May
19
2008
I was reading the Examiner.com today and found out that George Mason has received a $7 million grant to create an interactive history Web site. The goal of this site is ‘to improve history instruction throughout the United States’. The site will provide lesson plans, forums for discussions, and each lesson will be aligned with state history standards.
The Web site itself states that it is…
Designed for high school and college teachers and students, History Matters serves as a gateway to web resources and offers other useful materials for teaching U.S. history.
To visit the site directly, go to http://historymatters.gmu.edu/
As more and more of these quality sites are placed on the Web, information becomes more accessible and necessary.
May
17
2008
How can these tools help teachers become better teachers? Can they?
I was reading an article this morning, Virtual classroom at the University of Central Florida puts teachers to the test, in the Orlando Sentinel and found it interesting. Interesting on many levels - first, I am planning something similar this coming fall with a class. Second, I believe simulations can and do provide a rich experience for students at any level.
As teachers, we search for effective strategies and methods that provide both dynamic experiences for our students and opportunities that encourage thought and discovery. Simulations are one such opportunity. Simulations provide a sense of immersion into an environment and hopefully provide opportunities for the learner to participate and to think as they would in the ‘real world’ - (outside the classroom walls). Thus, processing, making decisions, and learning.
I am planning to implement a dynamic, live, and very present type of simulated experience this coming fall in SecondLife. I will be doing this in a beginning course for teachers at CGPS, Teaching and the Development of the Learner. Students will have opportunities to role play in this world and to practice maintaining a safe and productive classroom environment. Students will use this simulated environment by creating avatars and participating in different roles (student and teacher). As the article suggests, if there is a problem in the classroom, you must fix it. Students will have opportunities to practice doing just that. The benefit, it is simulated and they will receive constructive feedback with opportunities for practice.
It is an interesting and good article. Take a look.
