On-line Conferencing:

The advent of the Internet opens the possibilities for people in far-flung locations on the globe to engage in dialogue on issues of common interest.  The purpose of our on-line conference is to develop the skills required to participate in such forums while at the same time, sharing ideas and information with a class in another school.  Conference participants will be from Trafalgar Castle School, Havergal, Crescent School and Ridley College.

Conference Format:

The on-line conferences will be hosted on Ridley’s Network and the Conference area can be viewed through the Internet at:

http://www.pinnacle.ridley.on.ca/CHaRT%20Group/
 
Contributions to the conference are sent as e-mail messages to one of the following addresses.  Please note that there is an “underscore” mark (_) between CHaRT and the topic name:

Land Use Conflict – Urban Sprawl, the Niagara Escarpment, the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Don river, to name a few.
CHaRT_LandUseConflict@ridley.on.ca

Resource Development and the Environment: How much is enough?
CHaRT_Resources@ridley.on.ca

Water Issues – Contamination – local, oceans, rivers (damming wild rivers).
CHaRT_WaterIssues@ridley.on.ca

Air Quality – Climate pollution….taking action.
CHaRT_AirQuality@ridley.on.ca

Each conference will have an equal number of participants from each school and the conference will be moderated by a Geography teacher from one of the four schools.

Conference Topic:

There will be four topics (see above).  Each moderator will post an opening statement to begin discussion.

Conference Procedures:

The conference will begin on a specified date and run for approximately 3 – 4 weeks.

Entries may be posted by e-mailing an address as shown above.  Your name and time of mailing will appear with your entry.

Students are expected to open the conference folder on a regular basis (we recommend every other day) to read the current entries.  Students will be required to make three submissions to the conference discussion - one approximately each week.  Everyone may feel free to post more than the minimum number of entries.

One of the very important parts of each entry is going to be evidence of research and reading.  Your opinion on matters is important, but we are looking for you to support your opinions by using references that must be stated in the posting so that other people may pursue them.  In this way much valuable learning and expansion of horizons can take place.

Individual entries will be evaluated by the conference moderator on the basis of the attached evaluation criteria.  Please note the evaluation criteria carefully and review your entries before posting to ensure you are addressing the evaluation criteria.

Conference Etiquette:

Please remember this is a public forum.  Your entries will be read by students from three other schools and four Geography teachers.  We advise you to write your entries in Microsoft Word, spell check and proof them carefully, have them reviewed by a peer before you post the entry.  Once posted, it becomes part of the public domain.

Your entries should reflect your knowledge of the discussion that has taken place in the conference area up to that time and should contribute to moving the discussion forward.  Make sure you read the moderators entries to see what direction she or he might like the discussion to move in.

Write formally, avoid personal comments but do try and make your pieces interesting and thought provoking.  Enjoy!

Evaluation Criteria:

a. Number of entries (15%)
• a minimum of three reasonable entries is required to earn this mark
• two additional entries may earn a bonus of up to (10%)

b. Focus (25%)
• the entries reflect what has been written before and help to move the discussion forward

c. Evidence of research (30%)
• the entries indicate outside research, are properly sourced and support the points of view stated

d. Quality of writing (30%)
• the entries are grammatically correct, free from spelling errors and present the argument in a compelling and interesting manner