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April 18
In the News
Classroom Audio Podcasting: http://www.wtvi.com/teks/05_06_articles/classroom-audio-podcasting.html
Cyber Schools Spring Up In State: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05128/500990.stm
" When Western Pennsylvania's first cyber charter school opened five school
years ago, Nick Trombetta -- who was both Midland School District superintendent
and head of the new school -- expected only a small number of students. Instead,
the public charter school started with more than 500 and has grown to nearly
3,000, setting off a statewide phenomenon in the process.
Imagine the Internet: http://www.elon.edu/predictions/
This is a survey of nearly 1,300 technology experts and scholars
on the future of the Internet. This survey has concluded - not surprisingly
- that the Internet would reach into and influence every corner of American
life over the next 10 years. The study, released under the auspices of Elon
University and the Pew Internet & American Life Project, paints a picture
of a digital future that enhances the lives of many but which also contains
some worrisome notes. For instance, over half of the respondents predicted the
Internet would spawn "a new age of creativity" and that formal education
would incorporate more online classes, with students grouped by
interests and skills, rather than by age. At the same time, two-thirds predicted
a devastating attack on the country's network infrastructure would occur in
the next 10 years, and that government and business surveillance would rise
dramatically.
Some questions to consider:
*Will there still be “courses” and “classes” or will we
think, in the next 10 - 20 years, that parceling out content in pre-timed intervals
to groups of students proceeding through the material in “lockstep”
is archaic?
*Why would we have to pace students when our learning management systems will
enable dynamic, interactive, and personalized learning?
Identifying and Implementing Educational Practices Supported
By Rigorous Evidence: A User Friendly Guide: http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/rigorousevid/index.html
No Child Left Behind requires that educators use “scientifically-based
research” to guide decisions on programs and resources to use in the classroom.
To help educators sort practices backed by rigorous evidence from those that
are not, the U.S. Department of Education has this resource. The Guide explains
that in order to identify “strong evidence of effectiveness,” well-designed
and implemented randomized controlled trials are needed; however, this type
of research has not been very common in education.
Until randomized controlled trials are more widespread, existing research studies
can be mined for “possible evidence of effectiveness." See the Guide
referenced above for a checklist on things to consider when evaluating research
evidence.
Also, you can find recent educational technology research available online from
PBS Teacher Source: http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/teachtech/research.shtm,
organized in the following nine categories. I hope that it will be helpful to
you.
Access and Digital Divide
Clearinghouses for Print and Online Research
Emerging Technologies
Evaluating Programs and Practices
Leadership and Technology
Student Learning
Teacher Practice and Professional Development
Virtual Schools
Visual Media
Media Awareness in Education
Cable in the Classroom - Media Literacy: http://www.ciconline.org/Enrichment/MediaLiteracy/default.htm
"Media literacy is the ability to access, understand, analyze, evaluate,
and create media messages on television, the Internet and other outlets. It
can help us interpret the many messages we daily receive from these sourcesby
applying the same critical-thinking skills used in reading and writing to other
forms of media."
Consumer Reports Online For Kids: http://www.zillions.org/
Don't Buy It - Get Media Smart!: http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/
Kids and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting attempts to teach students
how media can affect the choices they make. "Don't Buy It" includes
a page for parents to discuss the ill effects of violence in the media and provides
strategies for educating children about the different marketing ploys and advertising
gimmicks they're likely to encounter on television and radio stations. A section
for teachers also provides several lesson plans devoted to media literacy. Each
lesson is built around the six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension,
application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Students can learn how to
evaluate an advertisement, create their own marketing strategy, and spot the
pitch before buying into a corporate gimmick. The site also provides several
links to consumer education resources for kids, as well as features that expose
the secrets behind television and radio advertising. Students can find out why
the people in television commercials always look so good, for example--or discover
why that delicious hamburger they've seen on TV never looks quite so tasty when
they buy it themselves.
Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock
Down Culture and Control Creativity/, Penguin Press, March 25, 2004: http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/
Read the book free online
Media Awareness Network: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/index.cfm
Media Literacy Resources@Web English Teacher: http://www.webenglishteacher.com/media.html
Writing for the Web: http://www.webraw.com/form/web_writing_121202.shtml
Educational Technology in the Future
Barriers to Distance Education: Perceptions of K-12 Educators: http://www.emoderators.com/barriers/barriersk12.html
Abstract: Instructional-use computers are continuing to migrate into the classrooms,
with public schools reporting over half the installed base now located in classrooms.
Still, education struggles with the rapid expansion of technology.
Chasing Tornadoes: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0404/sights_n_sounds/media2.html
Race into the path of a raging twister and experience one of nature's mightiest
storms up close in this special multimedia feature.
CraneCam: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/cranecam/
avian migrationmore than 500,000 sandhill cranesbrought to you live from Nebraska's
Platte River. Submit your questions to biologist Paul Tebbel.
Eager to Learn: http://glef.org/
Integrating Multimedia with Academics
Three freshmen at Moanalua High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, recently took first
place in the 2003 Hawaii Student Film Festival, with a video about child labor.
The students produced the video as part of a two-year-old integrated language
arts/multimedia, social studies/multimedia program at Moanalua High.
EOS (Earth Observing System) Education Project: http://www.eoscenter.com/
Students can get a one-of-a-kind look at the Red Planet through this new interactive
web site from NASA. The space program's Earth Observing System provides students,
scientists, and space enthusiasts alike with some of the first three-dimensional
images captured by NASA's "Spirit" and "Opportunity" rovers
and beamed back to Earth in the early phases of this monumental exploration.
Exploring Space: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/space/
Explore the majesty and grandness of space in this collector's edition of images
of the universe. Then test your space smarts in an interactive trivia game.
Oregon Educational Technology Consortium (OETC): http://www.oetc.org/index.html
"Dedicated to the integration of technology in education"
Race to the Center of the Earth: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/caverace/week8/index.html
Explorers in a daredevil expedition are tackling what may be the world's deepest
cave. Follow their exploits with updates and images from Mexico's Cheve Cave.
SCHOOPY: http://www.schoopy.com/
SCHOOPY functions as a classroom organizer, where teachers can post information
(calendar, links, files, pictures, assignments, quizzes and messages) direct
to students or parents who login with a username and a password. Teachers and
schools can also create and manage a school homepage (calendar, links, files
& pictures, as well as create-a-page).
This site began in March 1998 and was created
by Janet Luch. This page was last updated
on
January 19, 2007
.
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