http://ics.soe.umich.edu/ICS/ICS.html (PC Press Internet CD, 03/1996)
Schedule -
Contacting -
ICS -
Exercises -
ICS-Talk -
Q&A -
Participating -
Credits -
DeweyWeb
Welcome to WebICS!
As ICS experiments with becoming better integrated with the resources
suddenly available to classrooms via the WWW,
WebICS will become an important
resource for students and educators (and those of us in between).
WebICS contains information about
participating in upcoming ICS projects, as well as examples of past work
by students.
The following ICS exericses will be offered during the 1995-96 school year:
- Interactive Communications & Simulations
- 2202 School of Education
- The University of Michigan
- Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259
- Tel: 313-763-5950
- Fax: 313-763-1504
- E-Mail:
info@ics.soe.umich.edu
Interactive Communications and Simulations (ICS) is a dynamic program
of exciting and innovative educational telecommunications exercises. Using
accessible telecommunications and computer conferencing, students can spend
part of every school day in a "global classroom."
A small group of educators at The University of Michigan form the core
of ICS. Working closely with classroom teachers, they have developed a
series of student-centered activities that have gripped and challenged
young people - from gifted and talented to the most "at risk" - throughout
the U.S. and around the world. These exercises are carefully structured but
allow teachers the flexibility to meet their own objectives.
Over the past dozen years, ICS has become recognized as a pioneer in
educational telecommunications. Thousands of students in over 400 public
and private schools in 36 states, 4 Canadian provinces, and 25 countries
overseas have been involved in hundreds of ICS exercises.
ICS exercises have been designed to help teachers teach, mostly
by encouraging active learning, learning through design, and providing
flexibility so that teachers can integrate the on-line and classroom
experiences.
This is a role-playing simulation exercise designed to plunge students
into the dynamics of the Middle East drama. Students assume the roles of
key players in the ongoing Arab-Israeli political situation. All
communications between participants must be conveyed by computer since
country teams of student role- players are located in different schools
around the world. A group of "Mentors," University of Michigan
undergraduates, monitor all communications and help participants to act
realistically in the interests of the characters and nations they
represent. Through this experience, students become more sophisticated
world citizens with an appreciation for the intricacies of domestic and
international politics. This exercise requires the greatest time commitment
of our current offerings.
This exercise combines the individualized activity of writing poetry
with the teamwork needed to compile "journals" of student work. The Poetry
Guild can be incorporated easily into any language arts curriculum in
junior and senior high schools. Through electronic mail, students exchange
their work and ideas with others around the world. Their poems are also
read by a group of "Mentors," University of Michigan students of poetry,
who support and critique participants' work and engage them in an on-going
discussion of poetics and the creative process. At the end of the term, the
Mentors bestow the Poetry Guild Awards, in recognition of a variety of
outstanding poetic acheivements. The culmination of the exercise is the
publication by each school or class of a journal of poems selected from
among the work of their peers around the world. During the Spring 1996 term
only, ICS will offer a French-language version of the International Poetry
Guild.
The 1990s Earth Odysseys is an interdisciplinary adventure learning
activity that "sends" students to places they may never visit in person.
Participants learn about the world's geographical and human diversity as
well as the rich and varied cultural expressions of its people. In the
present exercise, students make a voyage of discovery from Europe, across
Russia on the Trans-Siberian railroad, through China and eventually arrive
in Hong Kong. Student participants follow the tracks of a young American
traveler, John Friedman, as he makes his way across Eurasia. Through his
extensive travel journals, John shares aspects of his experiences with the
participants. Mentors then challenge students to use John's experiences to
define and articulate their own ideas, to read their own writing and that
of others with a critical eye, and to take a fresh look at their own lives
by aspiring to understand how others live theirs.
Developed in conjunction with the World School for Adventure Learning,
Journey North, and the International Arctic Project, the World
Forum: Arctic Adventure explores the science, environment,
culture, politics and economics of life at the North Pole by simulating
an expedition from Michigan to the North Pole. Through role-playing,
students take on the personas of distinguished world figures and debate
aspects of the journey through the viewpoints of the individuals they
represent. Through a combination of travel, role-playing and
participation in an ICS global classroom, students develop a broader and
deeper understanding of their world.
Visit the Fall 1994 Run of the World
Forum
Visit the Winter 1995 Run of the World
Forum
What happens when the exercise is done and suddenly the electronic
forum you used to keep in touch with the world is closed? Starting in the
Fall of 1995, ICS is pleased to announce ICS-TALK and ICS-CHAT.
ICS-TALK is an electronic mailing list for ICS teachers to share
ideas, opinions, stories -- not just about ICS exercises, but about the
bigger task of using telecommunications in your classroom.
ICS-CHAT is where students can keep in touch with the folks they meet
during the exercises. Membership in either group is automatic when you
register for an ICS exercise; if you're not registering for the Fall 1995
term and would still like to join send a message to either
"ics-talk@umich.edu" or "ics-chat@umich.edu".
The following folks bring you WebICS and all the ICS projects:
- Fred Goodman, PhD, Guru and Gaming Czar
- Edgar Taylor, PhD, ICS Czar
- Clancy Wolf, PhD, Classroom Czar
- Jeff Stanzler, Education Czar
- Douglass Scott, Forum Czar
- Roger
Espinosa, Tech Czar
- John Miller
...all exercises, however, couldn't happen without the amazing work of
mentors and volunteers!
Schedule -
Contacting -
ICS -
Exercises -
ICS-Talk -
Q&A -
Participating -
Credits -
DeweyWeb
Last modified 26 May 1995 Roger Espinosa
roger.espinosa@umich.edu
