EDCI 5825 Week 5: Web Resources

The internet is making teaching highly collaborative by having so many resources - from lesson plans, to blogs, to podcasts, to virtual field trips, and the list continues. Teachers and administrators are helping each other by taking the time to create websites with these advantageous and accessible resources. As long as educators consciously evaluate websites and understand copyright laws then these resources are useful and should be used throughout the school year. Schrum and Levin suggest that teachers be familiar with copyright laws, especially as role models for students, and realize that documents, photos, videos, etc. can only be used without permission if they are in the public domain or fall under the doctrine of fair use (2009, p. 150). It is also pleasing to know that students can learn about safe internet use and these copyright laws with such resources as isafe.org and ISTE's (2011) Computational Thinking Resource to "prepare young learners to become computational thinkers who understand how today's digital tools can help solve tomorrow's problems," as well as classroom scenarios for secure internet use.

One website that would be particularly useful for my instruction as a special educator is ReadWriteThink. This website is great because it has standard-based lessons for grades K-12 that have been created and reviewed by certified teachers using current research. These trusted lesson plans can be used verbatim or adjusted to fit any curriculum. Since I will be in a 9th grade English class this fall I looked at one lesson I plan to use titled "Active Reading through Self-Assessment: The Student-Made Quiz." The objective of this lesson is for students to comprehend reading through inquiry and collaboration where they "work independently to choose quotations that exemplify the main idea of the text, come to a consensus about those quotations in collaborative groups, and then formulate “quiz” questions their group will answer" ("Active Reading," 2011). This website even includes printouts and theory to practice, which explains the importance of each individual lesson.

Another website I definitely plan on using is iCollaboratory. Once I am affiliated with a public school I will create a free account on this website and encourage my co-workers to do the same. As a first year special educator I will no doubt seek assistance and advice from teachers. This resources is an excellent way to discover answers to my questions, as well as network with certified teachers from anywhere in the country. I view it as a mentor site that holds a lot of information and ideas that are free to use. For example, on iCollaboratory (n.d.) you can find such projects as "A Day in Our Neighborhood," which has already given me the idea to plan a lesson in which students learn about the surrounding community. This resource also provides professional development workshops, project consulting, training, technical advice, and other helpful web resources, and so is an ideal resource for all teachers. Furthermore, once I have gained sound experience teaching I can also contribute to the site, giving back to the resources that have helped me. 

Active reading through self-assessment: the student-made quiz. 2011. ReadWriteThink. Retrieved 27 June, 2011, from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/active-reading-through-self-30702.html.

A day in our neighborhood. (n.d.) iCollaboratory. Retrieved 27 June, 2011, from https://sites.google.com/a/collaboratory.northwestern.edu/collaboratory-home/welcome/home/what-s-new/adayinourneighborhoodstartsmay32010.

ISTE. (2011). Computational thinking for all. Retrieved 27 June, 2011, from http://www.iste.org/standards/computational-thinking.aspx.

Schrum, L. & Levin, B. (2009). Leading 21st Century Schools. California: Corwin.