1. Design a Project 2. Advertise your Project 3. Prepare for your Project 4. Conduct your Project 5. Quickstart Projects 6. Resources

Making Collaborative Learning Projects

Now that you've participated in your first networked project experience, you may want to think about organizing your own basic networked learning project.

We conducted our first networked project, Letters to Santa Claus, in 1984 on the old FrEdMail Network, and have repeated the project annually for the past 14 years. This classically simple but effective project has been completed by thousands of classrooms. The Santa Call for Collaboration, which we post every September to various network mailing lists and project registries, provides well-organized information and guidelines about the project, and invites teachers to participate. When teachers register via email, we send them detailed instructions for completing the project (with thanks to teacher Dennis Cowick, who has been our faithful volunteer Santa project coordinator every year since 1984).

Over the years since this first project we have evolved time-proven principles and guidelines for successful projects. Like many aspects of successful teaching, we have found that planning is the key to success.

This section shows you, step by step, how to plan, organize, and conduct your own simple networked learning project.

Page 1: Design a Project
Page 2: Advertise your Project
Page 3: Prepare for your Project
Page 4: Conduct your Project
Page 5: Quickstart Projects
Page 6: Resources