Archives: May, 2010

What exactly is blended learning? In his 2010 NCTIES conference presentation, “Beyond blended learning: Reaching every student,” LEARN NC’s Bobby Hobgood defines blended learning as instruction that brings together traditional face-to-face classroom techniques with learning opportunities afforded by the internet, and adds that blended learning reflects a combination of three learning theories — cognitivism, constructivism, and performance support.

We’ve posted a video of Dr. Hobgood’s presentation in our Best Practices section. Viewers of this hour-long presentation will learn:

• what blended learning is,
• why blended learning is important,
• current research findings about blended learning,
• a theoretical framework underpinning the value of blended learning,
• what blended learning “looks like” in a classroom, and
• ten ways to improve teaching using a blended approach.

Access to the archived session requires Microsoft Silverlight software. If you don’t already have Silverlight installed, clicking on the link will prompt your browser to ask you if you’d like to download this free software.

Maybe you’ve heard about LEARN NC’s digital textbook for North Carolina History — or maybe this is the first time it’s crossed your radar. You may be wondering: What’s a digital textbook? How can I use it in my classroom?

We’re presenting a series of webinars this summer, beginning June 16, to answer those questions. Each will provide an overview of the textbook, examples of the kinds of primary and secondary resources available, some suggestions for using digital content in your classroom, and how you can use this digital textbook to build literacy and critical thinking skills.

To learn more, see the schedule, get a preview, and register, visit this page on our website.

LEARN NC will offer a pilot of a new professional development course, Planning Instruction with the National STEM Digital Library, beginning June 15 and running through July 26. This course was developed by Shodor as a way to show teachers the variety of useful classroom resources for STEM teachers available through the National STEM Digital Library.

This pilot offering is worth 3 CEUs, but only costs $25. A course description is below:

Course abstract

Explore the myriad resources available to you for free through the National STEM Digital Library (NSDL). You will learn to use this great collection to find and implement the tools most relevant to your classroom.

In individual and group activities, you will learn strategies for searching, self-reflection, and identifying resources most useful to you. You will review and discuss lessons learned with a group of like-minded professionals. In a final, culminating project, you will create a lesson plan for your class that takes advantage of the great tools you’ve found throughout the course.

Course goal

This course will prepare you to use the National STEM Digital Library (NSDL) and its connected resources in classroom teaching.

Prerequisites

None

Course objectives

Upon completion of the course, you will:

• Become a more adept searcher of resources in an information age
• Understand search methods within NSDL specifically
• Develop skills for online searching that can be replicated in other environments
• Be more aware of the variety of resources available to teachers
• Understand the different pathways and how to find resources within each

Standards Alignment

This course addresses the following North Carolina teacher standards:

• Standard III: Teachers know the content they teach
  • c. Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines.
• Standard IV: Teachers facilitate learning for their students
  • c. Teachers use a variety of instructional methods.
• Standard V: Teachers reflect on their practice
  • c. Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment.

I hear from a lot of educators all over North Carolina. They ask questions about our lessons or online courses and, as often as not, they ask if we’d consider expanding our work into an area where they feel challenged. Since we’re a small organization, we have to choose our projects carefully–acting on any one of them means we won’t have the time or manpower to do others. So why do some ideas make the cut and some don’t? Here is a little insight into our decision-making process.

When deciding whether to pursue a project, we first look at available data. Through surveys and anecdotal information we get from teachers in the field, we’re constantly listening to hear what educators need. According to the 2010 NC Teacher Working Conditions survey, 63% of teachers said they needed professional development in instructional technology in order to teach their students more effectively. It’s no coincidence we’re currently developing online courses that focus on blended learning and interactive white boards, and just publishing a new series of best practices articles on technology integration.   We also try to leverage our partnerships.  North Carolina has a tremendous amount of talent and expertise in our education community, and through working collaboratively with other programs, non-profits, agencies and such, we are better able to meet the needs of our teachers statewide.

Our mission remains our biggest deciding factor, though. Before we take on anything new, we consider how it lines up with our stated purpose to provide lesson plans, professional development, and innovative web resources to support teachers, build community, and improve K-12 education in North Carolina. We’ve had to turn down more than a few opportunities simply because they’re outside the scope of what we do. By keeping our purpose in mind, though, we’re more able to focus on the things we do best and better serve the educators of North Carolina.

What do you wish we were working on? Drop me a line. 

We’ve recently published a number of articles that share best practices in culturally relevant teaching. The articles, written by Dr. Regina Higgins, offer suggestions for accessing and using culture kits, incorporating film into pedagogy, and identifying high-quality online resources for teaching other cultures:

• Making the Most of Culture Kits: Culture kits — everyday objects from the country or region you’re studying — can bring your lessons to life. This article will get you started using culture kits in your social studies classroom, and provides contacts for borrowing culture kits from programs at UNC and Duke.
• Teaching World Cultures: According to the new Professional Teaching Standards, every North Carolina teacher must promote global awareness in classroom instruction. This article presents some general guidelines and specific strategies for global teaching.
• Teaching Latin America through Film: This article offers teachers strategies for enriching student understanding of Latin America through films available free through the Consortium on Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. It suggests ways teachers can incorporate viewing directly into instruction through careful preparation and follow-up.
• Teaching Contemporary Europe: We know how to teach Europe’s past, but what about the present? This article offers strategies and resources for teaching today’s Europe, using online resources from the Center for European Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.
• Teaching the European Union: This article presents the European Union — often seen as an “extra” in instruction — as an integral part of the government, economy, history, and culture of Europe. It offers background on the EU, and ideas for deepening understanding of the EU every time you teach Europe.
• Using EUROPA to Teach the European Union: Finding resources for teaching the European Union can be a challenge. This article introduces strategies for using free resources available on the official EU web site, EUROPA, to deepen understanding of the European Union.

We’re looking for a few brave K-12 teachers to write feature content for LEARN NC and Instructify. These features will show how to accomplish a specific instructional goal by using nontraditional methods (usually some nifty free technology).

If you’re a practicing K-12 teacher or media specialist who loves writing about new technology, we’d love to hear from you. If we hire you, we’ll pay you $200 for each feature, upon publication. You’ll also have the opportunity to write shorter application-review articles on Instructify for $25 each.

For examples, please see some of our technology integration articles.

Apply

Applications will be accepted until Monday, May 24 at 8 a.m. Please send the following to Bill Ferris, editor, at instructify[at]learnnc.org:

1. A pitch for a feature article you’d like to write. Your pitch should focus on the learning objective you’re trying to achieve first, the technology used to achieve it second. FYI, features must be at least 1,500 words, so make sure your proposal reflects an article of that length.
2. Two writing samples. Content similar to what we publish on Instructify is preferred, but feel free to send anything that shows off your writing ability. (Note: not poetry)
3. Your resume.

Your interest is much appreciated, and we look forward to working with a few of you very soon.

The recent economic turmoil in the European Union has thrown some of the world’s major economic powers into a state of anxious uncertainty. Helping your high school students make sense of these developments requires an understanding of the economic structure and policies at the heart of the EU — a topic that may not be covered by your textbook.

The Center for European Studies and the European Union Center of Excellence at UNC-Chapel Hill have developed Euro Economics, an online textbook introducing the economics of the EU to high school students and their teachers. The textbook is offered free to all students and can be used without registration or permission.

Euro Economics affords teachers a worthwhile resource on a safe site to offer to students interested in learning more about economics and contemporary Europe. It provides a solid, up-to-date perspective on a quickly changing region — a feat that can’t be matched by any print textbook. Best of all, it encourages active exploration at a depth and breadth controlled by the student.

If you’re teaching Europe, Euro Economics can help you fill in gaps with in-depth information. If you teach Civics and Economics or economics electives, it can provide a case study for comparison with the United States. Whatever you’re teaching, Euro Economics can serve as a way to experiment with digital texts for teaching and learning, as well as a way to understand and respond to current events.

For more information, contact the Center for European Studies and the European Union Center of Excellence at UNC-Chapel Hill.

LEARN NC has a full slate of online professional development courses scheduled for summer and fall 2010. You can view the full schedule of courses on our Open for Enrollment page.

If you would like a free hard copy of the catalog, please send your name and address to Bill Ferris. You may also download a PDF version of the catalog.

LEARN NC provides relevant, inclusive, research-based online professional development for teachers. According to end-of-course surveys, course participants overwhelmingly felt LEARN NC online courses were relevant to their jobs, and made them feel like they were part of a learning community. Learn how LEARN NC professional development can make a difference in your teaching.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s third annual Take 25 child safety campaign is happening during the month of May. Nationwide, more than 1,100 events are scheduled to commemorate the event in 400 communities in all 50 states and Canada.

Launched in 2007, the campaign encourages families to take 25 minutes to talk to their children about safety and abduction prevention. The campaign website, Take25.org, lists 25 safety tips that can help save a child’s life. Take 25 began May 1 and continues through National Missing Children’s Day on May 25. A list of cities where events will be held can be found at Take25.org or on the Spanish language site, Toma25.org.

This year the NCMEC celebrates its 25th anniversary. Since its inception, NCMEC has played a role in the recovery of nearly 140,000 children.