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SpatialNews Press Release
Students begin their quest to identify 10 most vulnerable areas
in the world for rising sea levels during the first day of Rising Seas international
collaborative, problem-based learning experience
HALIFAX, Nov. 27 - Teams of high school students in Halifax, Ottawa
and Bermuda completed their first day of a three-day international
demonstration of collaborative, problem-based learning. The Rising Seas
learning experience was designed by Knowledge House Inc. (TSE:KHI), especially
for delegates of the 14th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers
(14CCEM) convening in Halifax, November 26-29, 2000.
At the beginning of today's program, student teams were invited to assume
the roles of investigative journalists for a contemporary e-zine -- Planet at
Risk. They were then asked to prepare an article for a well-informed,
environmentally conscious audience on a topic of major global concern --
rising sea levels.
The teams' first assignment from their virtual editor was to investigate
how high water levels would need to rise in Halifax, Truro and Parrsboro
before flooding would become an issue. The teams broke into three groups and
each group took responsibility for one area. They researched the topic, shared
their answers with the larger team, and after some discussion, came to a
consensus. Their response was that, on average, water levels would need to
rise approximately five metres before flooding would become an issue. They
will continue to research and gather information over the next two days to
assist them in their final assignment, an e-zine article of 1500 - 1800 words,
identifying the 10 most vulnerable places in the world for rising sea levels,
ranking them by vulnerability and explaining the reasons for their decisions.
"Today was all about getting to know people and their work habits," said
Travis Anderson, a Grade 12 student from Parrsboro Regional High School. "We
did do some work, but it was mainly about getting comfortable with the
technology and the best way to communicate as teams. The first day you never
get as much accomplished as you hope, but it gets easier every day."
Using the Web for collaboration, research, discussion, and analysis, the
journalists are working through a process for problem solving to understand
and present the issue. They are also working with Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) software. Throughout their learning, students are being
energized and motivated by ongoing messages from their editor. They are filing
progress reports and share their work with interested delegates throughout the
14CCEM. They are and will continue to apply all of the knowledge and skills
acquired through the project, to analyze their findings and publish their
final e-zine articles to the e-zine Web site. Their report will also be posted
on the 14CCEM web site (www.14CCEM.com), making it available to the global
community.
Knowledge House is an education services company. It prepares individuals
and organizations for success in the knowledge economy by enabling the
transformation of learning through collaborative, problem-based learning, the
Internet and related technologies. The Company's transformational learning
programs and services are designed for secondary, post-secondary, transition
to work and corporate markets.
Knowledge House was recently named New Business of the Year by the
Metropolitan Halifax Chamber of Commerce and ranked by Atlantic Progress
Magazine as the company with the largest year-over-year growth in sales and
employees among the Top 101 Businesses in Atlantic Canada.
For further information: Christine Smith, Communications Manager,
Phone: (902) 490-2941, Fax: (902) 429-2858, E-mail:
christine.smith@knowledgehouse.net, Web site: www.knowledgehouse.net
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