1. Give three compelling examples of how cultural issues affect your project.
While the immersive virtual reality game is a local exploration, the students for whom it was developed, for the most part, had a very small view of the area around them. Building 21 is an alternative school that focuses on project-based education. The students in Building 21 are considered at-risk of dropping out of school. Even with the technology at their disposal, most of them had smart phones, they had no real experiences farther than the Lehigh Valley mall. Many of them were not aware that there were mountains less than 15 miles away and none of them knew that the Lehigh Valley is a valley because of the mountains to the north and south. Several of them had heard of South Mountain without realizing that it is a real mountain.
2. Have you experienced or observed any of these social situations at home? Describe at least three such situations.
I spent 12 years teaching in an alternative secondary school in northern New Jersey and those students were also at-risk of dropping out of school. The demographics of the alternative schools was similar: 1) students got free/reduced price lunch, 2) more males than females, and 3) more minorities than not. The population of Building 21 is not significantly different from the traditional high schools, but the population of the New Jersey alternative high school was. Both schools catered to disengaged students for whom the traditional school was not a good match. I didn’t get to spend as much time in Building 21, but the students with whom I interacted seemed to find great benefit in the alternative school.
3. Give three examples of cultural practices that can be leveraged to addressed community / market problems.
Children are at-risk of dropping out of school for any number of reasons, but alternative education seems to be the best option for those students. Smaller class sizes, project-based curriculum and technology integration are some of the commonalities with many alternative schools. When schools are successful in educating children, the community benefits. Bringing local businesses into the fold might be a good way to show the community the good that is being done in these alternative learning environments.
