Ryan Hauber Canada Online Teacher and Guidance Counselor

Teacher - Ryan Hauber Country - Canada I am a Guidance Counsellor and Teacher at the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School.

creating community in an on-line world

Curriculum / Subject Areas: The ZUNE / SCCS Social Network falls into the curriculum under communication. This aspect works because communication is cross curricula and an important aspect in every grade. I used Microsoft Zune software to develop an area within our school that students could access and communicate with other students from around the world.

Age Level of Students: This project applies to students within our Cyber School who are taking classes from grade 9 through 12. The teachers of Cyber School are also active participants of this area.

Time Allotted: The time allotted for this project is open-ended. We initiated this endeavour in the fall of 2008, and we will keep it open and available for all students to sign up and log in. The idea is to keep this network growing, and building on that growth year after year.

Lesson Objectives: The project objective for this initiative is to help create a stronger sense of community. This area within the Student Lounge is for all students and teachers to become a part of something that allows for safe, secure, and FUN communication! The goal was to foster and develop community in our virtual school by creating this unique social network.

This is the area within our Cyber School that the students can access the ZUNE / SCCS Social Network.

Integrating Technology: This is the exciting part! We have set up a link within our Student Lounge so there is open access to everyone, but only in Cyber School, which means it is a safe environment. From here they can access links which take them to the Zune Social sign-up page. Once they see what ZUNE can do, they are hooked!

Lesson Plan: The way this initiative was introduced to Cyber School was within the Student Lounge itself, with instructions and video tutorials which explained how to sign up. As well, in all of Cyber School’s courses, the teachers made a point of advertising this exciting opportunity.

Assessment: The assessment for this project is to monitor this area for continued student involvement and student interaction. The more people we have, the greater the success. It is a social network so the goal is to get more and more students signed up, and signed in!

Resources and Materials: I created a blog I created a blog which outlines my proposal, and I have created and published video tutorials that facilitate the process for teachers and students showing people how to sign up and sign in. I used Microsoft Movie Maker to complete these short videos. The Zune Account Sign UpThe Zune / SCCS Screencast

Resources and Materials: Last year, the administrator of Cyber School, Mr. Darren Cannell, introduced the CIF (Continuous Improvement Framework) in which to strengthen the courses available within our on-line school. Each CIF was developed to keep courses current, easier to navigate, and to keep our staff and our courses on the cutting edge of innovative ideas. I created a website using Microsoft Publisher to facilitate the process. This year, the first CIF was designed to help the staff get involved in our Zune Social Network. This year, the first CIF was designed to help the staff get involved in our Zune Social Network.

Pedagogical Theory: Creating learning environments, using any and all mediums, to convey the objectives in a meaningful and relevant way for the students to better understand the concepts and content.