Instructional Design: WWW Diversity Resources Diversity

 
 
by
Ronald G. Helms, Associate Professor
&
Colleen Finegan, Assistant Professor
Ronald G. Helms, Ph.D., College of Education and Human Services
374 Millett Hall    O 937-775-4472    H 937-433-2611    FAX 937-775-3031
rhelms@discover.wright.edu
Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435
 http://www.ed.wright.edu/cehs/fac_staff/helms/rhelms.htm
Colleen Finegan, Ph.D., College of Education and Human Services
376 Millett Hall O 937-775-4582 H 513- 779-9994 FAX 937-775-3031
cfinegan@wright.edu
Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435
http://www.ed.wright.edu/cehs/fac_staff/stoll/stoll.htm
 
 
Teacher Education Department
 
 
 
Wright State University
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Abstract:
 

Instructional Design: WWW Diversity Resources Diversity

The study of Internet Resources for Teaching about Diversity is an important concept  for preservice educators  The U.S. macroculture is shared by all our the nation’s citizens.  Many cultural groups or microcultures are also part of the American Society.  Many colleges and universities offer  required multicultural  or diversity courses.  Both national and state standards ( as well as other  learned societies, such as NCSS, NAEYC, CEC, etc). mandate the teaching of diversity. This abstract will provide an important set of on-line resources for the professiona educators.  These resources are linked to virtually hundreds of other on-line resources.

 Please see the authors’ web site at http://www.ed.wright.edu/cehs/fac_staff/helms/rhelms.htm. This site is linked to several  ezines such as Computers in the Social Studies @ http://www.cssjournal.com/journal/welcome.html.  And visit a second site at http://www.ed.wright.edu/cehs/fac_staff/stoll/stoll.htm.  Classroom Connect  (http://www.classroom.net) maintains a data base of 1000 school sites and  offers the advantage of matching students with web pals.  In addition, this site has a template for creating a  personal or school web page.   This site also maintains a very good teacher contact data base.

The new Diversity page at http://www.ed.wright.edu/CEHS/diversity/diversity.htm is designed to be of assistance to both inservice and preservice educators.  The authors conceptualized the page in terms of the following categories:  age, class/SES, ethnicity, exceptionality, gender, general diversity, language, religion/creed, sexual orientation, and teaching resources.

The authors plan to annotate each site and to provide teaching resources with each category.  We would invite readers of this abstract to forward other important sites.  The following are selected websites which may be of value to both students and teachers.  All of these resources may be at http://www.ed.wright.edu/CEHS/diversity/diversity.htm .  Some examples of web resources follow:

Age

Ageism and Age Stereotyping     http://www.gen.umn.edu/faculty_staff/yahnke/aging/chapter/ageism.htm
This site providesIMAGES OF AGING: A Film and Video Resource Guide

Baby Boomers Come of Age     http://www.columbia.net/consumer/datafile/elson.html
 Baby boomers represent the largest population ever to reach all of life’s milestones, including aging. One baby boomer turns 50 every seven seconds, not only in the United States, but also in Europe. Baby boomers have always gotten what they wanted and are prepared to demand that things be done for them, things that may have seemed impossible for previous generations.
 

Class/SES

A Line in the Sand     hanksville.phast.umass.edu:8000/cultprop
Deals with issues of cultural property which includes not only land and other tangible property,  ideas, traditions, and other non-tangibles.

Meanderings Home Page     www.newsavanna.com/meanderings
This is an electronic journal which offers some articles on sensitive political issues.  May be controversial.  Teachers will find a wealth of materials, but may want to monitor or select given issues for student research.  This site offers various viewpoint about diversity issues.  The past journals are not always the most recent writings on issues.

SOCIAL CLASS     http://www.inlink.com/~tfc/class.html
Social Stratificaton - Refers to the ranking of member in a society in
terms of the amounts of power, weath and prestige which they posses.
 

 Ethnicity

Abya Yala Net    www.maxwell.syr.edu/nativeweb/abyayala/index.htm
Is dedicated to providing information on the Indigenous peoples of Mexico, Central, and South America. It is a project of the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center (SAIIC) in collaboration with NativeWeb.

America's Stirfry: Home Page    www.americas-stirfry.com
This is a commercial site whose primary focus is to cultivate a positive self-esteem and self-image in children of all colors. People of color have made great contributions to the United States.   Offers resources to educators.

Amish Home Page     www.welcome.com
Through a question and answer format, browsers can learn about the Amish, Mennonites, and the other "plain people" of the area. Questions submitted will be presented to local Amish and Mennonite people, and an answer will be sent by e-mail, and posted for all to learn from.

Index of Native American Resources on the Internet hanksville.phast.umass.edu/misc/NAresources.html
This is a Magellan Four Star site.  A very well maintained site.  A table specifics over thirty subject dealing with Native culture such as education, culture, books, music, and video. There are approximately 700 different referring pages that send accesses to this Index. Approximately 170 of these referring pages are from search engines, leaving about 500 other referring pages that sent one or more accesses to this Index. The Index is accessed approx. 350 times a day now and this number grows with each week.

NativeNet    www.fdl.cc.mn.us/natnet
This site is promoting dialogue and understanding regarding indigenous peoples of all parts of the world.  It provides a set of electronic mailing lists and archives and maintains a list of references to relevant information on the Web.

Native Web     www.maxwell.syr.edu/nativeweb
This is a Magellan Four Star site.  The site "touches ancient teaching and modern technology."  The categories of this site include the following: Subject Categories, Geographic Regions, Nations/Peoples, Languages, Education, Law & Legal Issues, Literature, Women, Newsletters & Journals, Organizations, Bibliographies, Historical Material, K-12 Sites, Information Sites, Dictionaries, Personal Home Pages, and Mailing lists.
 

Race and Ethnicity
www.webactive.com/webactive/cgibin/wniadirsearch?
Race+and+Ethnicity
Very comprehensive website.  Contains numerous links to other wesites.
 

 Exceptionality

Gifted and Talented Home Page  http://www.eskimo.com/~user/kids.html
This page is intended to be a convenient starting point for gifted students, their parents and educators to access Gifted Resources, whether on the internet or otherwise.

Talented and Gifted Bibliography      http://klingon.util.utexas.edu/TAG/TAG_Bibliography.html
This site gives teachers and parents a list of articles and books they can use to find more out about gifted and talented students. Contents nclude: Gender issues, social and emotional needs, and teachers of the gifted.

Attention Deficit Disorder     http://www.rt66.com/~health/add.html
This site discusses the symptoms of ADD and the positive and negative effects ritalin may have on a child.

Essential Learning Institute     http://www.rsts.net/eli/index.html
This site provides statistics and articles on the problems children have who are not identified with learning disabilities early in life.
Supporting children and youth with diabilities   http://thearc.org/faqs/leisure.html
This site explains why leisure activites are important for students with disabilities. It lists supports sites that promote social interactions and friendships.

The arc homepage     http://thearc.org/welcome.html
This site gives information on what the Arc is. Arc stands for Advocacy,
Respect and Community and is important for people with special needs.

 
 Gender
 
Women chat club     http://www.womenchat.com
This site have forums and chat room specificly for women.

Women.com      http://www.women.com
This site offers different online sites directed for women.

American woman motorscene     http://www.americanwomanmag.com/
This site teachs about buying cars and give tips and other helpful sites.

 General Diversity
Diversity    www.execpc.com/~dboals/diversit.html
Eureka!!  This is a must site.

Standards:  An International Journal of Multicultural Studies     stripe.Colorado.EDU/~standard
An electronic journal of multicultural studies.
 

 Language
The Language Project    http://www.langproj.demon.co.uk/
The Language Project is a small, friendly school where people learn and work in a relaxed atmosphere.

Ebonics: Look Who's Talking
http://www.afronet.com/WB/040497-3.html
When the Oakland school board raised this question of Ebonics, they rekindled a debate that stretched back almost 30 years
 

 Religion/Creed

Religion    http://www.cannylink.com/religion.htm\
A very eclectic page.  Many references and links

Religious tolerance     http://www.religioustolerance.org/
This site is maintained by four volunteers who are open to a variety of beliefs.  This site also maintains a nice set of links.

Sexual Orientation

Citizens Against Homophobia is a group that uses mass media campaigns to reduce homophobia.
www.actwin.com/cahp/
Citizens Against Homophobia is a group that uses mass media campaigns to reduce homophobia.

What is ISNA?      http://www.isna.org
The Intersex Society of North America (ISNA) is a peer support, education, and advocacy group founded and operated by and for intersexuals: individuals born with anatomy or physiology which differs from cultural ideals of male and female.
 

 Teaching Resources.
African National Congress Home Page     www.anc.org.za
This site maintains ANC daily news briefings, press statements, palimentary papers, government speeches, and many other African links.  This site is an important one for learningabout South Africa.

Clickable Map of South Africa     www.is.co.za/www-za/www-za-map.html
Clickable maps are very interesting tools for teaching social studies.  Every social studies teacher should have a set of Clickable maps for illustration of various world regions.  This particular site contains many links dealing with many aspects of teaching about South Africa.

Electronic Ellis Island   wwwald.bham.wednet.edu/museum/museum.htm
 The  mission statement is to chronicle and celebrate the diversity of the many cultures around our world through the eyes of children.   The International Channel in cooperation with the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation and the National Park Service invite you to take a tour to get a glimpse of Ellis Island, past and present.

Intercultural E-mail Classrooom Connections    www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc
Intercultural E-mail Classroom Connections is a free service to help link teachers and classes from different countries and cultures via e-mail for pen-pal and other exchanges.

Multicultural Calendar     www.kidlink.org:80/KIDPROJ/MCC
The entries might contain recipes for holiday foods, historical background, significance of
the holidays and the special ways in which these days are observed.
The Multicultural Educational HomePage     38.240.220.10/nubians/index.html
A commercial site which contains many educational resources including lesson plans for teaching about diversity.

Resources for Diversity      www.nova.edu/Inter-Links/diversity.html
Link page for diversity-related sites and issues.  Covers many aspects of diversity.

Teaching Diversity     www.cob.ohio-state.edu/~diversity/teach.htm
This site offers some important tips for teachers in working with student diversity.

The Village of the First Nation     firstnations.com
This site is a place where all Indigenous Peoples have a forum for their many voices.

The Village Project     isis.infinet.com/electink/index.htm
Educational website designed to offer students the experience of several other cultures.  The Village Project encourages respect for family, community and diversity. The project activities includes a celebration of unity through music, dance, and storytelling.

Webactive Directory Topic Index      www.webactive.com/webactive/directory/topic-index.html
Links to Bisexual, Gay, and Lesbian Communities, Community Service, Disability, Family, International Affairs, Race and Ethnicity, Religion, Women.  This is a very rich wesite; it contains a very broad range of diversity subjects.

The World Village Project     www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1910
This site askes the question: what would the world be like if it only had a population of 1000
people. This site has recived over 30,000 visitors and over 10 major internet awards and has been acaimed in magazines and newspapers world wide.