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THINKQUEST e-NEWSLETTER

Vol. 4 No. 3,

November, 2000

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CONTENTS IN THIS ISSUE:

1. ANNOUNCEMENTS

---)Let the Web Sites Begin! Applications for ThinkQuest Junior

Being Accepted

---)Coming Soon! - ThinkQuest Communities!

---) The VisionQuest Series: By Students, For Students

2. FEATURE:ThinkQuest 2000 Finalist Stories Include Web Site

for Preserving Family History, 73-year Old Grandma Coach

3. Calling All ThinkQuest and ThinkQuest Junior Students!

Log on to http://www.azaweb.com !

4. ELECTRONIC SCHOLAR'S NOTEBOOK

From the Coach's Perspective: An Interview With

Neme Alperstein,ThinkQuest Junior Team Coach

5. This Month's THINKQUEST LIBRARY FEATURE:

Native American Know-How

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1.ANNOUNCEMENTS

---) Let the Web Sites Begin! Applications for

ThinkQuest Junior Being Accepted

Reading, writing and 'rithmatic aren't the only skills

today's students need. With this in mind, ThinkQuest

announces that applications are now being accepted for

the ThinkQuest Junior 2000-2001 Competition.

"ThinkQuest has transformed our approach to web-based

learning," explains Neme Alperstein, a teacher and

winning ThinkQuest Jr. coach at P.S. 56 Queens in

Richmond Hill, NY. "Regardless of the means and technol

ogy of the participating school and students, ThinkQuest

teaches students to develop content and work with their

own available resources. It is a terrific tool for

teachers."

Neme provides more insight into the experience

for her as a Teacher-Coach in The Electronic Scholar's

Notebook column at the end of this Newsletter.

Information---)http://www.thinkquest.org/tqjr/index.html.

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---) Coming Soon! - ThinkQuest Communities!

Communities will be an exciting addition to the ThinkQuest web site.

Centering around popular topics, they will be places to share

information and experiences, participate in discussions and meet

others from around the world. As we get more information we will

update the Communities section

[ http://www.thinkquest.org/communities/index.html ] of the ThinkQuest

site.

Follow the link on this page to give us suggestions for communities that

you would like to see and possible activities that they might host.

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---)The VisionQuest Series: By Students, For Students

Episode I: Meet the Man Who Spun the Web.

November 17, 2000 3pm (EST)

Imagine a Q & A session with one of the best minds in technology

answering your questions. Hear the remarkable stories of how

technologies came to be - straight from their inventors. Here's your

chance to discover what drives great thinkers, how they succeed and

why they sometimes fail.

The VisionQuest Series is a student organized, globally broadcast

forum that affords the academic population a rare opportunity to

interact with industry leaders on such topics as elements of success,

attainment of goals and the advancement of technology. Airing biannually

from Binghamton University (SUNY), VisionQuest will be distributed by

satellite transmission and Web streaming. This innovative deployment of

media, coupled with strong support from leading corporations, promises

to establish VisionQuest as the world's largest student technology

forum.

Join us at 3 pm (EST) November 17, 2000 for our debut episode featuring

the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee. We invite you to

submit questions for Tim and join us in our cause by visiting

[ http:// www.vqfoundation.org ].

This chat is sponsored by Yahoo! Careers, Microsoft Corporation and

Cisco Systems.

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2. ---)ThinkQuest 2000 Finalist Stories Include Website for Preserving

Family History, 73-year Old Grandma Coach

A "how-to" website on preserving family history via the web,

and a site on public speaking coached by a 73-year old grandmother are

just two of the impressive stories coming from this year's ThinkQuest

2000 Internet Challenge. Outstanding ThinkQuest 2000 finalist sites

include "The UnWritten: Saving Your Photo Stories for the Future",

a guide for preserving family history written by three teenage cousins

who found each other, learned about their shared history and documented

detailed genealogy, through their ThinkQuest entry

[ http://library.thinkquest.org/C001313].

"The Art of Speech," coached by a 73-year old grandmother, is a must-see

site for anyone planning to speak in public

[http://library.thinkquest.org/C001146].

---)More:

http://www.thinkquest.org/news/press/press_template.html?story=101800

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3. Calling All ThinkQuest and ThinkQuest Junior Students!

Log on to http://www.azaweb.com !

Do you care about endangered animals?

Are you concerned about the environment?

Would you like to tell the world how you feel?

If you answered "YES!"--keep reading.

Join millions of students all over the world in a "vote for the planet."

The OPINION DAY POLL is a chance to share your feelings about our

natural world. Your voice will be heard by 50,000 leaders who make

decisions that affect the earth. You can ask your teachers, family, and

friends to take the poll, too.

Read more: http://www.thinkquest.org/resources/activities.html

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4. ELECTRONIC SCHOLAR'S NOTEBOOK (c)

Patricia Libutti, Ph.D.,

Cybrarian, ThinkQuest Programs

>From the Coach's Perspective: What Works Well

An Interview with Neme Alperstein, ThinkQuest Junior Coach

As ThinkQuest Junior 2001 is launched, the Electronic Scholar [ES]

wondered about the role of the coach in this competition. Neme

Alperstein, a teacher in P.S. 56, Queens, NY for 13 years,

and Coach of two winning TQ Jr. teams, agreed to an interview with

the Electronic Scholar. Neme coached the team: "Yo,

It's Time for Braces" [ http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/5029/]

and "Art Rights and Wrongs"

[ http://library.thinkquest.org/J001570/].

Her perspectives can help coaches think about their experiences.

ES: "Obviously you are doing something Right: What do you think

are the coaching actions or behaviors that help the teams so much?"

Neme Alperstein [NA]:" The students have to be in charge of the

content. The students usually need assistance in using the

technology (such as saving graphics and images in .gif or .jpg

format and learning how to use the html editors

(such as Netscape Composer). They also need direction in terms of

academic rigor (bibliographic format, proper attribution, and

outlining the headings of the topic to be researched).

Time also is devoted to writing appropriate emails to those

experts students hope will help provide expertise. As a coach,

I send out my own letter at the bottom of the students' e-mails with

my e-mail for the professionals to confirm our ThinkQuest participation.

The coach must also set deadlines for certain parts of the

project so as to avoid a last minute rush. Actually, despite

the fact that we seem to meet those deadlines, there is always a

rush at the end (editing, uploading, revisions, etc.)

Most important: Establish a relationship with one of the parents

of a team member with the understanding that you can call them to

keep after team members to stay on task at home. The parents have

to be on top of the situation and know what is due."

ES: "If you could focus on one instance of the kids gathering

information: what stands out as an "AHA!" moment? [A time when

someone realizes something important or exciting]"

NA: "Some of the " AHA !" moments stem from responses we have

received from prospective participants, the experts with whom

we have worked. They often add suggestions and ideas, along

with contacts so that we can make those suggestions "happen".

Another " AHA !" was technological. Getting software to work the

way we intend has many moments of enlightenment (and often the

students are the most successful in this area). An "AHA !"also

goes to the realization that one person should be in charge of

uploading the files so that the team does not upload an old file,

replacing the new one by the same name. Experience (and extra

work after errors were realized) led to that " AHA !", but

it's a major one. "

ES: "Can you relate a time of very creative behavior you

observed with any team? "

NA:" Students don't seem to have any trouble using a mouse to

create the most intricate of graphics. Students preferred their

own artwork (which avoided copyright issues) and found ways to

teach each other shortcuts, that I could never keep up with the

level of creativity.

The challenge was to avoid becoming overwhelmed and to narrow

the choice of material to a manageable level. Graphics, and

aspects of sites that were very personal brought out the most

creative behavior. Information (specifically a topic that has

personal involvement) often comes across best when the student

has had a personal experience that is related to the topic.

Example: In " From Pokemon to Picasso: Art Rights and Wrongs "

One student had bought a fake Pokemon card. That made the

choice of copyrights for a web site (one that kids could understand)

very important.

Another aspect was the fact that one of the site designers,

Madeline, had dealt with copyright issues with a previous

year's ThinkQuest Junior entry. Whenever the "Yo, It's Time

for Braces" team (Madeline's team from 1999) came across graphics

or photos needed to develop the site, copyright issues arose.

It was easier to generate original graphics than to risk copyright

infringement.

ES:" Similarly ---any pertinent observations about collaboration?"

NA: "Students would do well to choose members of a team with

different skills, and the ability to get together after school to

work on the project. It is also helpful to have the parents of

the team members decide whose house will be the "base of operation"

with a parent to supervise, if possible. Dividing up the different

parts of the site also helps (i.e. artist, editor, who will store

which files, who will upload). The students also need to be able to

work

together in class at assigned times, if possible, so they can see what

sort of help they need.

Having a strategy for dealing with disputes over content and site

management is also most helpful. When the children aren't in class,

it helps if one or two parents agree to mediate so the team members

don't become bogged down in disagreements. Once that process is

established, the kids seem to work well, knowing that an adult will

step in. The kids then figure out ways to solve the problems that

arise. One obstacle which needs teacher and parental input is monitoring

of time and pacing to see that work moves along, especially when faced

with "down times" (when things go wrong, files are lost, or a

computer crashes). Backup is also helpful.

As a coach, I kept graphics and images on several computers so that

there was access. Using servers that provide free web storages was also

helpful -- i.e. use of Yahoo, Microsoft, etc. for storing .jpgs for

access from anywhere."

ES: "What advice would you give to new ThinkQuest Junior Coaches?"

NA: "My suggestion would be to keep the teams small and manageable.

Try to have the students choose a topic that has a personal

perspective so as to maintain the motivation when doing the research.

I started my first year with two teams, and that was even a heavy

responsibility. My second year I wound up with 4 teams due to student

enthusiasm, but parents who were willing to be involved were critical

to completing the sites.

Choose students who have a sense of commitment. No team is allowed

to quit once the project is seriously underway. Having a completed

site on the server is so important to the final sense of accomplishment

(regardless of award status)."

ES: Thank you very much, Neme!

You can see Neme Alperstein's school page with TQ Team involvement.

[ http://home.att.net/~alperstein/], which also includes a link to

NYKIDS. It is a fun, cartoon-illustrated site, from the radio show

New York Kids[ http://www.nykids.org ].

One feature in the Teachers Only section will help students who

include audio files in their sites is "Writing for the Ear!"

[ http://www.nykids.org/teachers/earwrite.html].

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5. This Month's ThinkQuest Library Feature:

Check out the Featured Sites on Native American Know-How!

The Feature includes sites on games, ceremonies, and more.

Click on: http://www.thinkquest.org/library/feature.html

ThinkQuest is a program of Advanced Network & Services,

a non- profit corporation whose mission is to advance

education by accelerating the use of computer network

applications and technology.

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(C) Copyright 2000 Advanced Network & Services, Inc.

All rights reserved.