the "supposed end..."

It's still hard to believe that 677 students from around the world took part in our Many Voices for Darfur project. My students and I started the project a month ago with Wendy Drexler's 3rd graders in Florida to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide taking place in Darfur. The project was a huge success. 677 k-12 students visited the Many Voices for Darfur blog in two days and left respectful, thoughtful, well-written comments. Students from different locations also created a variety of Darfur multi-media projects leading up to the event. (special thanks to The Blurb!)

This is a great example of showing students the power of using the web for social action. It also was a good opportunity to talk about commenting online on an important issue with the appropriate tone and language. Students expressed a wide variety of opinions. However, they are all respectful, even when disagreeing with one another. Wendy Drexler and I moderated every comment before it was posted online. We didn't have to reject a single comment. I think that is remarkable, and clearly shows that teachers can trust students to publish online responsibly.


Last week, we printed all 677 comments for a Darfur hallway exhibit outside my classroom. The comments and large Darfur signs we created will be a constant reminder to us for the rest of the year that although our project is over, the genocide is not.

Project Links:

• Many Voices for Darfur Weblog
• Many Voices for Darfur Wiki (check out all the video's & other student produced multi-media)
  

Related Links:

• Teachers Teaching Teachers podcast (featuring Claire, Rose, Ian, Pablo, and Rafi)
• WOW podcast on EdTechTalk about the Many Voices for Darfur Project
• Many Voices for Darfur on technorati.com (over 130 weblog posts about our project)