Social Studies Possible Web Applications

04/17/2001

Web Resource

• Interview major players in a current event or those affected, i.e., interview elders about Social Security, Israelis and Palestinians about the peace process, etc.
• Access news accounts from major media
• Inquire into government processes through public documents such as the Senate or House records, U.S. Census report, etc.
• Investigate and report on controversial issues using primary documents
• Analyze economic indicator and statistics
• Reference historical documents via the Library of Congress, etc.

Web Collaboration

• Study for AP exam, with students from all over
• Study World War II with classroom from each country involved

Web Survey

• Survey political issues locally or globally
• Investigate biases in polling
• Compare cultures, i.e., work ethics, values, resource allocations, etc
• Identify problems that need to be addressed

Cooperative Challenge

• Join others in investing and designing a solution to a problem that students care about, i.e., pollution of a shared waterway or the lack of funding for the arts in your school district.
• Join forces to take political action on a current issue i.e., an online letter-writing campaign to key government officials.
• Join others to investigate alternative solutions to a problem or question from history, for example how could the Cuban Missile Crisis have been avoided?

Social Action

• Design a fund-raiser for a social cause and gather support from around the world.
• Create a public service campaign complete with educational resources on your Web site.
• Plan a simultaneous celebration or social act, i.e., a moment of silence on the anniversary of the dropping of the A-bomb or tree planting on Arbor Day

Community Connection

• Interview and profile war veterans on your Web site for Veterans Day.
• Create an online survey about a controversial issue in your district. Publish the results in your local newspaper.

Simulations

• Virtually visit another country or culture through keypals and Web site searches.
• Mimic an historical event online with representatives from the respective countries or states of all the major players, i.e., Nuremburg trials, Camp David accords, etc.
• Create a model United Nations with representative classrooms from as many countries as possible.
• Assign roles across cultures in a real or imagined conflict
• Hold an online debate with players who have a stake in the issue, i.e., debate health care reform with an insurance company representative, etc.
• Chart the progress of a fictitious journey taken around the country or the globe.

Web Publishing

• Create a "suggestion box," a site where students can express their ideas and address an issue of concern.
• Research and design a site dedicated to an historical event.
• Around elections, create a virtual voting booth, where students around the world can cast their ballots.
• Publish a newsletter or magazine devoted to social issues and featuring students' writing.

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