Teaching and Learning Online
Whether you're planning on taking or teaching an online course -- or pursuing an online degree -- you won't want to
miss this Teacher Team article, in which our resident experts talk about their online teaching and learning experiences.
Professional Development Via E-Mail: All You Need is a Keyboard!
E-mail is a great way for keeping teachers informed about school goings-on. But are you using e-mail as a tool for
providing professional development for your teachers? Ed World's "Principal Files" principals share how they are doing
just that. Tips included.
Teach Geography
with E-Mail
Next week is National Geography Awareness Week. Are you using the opportunity
to look for an easy way to incorporate technology into your geography
lessons? If so, you might consider one of the excellent collaborative
projects available via e-mail. After all, what better way is there to
learn about the world than by virtually chatting with the people who live
here?
Professional Development Features
Ed
World Columnists
Experts -- like Fred Jones -- offer professional development.
The
Reading Room
Four popular features put the focus on reading:
Reading Coach: Cathy Puett Miller offers advice for
working with struggling readers.
You'e Got E-Mail -- But Can You Make It Really Deliver?
So you want to do a classroom project on-line? Don't even think about hitting that Send button until you read
this article in which author and educator Judi Harris shares what it takes to create a valuable on-line project.
ExploraVision Contest Sparks
Students' Imaginations
From household helpers to intricate medical technology, the Toshiba/NSTA
ExploraVision Awards program has inspired student research teams to develop
some amazing creations.
Tracing the Start of the Laptop Revolution in Schools
In 1990, fifth graders at a private school in Australia were introduced to laptops, and their learning was never the same. Author Bob Johnstone talks about the first laptop school, the response it received, and integrating laptop learning.
From Beginning to End: Making Memories All Year Through
Experienced educators share how they enrich their classes with projects and activities that take students from the beginning of the school year to the end -- while creating memories that last a lifetime. Included: Ideas for time capsules, memory books, welcome letters, more.
Voice of Experience: Log On to a Blog
Emerging online communication tools have the potential to unleash a new level of creative thought in the classroom. Educator Brenda Dyck shares her recent experiences with an online journaling tool called a blog. Included: Blogging resources.
Teacher Feature
Raeann Edwards' gifted students reuse refuse in "Junk Drawer Wars!"
This is SBNN Broadcasting Live...from F. H. Tuttle Middle School
Armed with newly acquired research and technical skills, 13 middle school students from South Burlington, Vermont, produce a weekly live news show that has become their school's "must-see TV." Video of an SBBN news broadcast!
The Concept-Mapping Classroom
By providing a framework that allows users to focus on topics, and a structure that permits them to easily convert diagrams to outlines and back again, Inspiration and Kidspiration simplify the task of organizing thoughts into effective project plans.
Online Book Club Promotes Student Literacy
Are you looking for new ways to encourage students to read and write with greater effort and enthusiasm? Students in Kentucky have demonstrated both since the Literary Book Club -- an online forum that offers students a real audience and incentive -- was formed.
On the Run
Carol Goodrow promotes running and fitness among young people via the Web!
Six Online Projects Anyone Can Join
Looking for something to jump-start students during the post-holiday blahs? Education World has found six teacher-created collaborative projects sure to engage kids and teachers.
Kids Count Clams to Spur Community Cleanup
Students in one Maine school count clams instead of Cuisenaire rods and enter data into PDAs instead of notebooks. But they aren’t just learning how to use technology to count clams, they’re learning that what they do in school can benefit the entire community.
Orphan Train: A Social Studies Project that "Clicked" with Students!
Two 4th grade teachers ride the rails of the "Orphan Train" as they use technology to add vitality to their social studies curriculum. Included: Links to lessons and resources you can use to develop your own Orphan Train project!
Web Wizard: Fun with French
Catherine Murphy's Web site offers practical help for French teachers and students!
Learning Geography Through E-Mail
A month ago, some students in Bellingham, Washington, weren’t even sure where to find Arizona on a map of the United States. Now they can find Australia, Korea, and even Azerbaijan on a map of the world, thanks to an e-mail activity initiated by their school’s library media specialist.
Habla Espanol? Do You Speak Spanish?
Tracy Jackson's foreign language curriculum includes an hour and a half a week in the computer lab and another hour or so a week in the classroom, integrating Spanish words and phrases into her regular cross-curricular units. The highlight of the Spanish curriculum for Jackson's students, however, is the bilingual book project, in which they learn Spanish words and phrases and write and illustrate books containing those words. The students publish the books (in house!) and post them online. So far, these first graders at Maine's Wiscasset Primary School have written three "best-sellers" -- and a fourth is on the way!
High Schools Introduce Engineering
With fewer engineers graduating from college and the need for technically savvy people growing, some faculty members from Southern Methodist University are bringing engineering to high schools. The program, called the Infinity Project, includes an introductory engineering course that allows high school students to experience the creative side of engineering.
How Busy Is Your Class's Tooth Fairy?
First graders from around the world will keep track of their missing baby teeth as part of an Internet Tooth Tally Project sponsored by Wilburn Year Round Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina. The students will also practice their computation, graphing, and map-reading skills as they participate in the project.
Building 'Friendship Through Education'
As a response to the attacks of September 11th, a consortium called Friendship Through Education has been established to promote communication among students across the globe. As children engage in its online projects, the collaboration fosters sharing, and -- it is hoped -- a greater understanding of people and cultures.
Kids Snap Communities in Internet Project
For the Internet project Communities Around the World, kindergarten and first-grade students from four states took pictures in their hometowns, created PowerPoint presentations about their communities, and used e-mail to share those presentations with one another.
'Whassup?' in the Classroom
Teacher Brenda Dyck shares her experiences using online surveying tools to gather feedback from students and parents. Students share reactions to lessons and classroom practices as well as their feelings about school and themselves. Parents offer input from their perspectives too.
Degree Confluence Project: At the Intersection of Geography and Technology
When Webmaster Alex Jarrett bought a global positioning system years ago, he didn't know that it would lead him on an online adventure! He set out on a trek to locate the point where a line of latitude and longitude met (called a confluence) and took pictures that he published on the Internet. This was the foundation of the Degree Confluence Project, an organized sampling of the world that is growing by leaps and bounds. With more than 11,000 confluences to be found, the project isn't about to run out of new goals for its participants. A confluence is within 49 miles of your classroom!
Golden Nuggets: Seven Tips for Technology Success
Dr. Bruce Whitehead is the principal of Hellgate Intermediate School and an associate professor at the University of Montana. He designed and implemented a model for classroom technology centers that earned him the National Distinguished Principals Award from the National Association of Elementary School Principals. In this article, Whitehead shares "seven golden nuggets" -- seven tips to help ensure the success of your school's technology implementation plans. This article is reprinted by permission of Bruce Whitehead.
Worldwide Internet Math Project a Shoe-in for Success!
Students across the United States and the world joined fifth-grade students from Connecticut to count the number of metal eyelets on their shoes. The collected data is being compared, graphed, and calculated!
GeoPals: Global Friends Help Kids Learn About Writing
When Barbara Soto discovered a listserv whose members are active, community-minded senior citizens, an idea occurred to her. Why not combine their knowledge and commitment with her students' need for the influence of mature adults? What started as an e-mail correspondence project has blossomed into a win-win outreach program called GeoPals!
Who Wants to Be a TechKnow Genius? A PowerPoint Game for Kids
Teacher Jennifer Wagner talks about how she got hooked on technology and shares the lessons she's learned -- and the lessons she's created -- with you. Included: Two terrific PowerPoint activities to use in your classroom!
Have Computers Forced Handwriting Out of the Picture?
Computers have demoted the second of the three Rs, some educators say. Instead of teaching the loops and swirls of cursive letters, teachers point students to the letter r on the keyboard. Not all educators and handwriting experts agree on whether or why handwriting skills may be declining, however. Some place the blame on teachers or school budgets or book publishers.
Play a New Stock Market Game-for Teachers Only!
Do you need a break from soggy bathing suits and sandy sneakers? Why not spend a little time on the stock market this summer? Join the MainXed Teacher Stock Market Tournament! If you've ever considered using an online stock simulation game in your classroom -- but aren't sure you know enough -- this tournament is designed to teach you the game and the ins and outs of the stock market in a non-threatening environment. You could win big prizes too!
An Education World e-Interview with Sherry Turkle: Is Technology Just for Boys?
Sherry Turkle, one of the co-chairs of the American Association of University Women's 15-member Commission on Technology, Gender, and Teacher Education, shares her thoughts on issues arising from the commission's recent report. See the Education World story about that report, Educating Girls in the New Computer Age: A Report on Equity in Technology.
Students Create a Virtual Tour of Their Community
Two elementary educators in Newington, Connecticut, found a way to allow their high-achieving students to go beyond the curriculum and make a terrific resource to share with other classes. The project became "Newington: Highlights of History," a PowerPoint presentation and oral tour of the heritage of their town.
Librarians Online!
With so much of the world's information online, today's librarian has been transformed into a media specialist with a specialty in online
information access -- a cyber-librarian or "cybrarian"! Included: The best resources to aid cybrarians in their quest to make
information accessible to all!
Laptops Change Curriculum --- and Students
At one Bloomfield, Connecticut, middle school, all the students have laptops, and life is going smoothly, thanks in part due to a large dose
of teacher preparation. Besides requiring special training, life with laptops also comes with special problems.
Training Teachers Who Are Terrorized by Technology!
This week, we asked Education World's Tech Team to share with us the questions they hear most frequently from technology novices. Everybody
---technology neophytes and experienced hackers--- stands to learn something from the Tech Team's responses to such commonly asked
questions as "How do I find time for technology?" "How do I manage student computer use?" "What about Internet safety?" and "What if I
break the computer?"
First-Time Computer Buyers: Advice from the Experts
"Which computer should I buy?" Every tech coordinator and Webmaster hears that question from time to time --- or more often than that! This
week, Education World's "Tech Team" debuts, providing the best advice they can muster for teachers considering that first-time purchase. Even
technical people might find new ideas about how to answer that oft-asked question!
You've Got E-Mail --- But Can You Make It *Really* Deliver?
So you want to do a classroom project on-line? Don't even think about hitting that *Send* button until you read this article! Author and
educator Judi Harris has strong opinions about what it takes to create a valuable on-line project --- and this week she shares her thoughts with
Education World. Included: Ten tips for completing telecollaborative projects successfully and a link to a story that includes ten projects
that might get Harris's stamp of approval!
Log On and Learn More: Ten On-Line Projects to Enhance Your Curriculum
Looking for ways to introduce technology into your classroom without losing valuable teaching time? Look no further! Education World has
found ten terrific on-line projects to incorporate into your curriculum.
Senior Pals: Bridging the Generation Gap with Technology
An emotional meeting of senior citizens and their fourth-grade e-pals was the culminating event of a project initiated by teacher Jim Flack at
North Elementary School in Lancaster, Ohio. Included: Comments from the kids and senior citizens!
Learning on the Fly: On-Line Tutorials Teach It All!
Are you ready to get serious about Office or Hyperstudio? Do you need an overview of the practical aspects of the product? Perhaps you just need
a quick refresher on FileMaker Pro for a database you want to create. You may be ready to learn HTML or employ more visuals on a school Web
page. On-line tutorials allow you to train yourself or your staff --- no fees, no long-term commitment, no messy manuals! Included: Free on-line
tutorials for Adobe Acrobat, Windows 95, Power Point, JAVA, Photoshop, and many, many more!
Quia: The Quintessential Teacher's Helper!
Want to motivate your students with reviews that are fun and interactive? Don't have the time you need to create such activities?
Lack the technology background to create those activities on-line? Quia to the rescue! With this Web site, teachers can build on-line games and
quizzes with their own content. Included: What can Quia do for you?
Technology, Teachers, and Tiny Tots --- A Great Combination!
Technology is not necessarily reserved for the fully literate --- little kids can benefit from it too! Young students are enjoying activities
that their teachers have gathered from on-line resources. And more and more sites with a munchkin flair are popping up each day. From Barney to
Big Bird --- your young students will find their heroes on the Net, and you will find a few heroic helpers! Included: Sites for early childhood
educators *and* for kids!
No HTML Required!
Education World takes you on a tour of a handful of great sites that
provide simple forms for creating Web-based classroom pages, activities,
quizzes, and much more. And, best of all, there's no HTML coding
required!
Desktop Videoconferencing: Novelty or Legitimate Teaching Tool?
Teacher Hazel Jobe offers Education World readers an introduction to videoconferencing technology. Where can you get the technology? How can you use it in the classroom? Enjoy how-tos and tips from a videoconferencing pro.
Virtual High Schools: The High Schools of the Future?
Join a class composed of students from different states and countries chatting and learning together yet never leaving their homes! Virtual courses, virtual student lounges, virtual yearbooks, and virtual graduations; is this the education of the future?
Laptop Computers for Every Student!
Beside every eighth grader's seat at Kent Center School sits a padded backpack. And inside each backpack is a laptop computer -- provided and paid for by the school!
The School of the Future
Most educators and observers agree that the future school will go electronic with a capital E!
New Keyboard Opens the World of Computers to Young Children
The letters are in alphabetical order, and the big keys of My First Keyboard are perfect for preschoolers’ small hands. Also, when should children be taught keyboarding skills and techniques?
Incorporating Technology Into Classroom Curriculum
Does Technology Scare You? You're not alone. Millions of people have never sat at a computer much less surfed the Internet. But while some people may be able to avoid the use of technology in their daily lives, for educators, it's unavoidable.
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