Rural Education, Curriculum of Place, and the Web

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Rural Education, Curriculum of Place, and the Web

• For better schools in better communities.

R. L. Erion South Dakota State University Brooking
s, SD E-mail ralph_erion_at_sdstate.edu
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Introduction

• My interest stems in part from involvement with
  the Program for Rural School and Community
  Renewal (PRSCR) which was part of the Annenberg
  Rural Challenge.
• Many of the examples are from schools in South
  Dakota who were part this program.

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What is Curriculum of Place?

• A curriculum of place is one in which teachers
  draw on the community as a resource at the same
  time that they produce curriculum that
  strengthens the community. Students learn about
  and through their community by being active
  participants in that community. It is also known
  as place-based education.

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What (continued)

• Place-based education usually includes
  conventional outdoor education methodologies as
  advocated by John Dewey to help students connect
  with their particular corners of the world.
  Proponents of placebased education often
  envision a role for it in achieving local
  ecological and cultural sustainability.
• Woodhouse Knapp

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Why Curriculum of Place?

• Much of present curriculum is not focused on
  place and often actually encourages students to
  lead their lives elsewhere.

Students who understand the communities in which
they live will be better citizens.
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Other Advantages

• Authentic Curriculum
• More meaningful
• More likely to provide basis for further learning

Builds School and Community Relationships
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Examples

• Students in Rutland, South Dakota learned about
  business through a convenience store that is run
  entirely by students. At the same time, the
  community has a much needed store.

Students in Howard, South Dakota, learned about
community cash flow by conducting a study based
on the people and institutions of Minor County,
not on fictitious examples from a
nationally-oriented textbook.
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More Examples

• In Clear Lake the Free Enterprise class tapes all
  events in the life of the school and edits them
  for consumption.
• Game films go to coaches and fans.
• Also process family videos and put them into
  usable formats.
• This generates cash and experience.

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Why Technology?

• It is part of an Authentic Curriculum.
• It provides a means by which students can make a
  mark on the world at large without leaving home.
• The Web has resources to help better learn about
  locale.

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Authentic Curriculum

• Technology is and will be part of the world in
  which students live.

Much of what is taught in school is how to
interact with mature technologies (eg. Paper
and Pencil). New technologies are changing the
content areas.
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Services

• There are a number of needed community services
  which can be set up and maintained by students.
  While stores, day care centers, parks, and murals
  are good examples which are not web based, some
  other possibilities exist in which the web can
  play a very useful role.

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Streaming Audio

• In Willow Lake and Doland SD students broadcast
  the games using live audio over the web.
• Previously played games could be revisited on the
  internet.
• Present example in Chester, SD at
  http//www.chester.k12.sd.us/

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Newspaper

• Estelline School Newspaper has become the
  community newspaper as well.
• Web may make such publications even more
  affordable.
• A good example of a Web Based Student paper is
  The Vocal Point

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Yellow Pages

• Sioux Valley (Volga, SD) produced Yellow Pages
  for the immediate area.
• Students could help businesses in developing web
  sites as well, opening local businesses to a
  wider customer base.

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Using the Web

• Seeming contradiction in going out to the world
  to celebrate and strengthen place.
• Many schools have done it.

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Community Pages

• Schools develop web pages which are either
  supportive of community pages or are the
  community pages.
• Corsica http//www.corsica.k12.sd.us/ See
  community links from school page.

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More Community Pages

• Bowdle http//www.bowdle.k12.sd.us/ Note that
  school page is also community page.
• Belle Fourche http//belle.tie.net/ Links to
  community and newspaper which also has school
  section online.

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Making a Mark

• The Web is a relatively inexpensive medium in
  which to publish.
• Fame and fortune may not require leaving home.
• At same time, the presence on the web is very
  much part of the curriculum

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Examples

• Belle Fourche, SD Historiography Class
• http//belle.tie.net/school/bfhs/historio/histmenu
  .html
• Webster, SD High School Web Projects
• http//www.webster.tie.net/High/projects/index.htm
  

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More Examples

• Flandreau, SD Elders Speak http//www.flandreau.k
  12.sd.us/eldersspeak/index.htm At present an
  outline of a nice idea.
• Fairbanks, AK Noyes Slough http//www.northstar.k
  12.ak.us/schools/awe/noyes/noyesmain.html
• Noyes Slough is one of the many student web
  projects featured by the Fairbanks North Star
  Borough School District at http//www.northstar.K1
  2.ak.us/schools/projects.html

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More Examples

• Fairhaven Virtual Museum http//wwwfms.bham.wedne
  t.edu/VMuseum/Lobby.htm

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Going to the Web to find out stuff about YOUR
place

• Historical Data
• Geological Data
• Access to Expertise

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Historical Sites

• Examples include state historical sites
• Nebraska State Historical Society
  http//www.nebraskahistory.org/
• Kansas State Historical Society
  http//www.kshs.org/

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Geological Data

• Virtual Field Trips Geology of South Dakota
  http//www.abs.sdstate.edu/plantsci/nat_res_field_
  trips/index.htm Online field trips to many
  sites in South Dakota.

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Access to Expertise

• Ask an Expert http//www.askanexpert.com/ A
  searchable data base of places one can go to ask
  questions.

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Other Ideas

• Web-Based Services - Link Pages
• Web-Based Services - Bringing together those with
  needs and those who can meet needs.

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Resources

• Curriculum of Place Web Site http//learn.sdstate
  .edu/prscr/CurriculumofPlace/placehome.html
• ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small
  Schools http//www.ael.org/eric/index.htm
• The Rural School and Community Trust (formerly
  the Annenberg Rural Challenge http//www.ruraledu
  .org/