Art on this page was created by Pamela in Botswana for the Grandmother and Me” project.

How to Design a Kidlink Project for KidSpace

Are you interested in designing and/or moderating a project in KidSpace for Kidlink youth?  If so, read the following suggestions for designing a project for KidSpace and contact Joy Boehm who will help you design your project and will give you the tools you need to do this.  We would like to see all of the elements listed below somewhere in your main project page but leave the artistic arrangements of these elements to your creativity.

Give a brief yet concise description of your project so that anyone who reads the description can see immediately if the project is something they would like to join.  If collaboration and a student creation are required or suggested please state that here.  If the project is simply post and show make that known here as well.  We always hope that our students will be going a step beyond post and show by creating new ideas and insights but some teachers don't have time for this and would rather participate in less ambitious projects.

What will teachers need to participate in your project?  Will they send e-mail to a listserv?  Will they need a scanner or digital camera?  Will you expect them or their students to post their own work in KidSpace?  It is very easy to do and we suggest that you encourage teachers to do this

Give exact dates for your project.  If it will be ongoing and will repeat again next year, state that also.  Some teachers prefer short projects that last perhaps a month or two.  Others who only see students in a computer lab once a week prefer long term projects.  If certain activities should be done according to a timeline, give the project outline and the timeframes for each activity.

What age groups would you like to join your project?  Is there a possibility for mixed age groups where older students can partner with younger students when doing collaborative work? 

Kidproj-Multi welcomes projects and participation in all languages.  State the main language for your project but encourage participation in other languages as well.  Will you need help with translations?

Many teachers must justify participation in online projects by showing how projects they join address local curriculum goals and learner outcomes.  If you list several outcomes for content areas, this will help teachers.

1. Are there any resources for the project such as web pages that you can list on a resource page? 
   

2. Encourage teachers to share resource ideas and ways they have used the project in their classrooms.

3. Can you suggest ways to evaluate student work in the project?  See samples here:  http:/www.kidlink.org/kidspace/start.cfm?HoldNode=2722
   

List the steps that teachers should take when participating in the project.  This is very important.  If this isn't clear, you will get many e-mails from teachers who aren't sure what to do.

1. Teachers should register for the project with the project moderator.  Give the moderator’s e-mail address so that registration information can be sent. Send the names of your participants to Patti Weeg who will make an account in KidSpace for participants.

2. All participating students must answer the 4 Kidlink questions.  They can do this on the WWW: http://www.kidlink.org/response/

Click on 'Register' on the left sidebar for the registration page.  Be sure you have permission to post student work on the WWW and student images if you choose to do this.  School districts usually have their own requirements that teachers must follow.

3. Teachers (and students if applicable) subscribe to the mailing list where the project will take place.  Teachers subscribe to the coordinator's mailing list.  This could be Kidproj-coord and/or Kidspace-coord.  
   

1. List in order the project activities the students will be doing.   Be clear and specific in your expectations.

2. Is collaboration a part of the project?  Make sure all teachers understand the importance of having their students work together with other participants so that no one is disappointed.  Will students create something together such as a piece of writing or work of art?  Be sure that you clearly define expectations.  

3. Will classes choose partners to work with within the project?  As moderator you will help them find partners in the project.

4. Will students use art in their project? Make sure participants understand the guidelines for including images in KidSpace pages.

5. Encourage students to post comments to each other about their work.  Perhaps partner classes can agree to post comments to each other’s classes.
   

1. Obey copyright laws and only use images that you have expressed permission to use on the web.  This means that images taken from websites without the owner's permission may not be put on Kidlink webpages.  Teachers placing student images on the web should have permission from parents to do this.

 Below are two copyright resources:

2. Encourage use of student drawings instead of clipart.  We discourage use of clipart in our projects.  All student art should be identified with the name, age, gender and country of the student artist.

3. Be sure to give specific directions for uploading image files to KidSpace.  These directions are found in the "Help" link on the top bar on any KidSpace page.  Images should be no wider than 350 pixels and must be in .jpg or .gif format. 

             d. Kidlink's policy on artworks sent to Kidlink is here:

Provide a short evaluation for teachers to complete after the project is over.  This evaluation could be sent as e-mail or placed on a KidSpace page with directions to send responses to the project moderator.

Identify the project moderator(s) for the project and give e-mail addresses where the moderators can be reached.