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Is Information Technology Improving Education?
Over the past 20 years, K–12 schools have
invested billions of dollars on information
technology (IT) for instructional use. Annual
expenditures are now approximately $6 billion, or
2% of the entire school budget. People are asking,
“Why hasn’t this large investment produced a
significant improvement in education?”
In the December/January issue of Learning
& Leading with Technology, David
Moursund explores the answers to this
question.
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Power Up!
Stimulating Your Students
with PowerPoint
In this issue’s feature article,
André
Harrison describes ways in which he has
been able to get his students excited about what
they study. And he has done it all with PowerPoint,
one of Microsoft
Office’s main applications, creating curricular
materials to present to his classes.
Subject: All
Grade Level: K–12 (Ages 5–18)
Technology: Microsoft
Office, large-screen television, TV cable
converter
Read...
Or view the online
supplement.
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to Table of Contents.
Multithreaded Language Learning
Students at Different
Levels Working in one Classroom
Combining students at different levels in one
classroom is a challenge. Do you teach everyone the
same material? Do you try to let everyone work at
their own pace? If you do that, how can you keep
the classroom organized? Technology can help
teachers manage classrooms of students working at
differing levels. In this article, Robert
Morrey describes how his students are
using technology to design and assess their own
third- and fourth-year German language
curricula.
Subject: Foreign Language (German)
Grade Level: 10–12 (Ages 15–18)
Technology: Quelle Writing Assistant for German ( Heinle
& Heinle), German 1 and German Deutsch Konkret 1, 2, and 3 ( Morrey’s Microcomputer Materials)
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The Same, But Different
The Computer as Alternative Medium
Even the simplest game requires a programmer to
assemble and use procedures in a way that produces
coherent and repeatable action. In this article,
Jessica
Kahn describes how she has used a
variation of Logo to help students learn
programming and complex problem-solving approaches
in the process.
Subject: Elementary—all subjects
Grade Level: K–6 (Ages 5–12)
Technology: Puzzle Power and Teacher’s
Power
Pack (Centron),
Math Companion (Visions
Technology in Education), Math Blaster
(Knowledge
Adventure), word processor (e.g.,
AppleWorks
or Microsoft
Word), graphics packages, puzzle generators, CD-ROM
references (e.g., Microsoft
Encarta), CD-ROM storybooks, painting and drawing
programs.
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Poetic
Surfing
Using a Focused Internet
Search to Keep Students on the Crest of a
Wave
Getting students to concentrate on a specific
topic is a challenge teachers face when they use
the Internet: Children’s curiosity can lead them
to
sites that are interesting but not related to the
task at hand. In this article, Tom
Banaszewski describes how he was able
to keep his students on task in learning about
history by having them use a poetic theme and a
thoughtfully assembled collection of Web sites.
And, view the online
supplement to this article.
Subject: Language Arts & Social
Studies
Grade Level: 4–6 (Ages 9–11)
Technology: Web browser, Internet
connection
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A
Technology Update
Leonardo da Vinci and the Search for the Perfect
Body
Creating their own spreadsheets to generate
information that verifies the work of a
15th-century artist might not intrigue many
secondary school students. In the lesson provided
here, though, they’ll be actively involved in
learning about Leonardo da Vinci’s incredible
work
with proportions, ratios, and applied technology.
The accuracy that he achieved without a computer
will surprise many mathematics and art students, as
Bobbette
Morgan and Joe
Jernigan explain in this article.
Subject: General Mathematics, Algebra,
Art, Technology
Grade Level: 7–10 (Ages 12–16)
Technology: spreadsheet software (e.g.,
AppleWorks
or Microsoft
Excel)
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to Table of Contents.
Teaching
Astronomy By Internet Jigsawing
Contemporary science teachers must help students
learn by actively doing science rather than merely
memorizing long lists of facts. Although such a
student-centered approach is clearly mandated in
the National Science Education Standards
(National Research Council, 1996), it remains
difficult to achieve. In this article,
Brian Beaudrie,
Tim Slater, Stephanie Stevenson,
and David Caditz,
educators at Montana State University, describe how a
joint project with NASA
has led to the development of a method to doing online
projects that really involves students in
science.
Also read the online
supplement to this article.
Subject: Space Science, Internet
Grade Level: K–12 (Ages 5–18)
Technology: Internet-connected computer, Web
browser
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to Table of Contents.
Fat
Crayon Multimedia Digital Toolbox
By adding splash to their presentations, kids get a chance
to use their imaginations. With Kid Pix and similar programs, they
can choose colors and sounds that amplify or enhance various aspects
of their work. Marybeth Kampman knows exactly how to do that—she’s
the author of Multimedia Using Kid Pix (Kampman, 1998)—and
she shares some of those possibilities here.
Read more about Marybeth's book Fat Crayon Multimedia
Using Kid Pix.
Subject: Primary, Math, and Language
Arts
Grade Level: K–3 (Ages 5–8)
Technology: Kid Pix (Broderbund,
a division of The Learning Company), QuickTime
(Apple),
screenshot software (e.g., PICTify), HyperStudio
(Roger
Wagner Publishing, Inc.), Macintosh LCII or
above (preferably audiovisual and with Internet
connection), CD player, VCR, camcorder, digital
camera, flatbed scanner, photo scanner (e.g.,
Storm’s Easy Photo Reader)
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to Table of Contents.
Online
Geographic Information Systems
Using Real-World Data to Explore Layers
of Meaning
What do you get when you cross a map with a
database? A geographic information system (GIS). As
Glen
Bull,
Gina Bull, and Cheryl
Mason explain in this month’s Mining the
Internet, such a system is used to display
quantitative information in highly visual ways.
This is an effective way to see patterns in data
that might otherwise be obscure.
Also read the online
supplement to this article.
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to Table of Contents.
The
Art and Craft of Technology Leadership
Vision, flexibility, and cooperation are
qualitites that any of us would like to think we
have, but they’re essential characteristics for
the
successful technology coordinator, as
Mary Jewell
shows in this article.
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to Table of Contents.
Software
Reviews
Acquainting Children with
Cultural Diversity
Back
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Software
Releases
Preparing
Internet-Ready Teachers
Which Methods Work Best?
Internet training really can pay off. In this
month’s Research Windows column,
M. D. Robyler and
Wendy Erlanger
discuss training teachers to integrate the Internet
into their teaching as well
as the implications for future training.
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to Table of Contents.
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