What happened when a global pandemic shut down schools in March of 2020, causing an after-school graphic novel book club to be all but forgotten? Magic happened, when led by a determined instructional literacy coach and a local university professor. Undaunted, they decided to adapt the graphic novel book club into a synchronous virtual experience…

With a belief in the need for a reform in education that prepares students for life, work, and citizenship in a globalized economy, leaders were determined to connect students across the district, state, country, and globe in global collaborative STEM projects. These projects were aligned to the standards but also afforded students the opportunity…

Although science is a core subject, educators at Uphall Primary School have found in recent times pupils do not display the same enthusiasm for science as they do for other subjects. In order to raise the pupils' science capital and generate an eagerness among the pupils to experiment, learn and develop their curiosity about the world around them,…

Around one table, four 4th-grade girls chat quietly as they write on their laptops: Ruby interviews Alejandra about her experience crossing the U.S.-Mexico border as a 6-year-old. Meanwhile, Cindy turns notes from an interview with her uncle into a narrative about his immigration experience. Next to them, four boys work on the "Sin Fronteras…

For over two years the National Dropout Prevention Center (NDPC) at Clemson University has been supporting the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) in NW Alaska with their efforts to reduce high school dropout in 23 remote Yup'ik Eskimo villages. The Rural Alaska Mentoring Project (RAMP) provides school-based E-mentoring services to 164…

Wikis are collaborative websites where visitors can edit anything they want, anytime they want. Essentially online "whiteboards," wikis allow groups of people to create documents and projects together. Internet forums, also known as message boards or discussion boards, are web applications that provide online discussions. Like wikis, your forum…

Recently, a group of fourth graders joined "Pintail Partners"--a year-long collaborative research effort of scientists, students, classroom teachers, preservice teachers, museum educators, and university professors. Students and teachers followed satellite tracking data (marking the pintail duck's spring migration) and interacted with scientists…

Social studies educators are responsible for successfully teaching students the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to be effective citizens. The National Council for the Social Studies urges educators to design technology-enhanced experiences that address social studies content and prepare students for effective citizenship. In this paper, we…

Online conversations help teachers engage in constructive criticism and attend more carefully to aligning lesson plans with problem solving. This article describes a strategy for using an online discussion board to help teachers evaluate one another's lesson plans. The online peer-review activity suggests that fostering critical pedagogical…

This article describes how a blogging exchange between preservice teachers and elementary school children was used as part of a social studies pedagogy course. The objective of this exchange was to develop the preservice teachers' understanding of children's differing learning needs, interests and learning styles while the children were immersed…

Kenneth W. Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University, discusses attending a June 2004 conference on "The Key to Competitiveness: Understanding the Next Generation Learner," sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, EDUCAUSE, and Microsoft. The conference addressed what today's students, the…

The integration of socially responsible online citizenship into the pedagogical practices in the elementary classroom is challenging, but necessary. Online activities, such as writing letters to political leaders or communicating with an expert on a community issue, offer students the opportunity to improve their writing skills while advancing…