Ed Tech Planning Resources

| Planning for Technology | Models for Learning with Technology | Samples of Educational Activities with Technology |

Background Information: Learning and Planning for Technology in Education

Technology Planning Links

Inventing the Future (IF) Conference Mary Olson and Bill Chapin participated in this conference dedicated to envisioning the future of schooling. Visit the various teams' web sites to begin thinking about our vision of the future of schooling at Warren.

Seven Dimensions: A Policy-Maker's Guide Review this online version of the Milken Exchange's answer to the question of how to plan for educational technology.

Technology Counts '99: Building the Digital Curriculum.  Results of the survey - the most comprehensive analysis to date of teachers' use of educational software and Web sites - are included in Education Week's third annual report on education technology.

Technology Counts '98: Putting School Technology to the Test Here is the '98 issue of this Education Week publication.

A Continuum for Professional Development: Gauging Professional Competency for Technology-Supported Learning, by Edward Coughlin & Cheryl Lemke. This "continuum" represents research- and classroom-tested approaches to developing the skills in teachers and administrators necessary for effective integration of technology in learning.

Learning in a Digital Age: Insights into the Issues The Skills Students Need for Technological Fluency by Kathleen Fulton, associate director of the Center for Learning and Educational Technology at the University of Maryland, this paper offers policymakers and educators a better understanding of the complexity of student technology skills in terms of definition, acquisition and assessment.

Milken Exchange on Education Technology  A wide range of publications and information on education technologies, including guides to planning technology.

North Central Regional Education Laboratory's Learning Through Technology: A Planning and Implementation Guide Visit this guide to learn the steps effective planners follow to facilitate technology for learning.

National Educational Technology - Standards for Students  The International Society for Technology in Education has defined standards for students and learning with technology. 

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Models for Learning and Research with Technology

General Information and Links

SCORE sites: Visit these links provided by California educators to a wide range of Internet research model links.

Learner-Centered Classrooms, Problem-Based Learning, and the Construction of Understanding and Meaning by Students The North Central Regional Education Laboratory offers this description of the new classroom.

Jamieson McKenzie:

This innovative thinker and writer has inspired many of us who have been asking the question of how we might best integrate learning technologies. Explore the links below to get a sense of his pioneering work on the research process in an age of global resources.

The Research Cycle Jamieson McKenzie's model for designing and student research projects using Internet resources.

Making the Net Work for Schools: Online Research Modules This article by Jamieson McKenzie explores effective online research models. Look especially at the sample projects and the questions that serve as the basis for them.

Engaged Learning:

Don't be fooled by this compilation of research-based compilation of best practices. It's really just that—a compilation of some of the best-known methods for instruction, supported by research. However, when linked with well-designed technology systems and informed practitioners, the engaged learning model provides a solid foundation for learning and researching with the Internet. By the way, all state funding is now tied to engaged learning practices.

Plugging In: Choosing and Using Educational Technology North Central Regional Educational Laboratory's model for promoting learning with technology.This is one of the main resources we now use for learning about and using engaged learning concepts.

Handbook of Engaged Learning Projects Review this sampling of engaged learning projects created by fellow teachers.

Using Technology to Enhance Engaged Learning for At-Risk Students Visit this North Central Regional Education Lab (NCREL) site to explore ways that at-risk students can benefit from technology and engaged learning practices.

ENGAGED LEARNING Link here to view some of the basic categories of questions that lead naturally into engaged learning projects. This site is sponsored by the Illinois Student Project Information Network (ISPIN), and the ideas were generated by groups involved in this network.

HELP index Here are some samples of engaged learning projects at all instructional levels (K-12). The projects resulted from a program offered to teachers through the FermiLab Education Department.

Indicators of Engaged Learning Want to see the online version of the engaged learning indicators chart? This ISPIN site provides it.

Engaged Learning Page Our neighbor, Zion Benton High School, has posted this site with links to their teachers engaged learning projects.

LTH1 EL/T Home Visit this site at the Area One Learning Technology Hub to explore model examples of engaged learning projects.

Engaged Learning Project Here are two samples of engaged learning projects from the Christopher High School site.

Engaged Learning Resources This site includes an excerpt from Don Tapscott's Growing Up Digital book in which he discusses how the engaged learning model is a match for what he calls the "net generation", the kids we're teaching.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL):

Investigating PBL: A Web Quest This California State University web page is what it talks about. It guides the visitor on a web quest that explores the topic of problem-based learning. Try it!

What Is PBL? If you are looking for a definition of PBL, visit this frame of an online slide show.

Center for Problem-Based Learning Core The Illinois Math and Science Academy has organized this introduction to problem-based learning.

Problem Based Learning An outline of the problem based learning process with steps to follow.

Problem-based Learning in Biology with 20 Case Examples This biology instructor has shared the steps he follows in coordinating a problem-based learning unit and offers 20 examples to fuel the exploration.

Constructivism:

Building and Using Constructivist Learning Environments (CLEs) on the Web: A Resource Site Visit this site! It site provides links to articles and resources that describe the constructivist model. Don't miss the links in the left margin of this page that provide examples of student projects.

A Constructivism Home Page: While this author's identity is hard to pin down, his table describing constructivism and its relationship to other educational models (including the integration of technology) is helpful.

Philip Kent's Site on Constructionism, Constructivism, and Computers: This university professor provides background on this topic, definitions, and discussion with some helpful examples.

Instructivism vs. Constructivism: Karen Barton, a University of South Caroline doctoral student, created this comparison of two models.

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Samples of Educational Activities on the Web

The links below provide both guidelines and examples of web pages created with a particular model of research or learning in mind. Try out these sites to get a more concrete idea of how the various models are translated into actual student activities.

McKenzie's Research Cycle

Research Modules: Jamieson McKenzie's Research Cycle comes to life in these modules hosted by the Grand Prairie Independent School District, Texas.

Making the Net Work for Schools: Online Research Modules: This article includes links to projects designed around McKenzie's Research Cycle model.

Engaged Learning

How Do We Inherit Our Biological Characteristics? Visit this example of engaged learning in action.Note especially the authenticity of the task and the design of the assessment.

Endangered Species: Another engaged learning sample from Shelly Peretz of Thornridge High School in Dolton, IL.

Problem-Based Learning

Model Problems—PBL: The Problem Based Learning Center at the Illinois Math & Science Academy provides detailed descriptions of four PBL projects.

Constructivism

Constructivist Design Principles: Designing a constructivist project? This site will guide your work with many design suggestions.

Web Quests

Web Quest Workshop Page: This page, created for a professional development effort in North Carolina, provides an introduction to web quests, a definition, and links to examples. (Note: As of 12-9-98, a number of the links on the samples page are stale.)

Bernie Dodge's Web Quest Home Page: Link here to the Web Quest home page created by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University.

Bernie Dodge's Web Quest Matrix: Link to a web quests displayed by subject in an easy to navigate table.

NASA's Cere's Project: A team of master teachers, university faculty, and NASA researchers have created a series of web-based astronomy lessons for the CERES Project. These classroom-ready activities for K-12 students represent a robust combination of contemporary teaching/learning strategies from the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996), exciting and current NASA science data, and Internet pointers to an endless supply of accurate and timely resources.

Web Quest Samples: Education Media and Technology, an organization that provides staff development in California, has posted this list of webquests for both elementary and secondary school levels.

Completing Your Web Quest Template: If you would like a concise, straightforward template to use when designing your web quest, you might want to visit this site designed by Tom March, a web-based designer.

Web Quest Workshop: Dorie Sebold and Jim Andris of North Middle School designed this collection of resources and examples of web quests for a workshop.

Lake Forest Elementary School Web Quest Page: The WebQuests at this site were created by graduate students in the courses, Telecommunications in the Schools and Advanced Telecommunications in the Schools, at National-Louis University.

Otterbein Graduate Students' Samples: More contributions from graduate students.

Souther Illinois University at Edwardsville Workshop: Another workshop, but with some links that provide a different slant on web quests.

Web Quests for the School Year: This Greenville, South Caroline middle school has presented a sequence of web quests that moves through the school year.

Activity Structures of Many Kinds

Judy Harris's Structures: One of the true pioneers of using the educational resources of the Internet, Judy Harris provides this comprehensive directory of "Sample Curriculum-Based K-12 Educational Telecomputing Projects, Organized by Activity Structures."

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