethical teaching is a respect for each person as unique individual who together can contribute to a healthy, functioning community. The theme of International Schools CyberFair encourages schools and their communities to use the Internet to share resources, establish partnerships and work together to accomplish common goals."

African Odyssey Interactive
"The purpose of the African Odyssey Interactive (AOI) website is to promote the interactive exchange of ideas, information, and resources between artists, teachers, and students of African art and culture."

Plugged-In
"Plugged In's mission is to bridge the technological gap between East Palo Alto and the Silicon Valley. Located just a few miles from the heart of Silicon Valley, East Palo Alto is an ethnically diverse low-income community of 25,000 that has been largely left behind in the economic boom that has transformed neighboring communities in the past decades. Plugged In offers a broad range of technology-related services that allows all people in our community to take advantage of the educational and economic opportunities created by information technologies."

Elementary Planet at the UN Cyberschoolbus

Westward Ho!

Crossroads Music Project
"Welcome to the Crossroads Classroom, the bridge between Crossroads, Southern Routes, the Internet, and your classroom. It is our hope that this pilot project may serve as a model for the dual purposes of sharing limited classroom resources and connecting with a large, diverse, worldwide community through the Internet. The lessons in this section were created for use in grades five through eight (though they can easily be adapted for other grades) and take advantage of the highly organized, well-researched resources on the Smithsonian/Folkways' Crossroads CD (refer to Guided Tour in the CD section of this site). The lessons will guide you through those resources, exploring major themes included on the CD. We hope these lessons will inspire you to create your own lessons and to share these and related ideas with your international community of educators."

Let me know what else you find. Thanks!

Christina

ps> Don't miss the other parts of this series: