Educators often say that technology is more than a gimmick or add-on, and that it should engage, enhance, or extend learning in ways that traditional tools do not. Yet they seldom stop to define these terms, and they can be confusing, especially for teachers and preservice teachers. Recently, while collaborating on an English language arts and…

A professional learning network (PLN) is a community of individuals around the world who are learning together. They can start out as strangers, people one couldn't pick out in a crowded room. But Twitter, the virtual meeting place where one's PLN comes together, helps these strangers come together to create a community built on communication and…

For students, field trips can be the best of both worlds: a welcome and exciting break from day-to-day classroom activities and a memorable, real-world experience that will solidify the curriculum in their minds. Unfortunately, the most desirable trips--those to far-away, enticing destinations--have long been inaccessible to all but a select few,…

All teachers know them--the students who sit in the back of the room and never make a peep. If prodded, they may reluctantly offer a comment or opinion, but they are so obviously uncomfortable about participating that a teacher may wonder if it is even worth trying to engage them. Are they unprepared or just shy? Do they lack ideas or merely need…

Teachers know that a constructivist approach involving project-based, student-centered activities can result in students taking an active role in their own learning and engaging in thought-provoking challenges. When accomplished with collaborative activities, students develop skills that will serve them well in the future in any group project.…

Discusses how to structure and design learning activities that are student-centered. Considers how to teach for understanding, especially with online tools and resources; describes specific activity structures categorized by genre and learning processes; and gives examples of curriculum-based student-centered projects that use the Internet. (LRW)

Describes WebQuests as inquiry-oriented activities in which most information is found on the World Wide Web and is designed to engage higher-level thinking skills. Offers suggestions on how to design good WebQuests that will offer quality materials, emphasizing the importance of finding good Web sites to base them on. (LRW)

Describes telecollaborative activities as educational endeavors that involve people in different locations using Internet tools and resources to work together. Topics include curriculum-based telecollaboration that has been designed by teachers; educational benefits; Web sites with telecollaborative activities; and criteria for choosing…

Explains spreadsheets and presents activities that elementary school teachers can use to teach themselves and their students about spreadsheets for complex math concepts. Spreadsheet templates are then placed in electronic "posters" to create interactive activities to help students visualize and communicate mathematical concepts. (Author/LRW)

Examines ways to integrate technology into social studies, science, mathematics, and language arts. Describes model elementary and middle-school classrooms in which technology is used to investigate the concept of property, study soil porosity and the water cycle, run a student store, and promote environmental activism. (PEN)

Presents a lesson plan that exposes students to a variety of information sources on the World Wide Web to teach them to begin to be critical consumers of information. Students are divided into groups and given Web addresses for an organization with a strong view on Nazism. Discusses alternate and follow-up lessons and student reactions. Lists Web…

Discusses using word processing programs with beginning writers, including story illustration and keyboarding. An approach to student writing with computers is outlined, highlighting planning, goals definition, and teacher and student aims. Sample student assignments and a sample writing task card are provided. (PEN)

This document describes a language immersion environment, a summer camp for learning languages, and the technology-rich projects that these learners were involved in. Technology projects and what is thought to have been accomplished through them is examined. It is discussed that many of the same things in a more typical school environment could be…

Describes the Constructural Multi-Modalities Model for MST (math, science, and technology) Inquiry Units. The MST Model uses an interdisciplinary and constructivist approach and allows teachers to create lesson plans that: integrate MST in tandem; adhere to local, state, and national standards; and actively engage students' differentiated learning…

The Hands-On and Far-Out Physics project is part of the Center for Technology, Environment, and Communication (C-TEC), a project-based learning community at Piner High School in Santa Rosa (California). This article introduces the project team, discusses member activities, presents a walking-speed experiment, and describes a Mars Colony course…