Moving Classroom Content Online

Section 1: Introduction

This presentation is based on what you learned in kindergarten....

"ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN"

• Share everything.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.

• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance

  and play and work every day some.

• Play fair.

Wecome! These on the online resources for a new workshop I will be presenting at the Connecting and Collaborating Conference.

It will be a 90 minute hands-on session. I'm hoping we will have a lot of give and take and input from the participants. You can look at this presentation as starting with the baby steps of putting your content online and moving to the more difficult task of creating opportunities for collaboration.

1. The new global economy means our students are going to have more competition in the work place. Those of us in Michigan know this better than perhaps others around the country.
2. Students not only need the traditional skills in reading, writing and mathematics; they need to be problem solvers and be able to work collaboratively with people around the world.
3. Suggested readings: You may have read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. If you haven't, I strongly suggest reading it to learn about the economy that our students will be entering. The second book I highly recommend is A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.  These books not only describe the global economy, but they also address the skills our students need to be successful in the new economy.

Premises of this presentation

Content

1. Content developed in school must be digital.
2. Educators need to put their content on-line.
3. On-line content will support parents, students and the educational community.
4. We need to take advantage of the "new web 2.0" tools.
5. Access to content at home may be more important than access at school.
6. Students need to work with information and content numerous times before

   it will be in long term memory.

Creativity

1. Choice is important in engaging students in learning.
2. Students learn and have skills in different areas. Giving them alternative ways to demonstrate

   what they have learned will motivate students to learn more.

3. Students can develop content in creative ways when given the opportunity.
4. Variety is "The Spice of Life."

Collaboration

1. We need to learn to work in collaborative settings.
2. Tools now exist to help us connect with others.
3. Students enjoy meeting and working with other teams from other states and countries.

 I truly believe and research shows that students will produce better work when they have an authentic audience.

Resources and Web Sites

PowerPoint Presentation (April 18, 2007)

Jim Wenzloff

Macomb ISD

jwenzloff@misd.net