The integration of technology and science education is an important theme for the TEEMS program. During your Practicum in the High School, you will develop a project based on the use of technology in learning and teaching science. This project may utilize technology as a teaching tool for the teacher or as a learning tool for the students. Your goals for the quarter should include field testing the technology project in the high school.
My comments on this page will focus on technology projects that utilize the Internet. Although your technology project does not have to utilize the Internet, I strongly recommend that your technology project, what ever it is, have some link to the Internet. You might develop a Powerpoint presentation that includes resources from the Internet, or design a lab activity that utilizes forms on the Internet for students to post their data, or perhaps you design a "scavenger hunt" of science content questions that student teams must answer using the World Wide Web. See the reference to "WebQuests" for ideas concerning scavenger hunts.
It is important that before you decide upon an Internet technology project, you check out the technology that is available to you at your school site. Remember that you do not need to have connectivity to the Internet in the classroom to do an Internet project. Check out the media center of your school to find out how many computers are connected to the Internet, and what policies are in effect regarding student access to the Internet.
Also, survey your class, and find out which students are already using the Internet, how many have actually created "web pages," and the degree of interest.
I have developed a web site that might help you in the design of an Internet Project. The Mindson Science Web site contains internet resources, step-by-step process for the design of Internet projects, and links to science related Internet data sharing projects. There are also details on an Internet Project that is running from January through April on ozone monitoring. You might want to check this site out. Click here if you do.
You might also want to explore Apple Computer's Web site, especially the Apple Research Laboratories, as well as IBM's research site, "dabbling in the digital domain." To find out how advance technology is being applied directly to science education, visit TERC, an organization in Cambridge, Massachussetts that develops Internet projects, technology tools for the classroom, and conducts research on technology applications. I also recommend that you check out the Concord Consortium Web site. The CC was formed just two years ago by some of TERC's researchers, and they are developing educational technologies for the science classroom, as well developing science education projects and reporting the results of their research.
Here are some other sites that might help you develop your Internet Project. You will find in this list actual examples of Internet projects, as well as tools to help you design your own project.
A good Internet project should be based on the goals of your science curriculum. The technology project that you design should NOT be viewed as something "extra," but rather as an integral part of your lesson plan or unit plan. So as you explore sites on the Internet, have the goals of your science lesson plans in mind, and think in terms of integrating technology into the teaching of science.
Talk about your project with other TEEMS students, your mentor teacher, as well as Cookie and Jack.
How successful was your project in helping your achieve the goals of the lesson or unit? What was the reaction of the students to the project? How did your peers, mentors and instructors react to your project? What changes would you make in your project if you were to use it again?
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