First, how does it address questions about the most important things teachers need to do to help students prepare for their futures? As I've said numerous times before, both here on this blog and in other places, one of the trends I see for the future, as technological innovation and computing power grows more and more ubiquitous, is the wealth of information at our fingertips. Anything that we, as teachers, have to contribute as far as content can be found online by those who know how to look. But there is also a flood of useless, inaccurate, or plain wrong data out there that must be sifted through. Ultimately, this may be what educators will have to do; we'll need to teach students HOW to distinguish good information from bad, and how to analyze it and use it to reach meaningful conclusions. That is what this webquest does. It invites students to seek out information online about a specific topic (citizenship of various nations), determine that the information is credible and legitimate, and then make an informed decision based on what they have found.
Second, how do the ideas in the webquest relate to social justice and the core values and vision of our class? Well to begin, by comparing citizenship requirements of other nations with the United States, students can begin to see some of the differences in how national governments treat their citizens and view the very concept of citizenship within their borders. I expect that, depending on which other country they select, some students will be quite surprised at how restrictive some other countries are... or how incredibly permissive they can be. They may conclude that citizenship may be too hard a goal to achieve for some people in some places... or they may determine that it is perhaps a little too easy to obtain for others. But ultimately, it will foster an appreciation for the differences of national policies on a global scale. Our class has been devoted to an increasingly global perspective and fostering a sense of "worldly citizenship" or participation. This webquest focuses on exactly that.
Finally, how does this webquest relate to NCSS standards 8 and 9? Well, NCSS 9 is easy. Standard 9 is all about global connections. It deals with personal, national, and global decisions, and the analysis of policies, actions, and their consequences. Again, this webquest focuses on exactly that. I hardly feel that it needs more explanation, once you've seen and perused the webquest itself. NCSS 8 is a bit trickier, and at first I didn't know how to incorporate it. Standard 8 deals not only with science, technology, and society, but with the consequences of technological change and progress. In other words, how technology and advancement can change our lives and affect how we interact with the world. To satisfy this standard, I invite students to spend some time reflecting on their search for citizenship in the world. I ask them to think about the resources they had at their disposal to find this information, and how quickly (comparatively) they could do it. More importantly, I ask them to imagine how different the task would be in a world with no computers, no internet, none of the easy global connections we now enjoy. I ask them to picture how difficult it would be to find out how to become a citizen as little as fifty years ago, when the only way to get information about the process would be to go firsthand and in person. I believe that this reflection - this connection to the past - will help students appreciate how the march of technological progress can fundamentally change how we live.
