490 Net Project Summary

By Kena Clark

Introduction:  My project was called The Amazing Adventures of Batty the Bat.  Batty is a traveling mascot that was sent from Milford, Illinois to places across the United States.  I asked the participants to take Batty for a day and email all that they did with Batty.  

Participants:  Following are a list of people that participated in this project.

Robin S.
Sandy G.
Lori B.
Kristin H.
Jayne H.

Activities: As I said above, I asked the participants to email what they did with Batty for the day.  Once I received the emails, (which were late in coming) I then put them into a web page. 

Curriculum Integration:  There are many ways that this project can be integrated into the curriculum.  The children will learn communication skills, technology, geography and depending on what the participants do there are things that can be learned from Batty's adventure.  The one adventure that comes to my mind is Snooty the manatee.  Teachers could do a whole lesson on manatees and their habitats.

What would I do different?
Tell the participants that I want specifics about Batty's adventure.
This fall Batty will travel in a backpack to the participants place.  In the backpack will be a stuffed Batty and a disposable camera.  The camera will be to take pictures of Batty with the students and the places he visits.  Once the camera is full, it will be sent back to Milford to be developed for the web.  The reason that I'm doing it this way, is because I feel that a tangible Batty will stir up the imagination of the students.  The camera will be in there so that school that don't have a digital camera can take pictures. 
Batty will spend two weeks with the participants so that there will be time for him to see and so more things.  It will also give the teacher time to integrate Batty into their curriculum. 
Because Batty will be traveling in a backpack instead of through email, I will have to make sure that the participants stick to the time schedule especially if a teacher that is waiting for Batty is planning on using him as part of their lesson plans.  It was hard enough to get my participants to email me a one day event and they didn't even have a backpack to deal with.
There will be a map of the United States to show where Batty has been and the students will be able to see where Batty is at and where he will be going too.
Last and most important will be the issue of publishing students pictures on the web.  I will have to make sure that the participants understand that I will be publishing to the web and that if there are students that don't have permission for internet publication they will need to be kept out of the pictures.
To do a project justice, I would not try to do one with a time limit of 4 weeks.  However,  I have learned that it can be done you just don't get any sleep.

Conclusion:   I'm really looking forward to doing this project this fall.  The participants that I already have signed up is looking very exciting.   Batty will be visiting Utah the home of the 2002 Winter Olympics.  I think that it will be very exciting for our students as well as the students that Batty will be meeting.

Click here to see where Batty has been too.