At 7:45 a.m. Kate (all names are pseudonyms) is already busy gathering materials to fill her cart that will serve as a mobile office today-her physical one will be used for make-up testing. Books, sticky notes, pens, and reflection sheets for grade-level meetings are first on her list. She shakes her head as she glances at the piles of running record assessments waiting to be collated, stapled, and distributed and the stacks of books waiting to be sorted, leveled, and placed on shelves. A teacher pops in and asks for the running records packet. Kate lets her know she will get one to her this afternoon. The teacher seems annoyed, and Kate asks about her child who was sick over the weekend. Smiling, the teacher tells Kate about her daughter's return to school and walks away. Kate glances at her watch, sighs, and moves faster. A few children's books are next into the cart, anticipating they may come up in a discussion. The last thing to go in the cart, and sometimes the most important, are the snacks she purchased for the teachers.
Purpose
Intercultural dialogue and collaboration are critical to social studies education. Yet over the past 30 years, schools in the USA have grown increasingly segregated by race and class. The purpose of this paper is to offer a possible response based in digital technology.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors describe a project called Classes Without Walls that links elementary schools in wealthy suburbs with those in impoverished urban centers. Students at the two schools engage in collaborative activities through online video conferencing.
Findings
The authors explore two sample lessons in depth: a virtual town tour and a social demographics scavenger hunt.
Originality/value
Such activities, they argue, can contribute toward cultural understanding and civic dialogue.
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