I'm Planning a Field Trip to Rome for Summer 2012
I’m planning a field experience trip to Rome in the Summer of 2012. These are my preliminary ideas. This is for students interested in getting a master’s degree in education and their friends and possibly relatives. There will be three hours of credit available through UNO for the standard fees. Notice: All this is tentative and subject of change or modification without notice.
Purpose: The main purpose of this field experience is to provide students with an intensive experience in another culture. This is not a tour of Rome, although students could take tours before or after the field experience or during free time (weekends and July 4). Students would be investigating aspects of living and functioning in another culture and language. They would visit schools, markets, festivals, historical locations, workplaces, and other cultural events. They would reading about Italian/Roman/European topics including history, education, current news, tourism, arts, life, and culture from ancient times to modern and write about their experiences in the field. Some would study Italian or Latin. Since many of the students would have field requirements from their other online-summer courses, they would also engage in those activities.
Tentative Content: I’m currently negotiating with a school in Rome for a variety of opportunities include shadowing instructors who teach children and adults in a variety of setting including schools, businesses, and summer camps. Reading and writing would focus on Italian/Roman/European topics including history, education, current news, tourism, arts, life, and culture from ancient times to modern.
Dates: Approximately Monday, June 25 – Friday, July 6, 2012 with weekends and July 4 off.
Credit: Right now I’m projecting the course EDCI 6793 Multicultural/International Field Experiences, and it would be compatible with all online graduate education courses that require a field experiences.
Travel and Lodging: I will obviously stay somewhere in Rome, either a hotel or an apartment. I’ll share that with you as soon as I can confirm it, but that won’t be until August, 2001, because airlines only produce their schedules eleven months in advance. I’ll have to make my arrangements through the official UNO travel agency, and I’ll try for a block of inexpensive rooms in a good location. I’m usually willing to pay a little more to stay in a central location, but there are many hotels, pensiones, and apartments in Rome. Each person will need to make his/her own travel and lodging arrangements; often have a traveling companion reduces costs per person.
Costs of Airfare and Lodging: In mid-May, 2011, I investigated costs for two weeks in hotels in Rome and flights for late June and early July of 2011. I used competing online travel services. The cost ranged from $1790 to $2700, depending mostly on the location and type of hotel that I considered. Most of these hotels were near Piazza Navona, the Coliseum, Trastevere, or Termini (main train station of Rome). While Termini is not the best location in Rome, it is cheap and central with all the trains to locations around Rome and the rest of Italy, a train directly from the international airport (Leonardo da Vinci), subway access, busses, and taxis. The hotels cheapest were in the Termini area. I did not consider any luxury class hotels because they are much more expensive. Generally bundling airfare and hotel is cheaper than getting them separately, and you can control how much you want to spend on your travel. I recommend having a central location and walking or using urban transit in any European city.
Current UNO Tuition (2011): -- of course this will probably change!
[http://bursar.uno.edu/Summer2011Graduate_Fee_Schedule.cfm]
Hours: Resident Non-Resident
3 $864 $2448
6 $1554 $4362
9 $1698 $4506
[University tuition and fees are subject to change without prior notice.]
Other Costs: In addition to airfare, lodging, and tuition, you would need funds for your passport (get it now!), transit around Rome, admission to various sites, general insurance, tours, any travel outside Rome, and food. You should investigate what fees your ATM or credit cards charge for international transactions. Recruit a travel partner or three because double occupancy could reduce costs.
What I need: For this to work, I need at least 10 paying participants in the course (EDCI 6793) as soon as it’s available for registration in 2012. I also need feedback on what courses you need to complete your degree. Which of the following could you use in addition to EDCU 6793?
EDCI 4993G -- Spying on European Education: France, Italy, and Finland -- What do they know that we can learn? (3 cr.) – Speaker?
EDCI 6793 – European Philosophy of Education: Existentialists and Post Moderns with the Western Tradition (3 cr.) – Speaker?
EDCI 6600 – Foundations of Curriculum (3 cr.) – Kieff?
EDCI 4620G – Multicultural Education (3 cr.) – Furman?
EDCI 6610 – Elementary Curriculum (3 cr.) – Chauvin?
EDCI 6620 – Secondary Curriculum (3 cr.) – Speaker?
EDCI 6793 – Coaching and Teacher Development in Multilingual/Multicultural Settings (3 cr.) Dugan?
EDCI 6793 – Teaching Thematically with Technology: Building a Repertoire and a Collection of Artifacts (3 cr.) Speaker?
EDCI 6793 – Science, Social Studies, Mathematics and Language in Multilingual/Multicultural Settings (3 cr.) – a team of C&I faculty?
EDCI 6434 – Developmental Reading (3 cr.) –Barnitz?
EDCI 4425/G – Materials and Methods for Teaching English as a Second Language - Muntean?
EDCI 6995 – Practicum in C&I (3 cr.) – a team of C&I faculty?
I’m hoping that all these courses would be available whether the international field experience works or not, provided they have enough students to make. Each of these courses would have a field experience project, which could be fulfilled through the international experience (EDCI 6793) and the issues that make learning multiple languages and cultures important. Each of the courses would have a period devoted to field experiences, which would include communication with those participants in international settings.
Also, send me e-mail addresses of interested others.
Taking other courses: The structure of EDCI 6793 will include online work and a two-week field experience in Rome (nine days of activities, M-F of each week of the program – the exception is July 4). M. Ed. courses would be online through the department of C&I, but the field experiences would include optional travel to Rome (and other locations in the future). Summer graduate students could take up to nine credit hours, including the optional international field experience credits to Rome. The target size of the group would be 10-20 students participating in Rome from June 25 (Monday) – July 6 (Friday) 2012. The number of hours involved in this field experience would be approximately 63-90 (over 9 days). If for some reason you need more hours of field experience, you could work weekends on your experiences as well.
Other graduate courses could be taken online through the department of C&I, but the field experiences would include optional travel to Rome (and other locations in the future). Summer graduate students could take up to nine credit hours, including the optional international field experience credits to Rome. In the future, I’d like to have a variety of locations for these field experiences.
Timeline:
June, 2011
Complete Plan for Rome 2012
Contact 2011 contacts about the offerings for 2012
Develop Marketing Plans
Develop flyer, brochure, and other ads
Make on-line changes to websites
July, 2011
Start advertising and presentations for Rome 2012 at UNO classes
and beyond
Reserve a block of rooms and conference/meeting room in an acceptable
hotel in Rome
Open MOODLE for LowRez M. Ed. and Summer Courses International
August, 2011
Finalize potential offerings
Start fall presentations to classes and other groups
September, 2011
Open International website for business? [if any participation by the
International Division}
October, 2011
Assess progress with marketing of courses
Adjust marketing processes
January, 2012
Start spring presentations to classes and other groups
February, 2012
Assess progress with marketing of courses
Adjust marketing processes
April, 2012
Decide which courses will be offered based on number of participants
Decide on go/nogo of international field experience course (EDCI 6973)
May, 2012
Planning meetings online with students
June, 2012
1 Online courses begin
21 Speaker to Rome
24 Field Experiences in Rome begins
July, 2012
4 Holiday
6 Field Experiences in Rome ends
10 Speaker returns from Rome
Online courses continue
August, 2012
1 Online courses end with exams.
Notice: All this is tentative and subject of change or modification without notice.
I hope to see you in Rome. Please comment and ask questions here or via my other online media connections.
Sincerely,
Richard B. Speaker, Jr.
Contact information:
| Instructor(s): | Dr. Richard B. Speaker, Jr. |
| Second Life Avatar: | RichardSpeaker Zhaoying ( 朝瑛 ) |
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| Facebook: | Richard B Speaker, Jr. |
| Twitter: | rspeaker (announcing the start of office hours or other meetings) |
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| Virtual Meetings: | MOODLE or Second Life or Skype as needed |
| Office Phone: | 280-6607(secretary/messages) or 280-6534 (desk) & Skype |
| Office Hours: | By appointment through e-mail, in Second Life, and other contact methods Generally: Tuesday – Virtual 13:30-15:30, Tuesday & Thursday – Virtual 20:00-22:00 |
