Reflections+on+Progressive+Page+Assignment

Reflections

Julie: Participating in the developing of this Wiki page has been an effective--though unusual--way of learning about a great deal of information. First, I think we all have a firmer grasp on the developments in education during the Progressive Era. We realized that this time period represents one of major changes in thought. Second, this assignment helped me to realize that the amount of information about education available on the world wide web is vast and can be overwhelming. For every link included in our page, there are literally hundreds of others that could have been used instead. Finally, this assignment allowed for some creativity and we had fun creating it. This is something that I would like to pursue for use with my own students.

Sarah: One of the things I never really thought about was the effects of the Great Depression and of World War II on the education system in the United States. We have always been taught about the major events during that time and education has always been on the sidelines. I was honestly shocked at how the Great Depression did not have as immediate of an impact on education as it did on everything else. As Julie said, it was overwhelming to realize how much went on during the Progressive Era. Choosing the material to include was difficult because there was so much to choose from. Putting these pages together was definitely more fun and even more entertaining (especially when you add YouTube videos in the mix) than doing yet another PowerPoint presentation with nothing but information. This is definitely a worthwhile activity for any age of student.

Denise: I enjoyed getting to use the wiki application in this project. I have created a page that my social studies class is now working on and plan to add this to my curriculum. I am excited to see what my students will be able to do with the creativity possible with this method of production. In the past, they have created power points and this will give them a new avenue to explore. The era we chose was incredibly busy. I felt that it was hard to capture the many changes involved and it was amazing that education has changed so much in our country. As Julie and Sarah both said, it was fun to see what all could be added to our page. I would like to continue exploring the many areas that could be added to the page.