Integrating Technology into Your School's Curriculum
Probably about half of the links at this site offer advice about integrating technology into your school's curriculum...
Links
http://www.amazon.com/Internet-Your-Kids-Deneen-Frazier/dp/0782121675
Armstrong, & John Blackburn
Probably about half of the links at this site offer advice about integrating technology into your school's curriculum. This collection represents practical solutions from actual classroom teachers and wide-ranging experience in telecommunications.
As school folks have toted up the costs for telecommunications, naysayers gain in popularity. Moreover, if you thought getting your systems to work was complicated, try integration--with all the pulling and hauling amongst staff and other school constituencies.These resources will help accomplish that integration but your school needs to invest in professional development and planning time if the expected benefits will override the costs.
Classroom Connect offers both videos and hard copy curriculum guides for different grade levels in different subjects. While some subject guides offer more comprehensive lessons than others (Social Studies is off the mark, in this author's view.), all are easy to follow and an excellent introduction.
The Internet for Your Kids is organized by topics such as "How Do I Use the Internet?", Crisscrossing the Globe, Challenged by the Best (authors, explorations, games), Power in Numbers (including art and visions of the future), Looking for Answers (research, writing, hobbies), Adventures in Cyberspace (treks, contests, live events), Share Your Ideas (creating galleries, news media, music), The World is a Lab (weather, polling, environmental experiments), and Take a Walk on the Wild side (simulations, creating home pages on the Web). Selecting this approach results in learning about the variety of telecommunications tools, embedded in project-based learning.
The Well-Connected Educator at the Global School Net provides a forum for sharing best practices about integration and TALES FROM THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER at Wested presents in-depth case studies.
Etc in Canada not only offers distant learning for staff (/inservice)but also excellent examples of integrating technology for every subject. In other countries often national standards are followed at the school level so various Canadian resources show a more tightly coupled connection among standards, lessons and assessment.
Designate staff members to join ISTE-the International Society for Technology in Education or ALA-the American Library Association. These organizations support a variety of publications and online resources which touch upon all aspects of integrating technology into your classroom.ISTE's Learning and Leading With Technology is especially outstanding--practical and interesting lessons and projects in all subjects and for all grades as well as interdisciplinary topics and school contexts (e.g. the one computer classroom).
The University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State has mounted 400 video vignettes about technology integration in the classroom. The site is accessible in several languages.
Project T.I.M.E., a recipient of a Technology Challenge Grant, shows how technology can be integrated into meaningful learning experiences, such as sorting claims and evidence.
Annotation
Start simple and work up to the complexity of telecommunications. That way your full school staff can become involved.
Soon telecommunications will become so routine in your classroom that you may forget all the effort and just enjoy.
Review the Webquest entry, also.
