Well gang, I am sorry we ran out of time before we fully discussed this week's assignment. I'm used to teaching IPT 287--a 2-credit class. I'll try to manage class time better!
Because I didn't get to explain the assignment in class, I'll do so here. If you have questions, you can post them as a comment and we can carry on a Q and A here on my blog.
First off, the direct link to the assignment is right here. However, you can always get it from the "calendar" or "assignments" link on the right of my blog. You can read the details on the assignment page, but here's the brief low-down:
Purpose: Find a lesson plan and two good educational digital resources (with the emphasis on good).
How:
1. Go to uen.org and find the standards for your teaching emphasis.
2. Pick a standard and find a lesson plan to teach that standard
3. Pick another (or the same) standard and find two educational websites that would help you teach that standard
4. Post your Word document to BLACKBOARD as an attachment to a post in the discussion forum called "Digital Resources."
Like I said, there's more detail on the assignment page.
Once you've found your digital resources, you need to evaluate them and explain why they are good resources using the template we've created for you. On the template, it asks you to what category of educational website your resource belongs to. These were the papers I had available for you in class. You can also download these 11 categories of Educational Websites here. I attended a conference just a week ago where Trey Martindale, a blogger himself, explained these categories. He admits that many really good websites fit into multiple categories, so if the digital resources you find fit into multiple categories too, that's fine--just explain your reasoning.
Trey describes the 11 types of educational websites in the article you can download, but it might still be helpful to get a second take on it, so here's my stab at explaining the categories:
1. Instructional
A website with a learning activity that asks a student to do something, has specific instructional goals, and a way to assess or give feedback on the student's performance.
2. Learning Activity
A website similar to instructional sites, but perhaps lacking the goals or assessment aspects.
3. Content Collection
A popular form of website that simply has a bunch of material on one subject. Example: A website on Shakespeare that has tons of stuff on good ol' Will.
4. List of Links
A website that has the main purpose of providing links to other great websites.
5. Reference/Archive/News/Database (RAND)
A website that is a reference tool, such as an online dictionary, encyclopedia, or the like. Different than content collection because it has information on many subjects and not just one.
6. Teacher and Parent Resouces
A website geared not towards students, but those who teach them.
7. Shared Experience
Websites where students can experience things togethers, such as virtual tours.
8. Personal Expression and Interpersonal Interaction (PEII)
Websites that allow people to interact, express themselves, and communicate.
9. Informal education.
Websites not meant to be educational, but which have educational components. For example the Hogle Zoo probably has material on its website that would be great for elementary lessons.
10. Research and Service Organizations and Projects (RSOP - boy you gotta love his acronomyms, huh?)
Websites that are organized as part of some massive research project
11. Commercial. Example is Microsoft's education page.
Go forth and conquer!
