Black History Illuminated Through Collaboratory

The Collaboratory Project, a division of Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT), is partnering with the Illinois State Board of Education and The HistoryMakers video oral history archive in the Black History Month “Living Histories Project.”

Illinois K-12 students are invited to participate between January 17 and March 4 by reading books, examining Web sites, and sharing written, illustrated, video or audio work in the Collaboratory that tell the stories of African Americans who are shaping our future.

“Our hope is that by learning about the stories of today’s African Americans, students will gain a different perspective on Black History,” said Gary Greenberg, director of the Collaboratory Project.

Students can use a shared virtual library of Internet resources to learn about the stories of today’s Black America, share reviews of books they have read about Black Heritage and its heroes, and take an online survey to learn about other students participating in the project. Using videos in The HistoryMakers archive of oral histories and information from books and Web sites, students can share and discuss essays, reports, oral histories, and documentaries they create using text, graphics, sound, and/or video. They can then review and discuss the work of other students.

More information about the Black History Month Living Histories Project can be found on the Collaboratory Project site, <collaboratory.nunet.net>. Please direct questions to Roxana Hadad at r-hadad@northwestern.edu or 847-491-2061.

The Collaboratory Project is a Northwestern University initiative funded by State of Illinois, federal and foundation grants that provides project consulting, training and support to educators throughout Illinois who are interested in using the Collaboratory to improve student learning and achievement.

The Collaboratory is an easy-to-use, Web-based collaborative learning environment that teachers use to develop project-based activities in a framework for engaged learning that are aligned with Illinois Learning Standards.

The need for kidney transplantation doesn't match our capacity.

Lorenzo Gallon of Feinberg is among those to say doctors should consider trying to reuse more organs to ease a shortage