Project Based Learning

Here's an interesting article from smartplanet.com demonstrating an innovative use of distance learning technology. Several very large companies (Nokia, Sony, Philips, Rolls-Royce) are having their interns and management candidates participate in online business scenario "tournaments" as part of their training. Participants compete against one another to determine how their managerial decisions would affect the outcome of their fictional organization.

Project-based learning is one of the new educational buzzwords floating around and this would certainly fall into this category. Providing students with authentic learning opportunities seems to foster greater participation and success. Re-working our educational system to eliminate worksheets and scantron forms and replace them with projects and real-life application is going to take a lot of work! Is project-based learning a fad or something that's here to stay?

Susan Patrick: The e-Learning Challenge

Susan Patrick: The E-Learning Challenge from Education Week on Vimeo.

The president and chief executive officer of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning talks at NECC '09 about the drive to improve virtual learning in K-12 schools.

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Take-away #1: Policy, not technology is preventing widespread use of online learning in K-12 environments.

Take-away #2: Students are reporting higher levels of engagement in online vs. traditional school courses.

Why do people use the internet?

As I looked through articles in Google reader last night I came across this graphic (click to view larger image) which I found very interesting. The Ruder Finn Intent Index measures reasons individuals use the internet. In their own words:

"Ruder Finn's Intent Index is an ongoing online research study that provides a comprehensive analysis of the underlying motivations or reasons people go online-- their intent."

Data is collected from a representative sample of 500+ people 18 years of age or older and is updated quarterly. The data is divided into seven distinct categories. Two of the seven categories were selected by nearly everyone as a primary reason they use the internet: education (97%) and fun (100%).

Besides just being interesting in general, this data provides a unique insight for anyone who is interested in online learning. The Finn data reveals that the internet is already viewed as a educational environment therefore formalizing the education process to something more "official" won't require tremendous effort.

Additionally, as someone who is in the process of building online courses, if I can include the top three categories (education, fun, and socialization) into my courses, they will be wildly popular. Users expect social media tools to be incorporated into all types of online activities. And their request is being answered judging from the number and variety of websites who are adding the option to post links and comments directly to Facebook and Twitter. Including these tools in online courses is a must.

The move toward online learning seems like such a natural progression to me however I am always surprised by the number of individuals I come in contact with who either think that online learning is a fad that will soon fade away are are dead-set against it because of challenges associated with it. Despite their skepticism, it looks like most of the country is already turning to the internet as a source of education!

AP Biology Workshop

This week I am attending the AP Biology training workshop at Oakland University. I preparing to teach AP biology during the 2009-2010 school year. There's lots to do to get ready, but I'm excited about teaching an AP class! The course is led by Ruth Gleicher, a veteran AP teacher from outside of Chicago. Although today was only the first day I've already gleaned several great new ideas from her!

Ruth has put together a very helpful website for us on which she is posting all of her handouts. If you are a biology teacher, it's certainly worth the surf!

Google Teacher Academy Agenda

Late in the day on Friday I received an e-mail from the folks at Google containing the agenda for the 2009 Google teacher academy in Boulder, CO. It looks to be a full and exciting day!

8:00 - 8:30 Reception Breakfast

8:30 - 9:15 Welcome and Overview
9:15 - 9:45 Search
9:45 - 10:15 Google Apps: Education Edition

10:15 - 10:30 Break

10:30 - 12:15 Breakout #1: Google Apps, Docs, Sites, Others

12:15 - 1:15 Lunch

1:15 - 1:30 Inspiring Idea #1: Google Apps, Moodle, & Mahara
1:30 - 1:45 Inspiring Idea #2: Spreadsheet Gadgets
1:45 - 3:30 Breakout #2: Geo Apps, Maps, Earth, SketchUp

3:30 - 3:45 Break

3:45 - 4:15 Search Curriculum
4:15 - 4:30 Becoming a Google Apps Qualified Trainer
4:30 - 5:30 Even More
5:15 - 6:15 Reflection Activity

6:15 - 7:30 Celebration Dinner

Of particular interest to me is the brief discussion on Google Aps, Moodle, and Mahara. I had not heard of Mahara (open source portfolio web service) until receiving this e-mail, but I took a quick look at it and am very intrigued by the possibilities. This 15 minute segment has also been the topic of several twitter discussions amongst the educators selected to the Boulder GTA.

The anticipation and excitement is building. I'm looking forward to experiencing the Google culture first hand and learning from their creativity!

Accepted to the Google Teacher Academy!

Earlier this week I was shocked and excited to learn that I have been selected as one of 50 educators from across the country to take part in this years Google Teacher Academy in Boulder, Colorado. This one day workshop will bring together educators who use Google products in their classrooms and actively take part in training other educators on using the wonderful projects created by Google. I have always been inspired by Google's creativity and innovation and look forward to learning from them! After the academy, I will become a Google Certified Educator!

Blogging in the Classroom

I just finished taking a course on supervision of instruction through Liberty University. As part of the class I completed some research on the affect of blogging on student achievement. In my research I reviewed five studies, three quantitative and two qualitative. From this literature I drew some general conclusions about how blogging can influence student achievement and make suggestions for the successful implementation of a blogging project in a classroom.

For those of you who blog in your classroom, take heart! The research suggests that blogging has a positive impact on your students!