Quick Look:
High school students research the Vietnam Conflict through news footage, essays, photographs, art, music, books and firsthand accounts, and develop a multimedia
embedded presentation, video, poster or webpage. They study relevant data about the war and visually represent this information. Students correspond with a class in Vietnam using ePals, to learn about the impact of the war on modern Vietnam. They also take advantage of the large number of Americans of Vietnamese ancestry who can recollect this time period and the history, culture and language of Vietnam.
Scenario:
In their U.S. history class, students have a lively discussion about the Vietnam conflict and develop focus questions (3a):
• What political events and policies led to the involvement of the U.S. in the Vietnam conflict?
• Was the reasoning for entering the war sound, considering our attitude towards communism?
• What effects did the war have on the social fabric of the United States and Vietnam?
• How did this conflict compare to other U.S. conflicts in regard to casualties, time, economic, and political costs?
• How is the war affecting political decisions in the U.S. today?
Students have several options for their reading assignment about the Vietnam War, all available on their eBook readers. After selecting a book, they read and/or listen to the text, highlight important information, look up terms and phrases with a click, and add notes digitally (3c). They form book groups which meet face-to-face and on the web.
They create a page using Google discussion groups where they can read and post messages online, and contribute documents and other resources. Students discuss information and build collaborative resources using this site.
Still using their eBook reader, students connect to the web and go to NoodleBib
http://www.noodletools.com/, to develop the outline and bibliography for their research.
They continue their research at dozens of sites including http://thewall-usa.com/, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/, and
http://www.time.com/time/archive/collections/0,21428,c_vietnam_war,00.shtml and add information to NoodleBib (3b).
Concurrently, the teacher points students in the direction of online resources containing information about the significant wars and numerous other conflicts in which the United States has participated from 1775 to the present, such as:
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq56-1.htm,
http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm,
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf , http://www.teacheroz.com/index.htm and many others. Students compare two or three of these military conflicts on the basis of economic, political, and human cost. They make discoveries about the real price of war on the U.S. and their overseas participants. They place similar data in a spreadsheet and graph it to produce visual comparisons (3d). The graphs become supporting
documents for their research assignment and are incorporated into their final product.
Students select from the following data types:
• Number of human casualties, and battle deaths
• Military casualties by gender
• Civilian casualties by country
• Military dollars spent on the war
• Per capita military spending during the war
• Number of years that the conflict lasts
• Unemployment during the time period
• GDP during the wartime period
• Number of American presidents during the conflict
• Effect of war on political party power
• Major world powers militarily involved in the conflict
Several speakers join the class over the course of two weeks both directly and indirectly, including through the Vermont Learning Network (VLN), a Veteran Vietnam nurse, a Vietnam Military Veteran, a Vietnamese American who experienced the war, and a conscientious objector from the 1960s. Students gain valuable insight during a Q&A and add this new information to their notes and Google discussion group.
In order to understand more about the current culture of Vietnam, the students correspond with a high school classroom in Vietnam using ePals. They learn about Vietnamese language, history, family life, social structure, physical geography, natural resources, climate, religion and culture while the Vietnamese students have an opportunity to practice English. The richness of this cultural context brings life to events that happened forty years ago and helps students consider the lasting effects of war. American students share their final products with their Vietnamese counterparts.
The student groups select a final multimedia format for their research. Students choose from a variety of product possibilities including interactive posters using Glogster, YouTube video production, online presentations such as Prezi , Slideshare or Google presentation, enhanced podcasts, or a Knol or blog with original art, photos, music, video, links, and other supporting resources (3c). They publish their work so that it is accessible from anywhere in the world.
Vietnamese Epal students, classmates and parents are provided with guidelines on constructive feedback for the project and have an opportunity to look at the work, ask questions and provide recommendations to the groups (2a). The students finalize their work based upon the feedback.
Final products
• Interactive poster using Glogster
• YouTube video production
• Online presentation using Prezi, Slideshare or Google presentation
• Enhanced podcast
• Knol or blog
Student Standards
– The following NETS-S are noted in the Scenario:2. Communication and Collaboration (A) 3. Research and Information Fluency (C,D)
Teacher Standards
–Teachers who teach this unit address the following NETS-T:1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity (A,D)
2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments (A)
Content Grade Expectations
The scenario writer has identified the following content grade expectations that s/he felt might be assessed in this scenario. In most of these scenarios, there may well be
opportunities to assess other or additional content grade expectations across a variety of disciplines. If you are interested in developing a unit or lessons based on the following scenario, and you don’t see any grade expectations in your content area, we encourage you to capture the ideas presented in the scenario and make it your own by adding components that address the grade expectations you are most interested in assessing.
H&SS9-12:5 - Students develop reasonable explanations that support the research statement by…
• Organizing and display information in a manner appropriate to the research statement through tables graphs, maps, dioramas, charts, narratives, posters timelines, models, simulations, and/or dramatizations.
H&SS9-12:10 - Students show understanding of past, present, and future time by…
• Creating an historical narrative.
• Making predictions, decisions, or taking a public stand on a defensible position based on an understanding of the past and present.
• Explaining transitions between eras that occurred over time as well as those that occurred as a result of a pivotal event, and evaluating the effects of these
transitions (e.g.,What factors led to various democratic revolutions? What have been the long-term effects of these revolutions?).
• Identifying why certain events are considered pivotal and how they cause us to reorder time (e.g., Muhammad’s call to prophecy, the collapse of the Soviet Union).