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REFLECTIONS ON THE 1996 HUNT FOR COUNTRY CAPITALS GAME
SENT IN BY THE FOLLOWING PARTICIPANTS
Cherry Hill Middle School, Elkton, Maryland, USA
Joyce,
From my perspective, it was an overwhelming success! It was our first online project and it had students actively involved in their learnin. Students ued the clues and yes/no answers to problem solve. Often I would hear them "argue" about why or why not a certain city was the correct answer. Before class students would seek me out to ask if they had a response from their site for their yes/no question. They felt the project was too short. I thought it was just long enough. I'm certain the server problems tried your patience. it would have been logistically easier on my end if we had more than one computer with internet access. That situation is supposed to change this spring.
Of course, you did get a complaint about my school answering questions with more than yes/no. The site in question thought it was unfair, we on the other hand thought it was helpful. For example, one question was "Is your city above _______?" My students knew it was north of the city, but they argued it was not above! This is where more than a yes/no answer was needed.
Thank you for all your time and effort in designing, promoting and moderating this project. I'm sure it was a massive task and tieing up all the loose ends will consume many more hours. Thanks again.
From: Linda Slacum, Library Media Specialist
From students playing the game at Cherry Hill Middle School:
- 23/24 said it was a good or great experience and want to
repeat it and 17/24 said it was their first online
experience
- "liked learning about the different countries"
- "I love to work with computers."
- "I don't have a typewriter let alone a computer, so this
was great!"
- "liked playing detective...like playing a game with kids
half way around the world."
- "wish some schools didn't drop out"
- "would rather browse the internet than play this game"
- "wish we could have picked a landmark instead of a capital."
- "wish we didn't have to do follow-up writing of this activity"
- "some clues were not well written,confusing...should have
been able to ask more than YES/NO questions."
- "this was hard at the end!"
- "learned some cool facts about other places"
-"didn't like it when we didn't get answers back to our questions"
- "should have been more competitive, harder clues, harder questions."
- "should have been prizes for the schools who guessed the most correct."
(teacher adds: "Obviously, the students missed the intrinsic value
of getting some capital cities right.")
Thanks again for moderating the project. We enjoyed participating and are looking for other projects on KIDLINK.
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Kristvallabrunnsschool, Nybro, Sweden
Dear Joyce Burtch,
We thank you very much for your work with this project.
We have been so pleased with it and it has been a project that fitted in so well in our other work. We used computers and Internet a lot and dictionarys and schoolbooks. I think this has been one of the best works I have seen as a teacher.
All my students have been full of enthusiasm and they have worked very hard. I have been to a teacher meeting where I talked about Internet and how to use it in the classroom and on this meeting I told them about this work and it made them think that maby Internet is something for them too! Some of the schools did not answer the questions at once but maby they are not connected every day.
So thank you once again. I know you have had a lot of work with it :-)
From: Stina Jonsson and Klass 5-6 Kristvallabrunnsschool
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Merton Schook, Quebec, Canada
Hello Joyce.
I am so pleased that we had the opportunity to partake in this wonderful project.
Right from the beginning this project sounded great. As the game advanced, it became even more exciting, greatly surpasing my initial objectives and expectations. My students were truly involved in using and developing new research skills. Their enthusiasm and quest for new knowledge was amazing. This project gave them a meaningful purpose to acquire new skills and gain valuable information. It also set the stage for individuals to work cooperatively in small groups.
Joyce, your tremendous help and support ensured the success of this project. I admired you for sticking to original rules and being consistent. It was smart to have a backup plan.
As a suggestion, perhaps the clues should have been looked over to make sure they were accurate and correct, by a third party. Maybe a more detailed guideline in forming clues might have been helpful so they were more uniform.
I would look forward to a data base to compare results.
A hug congratulations, Joyce. You have done a super job.
From: Nancy Freedin
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St.Joseph School Devils Lake,North Dakota, USA
This is the best program we have taken part in on the internet so far.My students were so excited. They really worked hard. I am always trying to emphasis how important it is to be able to find information. They sometimes are a little lax in taking the time to do so. This program really put them to the task. They learned how to use reference books from our library, on the computers and how to get information on the net. They also learned how to print and send messages on the net. We only have one computer in our school that is hooked up to the net so alot of them had not had the opportunity to do so before. Their enthusiasm is as strong today as the day I asked them if they wished to take part. They can't wait to see the result. I hope they fared well.
I thank you for all the work you have done.Please do this again next year. I know it is really alot of work and I commend you fpr it. Please know that it has helped alot of kids gain a tremendous amount of knowledge in a fun and challenging way.
God bless you and yours.
From: LaVina Bosch
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A Word of Thanks
The TAG Center,Emporia, Virginia, USA
Joyce,
I just wanted to tell you what a great job you did as moderater of the Country Capital game. It was organzied so well. The manner in which you had us send info back and forth was excellent! You should give lessons on organizing games such as these. I know you had a lot of technological glitches, but you dealt with them beautifully. You certainly have a lot of patience! I also liked the way you set deadlines and rules and everyone had to abide by them or they didn't participate. You also followed up everything you told us. When you said you were going to send us something at a certain time, I could count on you to do that.
Your organization made playing this game a pleasure for me as a teacher. My students had a ball, too! They were never disappointed because someone did not follow through.
The researching skills they acquired doing this were phenomenal. I don't think they realized they were acquiring so many more skills because they were having so much fun being involved in the game.
When I see your name associated with a "game" in the future, I will be sure to sign up because I know it will be one that is well-organized and managed.
Thanks again for a great game!
From: Gay Little, Gifted Resource Teacher,Grades 4-6
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Capitals Game!
Varbo School, Arloev, Sweden
Joyce,
It was a nice and easy game you organized in Hunt for capitals game. It is perfect for newcomers and for school-project that you don't have to put all your energy and time into it. Still students get excited and learn alot from it.
I participated with my class in a limited way, we only investigated 5-10 sites, can't remember exactly. I think the way you organized it with sending you all the clues worked well. Then you sent them out 3 by 3. It was a pity some participants sent their guesses to Kidproj instead of to you. But I don't think there is very much to do about it. These things will always happen, fx by accident.
From Bo Carselid, Varboskolan, Arloev, Sweden
