ABSTRACT
In Fall 2006, the EdLab at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to create an online educational resource to accompany the HBO Documentary Film, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.” This study focuses on the development of the Teaching the Levees (TTL) website (
http://www.teachingthelevees.org/) into a dynamic, interactive community-oriented resource. Specifically, the researchers examine website activity at different stages of the TTL project to assess how effectively the various components of the online resource (e.g., Discussion Board, Curriculum Materials, Multimedia) functioned to support the objectives of the TTL project. By examining user activity on the website (e.g., curriculum requests, page visits, multimedia views, Discussion Board/Lesson Plan postings, blog comments), the researchers draw attention to features of online learning environments that promote democratic discourse and civic engagement.
Citation:
Chae, H., Cocciolo, A., Hughes, B. & Natriello, G. (2007, March). Teaching the Levees: Creating an Online Resource to Facilitate Democratic Discourse and Civic Engagement.
Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.