How to Host
by Susan Silverman, creator of Frosty Readers

Introduction
Looking for a fun, enriching way to integrate the Internet into your curriculum? Consider hosting a collaborative project. Your students will acquire online communication skills and meet children from around the world. You will develop creative, technical, and administrative expertise, discover new educational resources, and have the chance to collaborate with talented colleagues. Your class work will be digitally showcased for parents and administrators to appreciate. And best of all, you only need e-mail and Internet access to participate!

Become a Participant
Long before I became a project host, I gained valuable experience as a project participant. Participating is a great way to learn how online collaborative projects work, and the perfect opportunity to network in the online educators' community. To find an appropriate project for your class, simply conduct a search at a premier site such as the Internet Projects Registry. You can refine your search using criteria such as "age," "date," "curriculum area," and "technology tools." In fact, you and your class may have so much fun participating in projects that you never even get around to hosting your own! But if you have an innovative project idea that you're itching to develop, or want the opportunity to build your educational skill set, read on.

Collaborative Projects 101
There are three types of collaborative projects: Interpersonal Exchange Projects, Collaborative Research Projects and Thematic Showcase Projects.
Interpersonal Exchange Projects tend to be the simplest type of online project, and focus on developing communication skills. One example of interpersonal exchange is the Classroom Pet Exchange, in which children mail a "Travel buddy" to each other and then relate his adventures in their home towns.

Collaborative Research Projects tend to have a mathematical or scientific emphasis. Participants collaborate in collecting data, sharing information, and presenting results. For examples of this type of projects visit The Classroom Candy Corner or Starburst Challenge.

Thematic Showcase Projects provide students with the opportunity to publish their creative work online. These projects often have a literary or artistic emphasis and frequently integrate student generated computer graphics. For an example of this type of project, check out Frosty Readers 2001.
Plan Your Project
First and foremost, determine the objectives of your project and make sure they support educational learning standards. This will keep you focused and enable you to measure your project's success. Decide which type of project fits your educational objectives, then choose a subject you can already teach and that will integrate naturally into your curriculum. Finally, determine what will be expected of participants and which materials and resources they are going to need.

Keep It Simple
For your sanity, limit the number of participants in your first project to five classes. You may even want to consider collaborating with just one other class to get your feet wet. Since organizing a collaborative project is a big commitment, be sure to choose the time of year when you are least stressed. Register your project with the Internet Projects Registry or conduct an Internet search to find one of the many other project databases. During the simple registration process, you will be asked to define your project's scope, target audience and other critical parameters. Start small: You can always host a more complicated project down the road.

Build Your Site
If you build your project Web site before the project even starts, you can upload participant materials as soon as they arrive. This helps attract teachers by offering them a sneak preview of how the finished gallery will appear. It also helps motivate students to finish their work, and provides them with samples from other schools that they can consult during production. The Web site also serves as a resource for teachers, providing contact information, recommended sites and other useful content. Build the site as the project progresses, rather than pulling several all-nighters to upload everything as soon as the project ends.

Generate Buzz
Nothing is more frustrating than working hard to develop a project, only to discover that no one signs up to participate! Here are a few strategies to prevent this dilemma:
  • Nothing attracts teachers to projects like catchy titles - so get creative.
  • Be sure to let your personal style come across in your project description to set you apart from the crowd.
  • Contact friends you made participating in other online projects. Send personal invitations asking them to join your collaboration.
  • Advertise your project. Announce it on listservs such as the WWWEDU, and publicize it on sites such as Classroom Connect's Connected Teacher Service.
Generate enough buzz, and you'll be forced to turn teachers away! (Just be sure to do it nicely, and remember to invite them to join your next project.)

Be a Leader
Besides "creative developer" and "marketing director," the project host must also serve as "project manager." This means making sure that deadlines are met and participants fulfill their obligations. Convince participants that it's their project too, and don't be afraid to solicit their ideas. You may have to contact delinquents to make your presence known. But do be careful with your email tone - if you scold your participants too harshly, they may quit mid-project! Thank your cooperative colleagues, give credit where it's due, and provide plenty of positive reinforcement. Remember, your participants are putting in extra work to make your project a success. Finally, repay collaborators by joining their projects.

Archive Your Work
Just because your project has ended doesn't mean you have to pluck it out of cyberspace. Leave completed projects online for other teachers to use as resources. Also provide projects for parents to explore during open-house nights. Create backups of your archived projects in case of system failures or ISP meltdowns. You may even want to burn your project on a CD-ROM for fast, easy access - especially useful if you're ever called upon to conduct a presentation offsite.

Conclusion
Online project collaboration is a relatively new educational frontier and is still being explored, defined and developed. Don't be afraid to take risks in order to discover what works best for you and your students. And remember: Most teachers collaborate because it's more fun than working in a vacuum. So get involved and join the fun!