Teachers’ Higher Learning: Keeping up with technology
There are higher expectations from teachers nowadays. Standard-based teaching, performance tests, quality lessons—all are the results of people wanting to be taught by qualified teachers.
Because of this need to stay abreast of the technology that can be used in teaching nowadays -- web applications, the online collaboration and the like -- teachers are embarking on the path of self-teaching.
What are the main complaints of “traditional” methods of teaching?
- That it’s too theoretical. – a hands-on, experiential approach offers longer-lasting recall
- It’s not technology-based. –which has the capability to influence a student’s academic experiences. In this day and age, technological literacy is needed to make informed decisions.
To transfer practical, technological knowledge to students, it is a given that teachers must know how to use technology also.
If a student learns about the World Wide Web in his or her sixth grade or first year of high school, new lifelong pursuits could begin taking shape at a much earlier age. Engineering or Nursing does not become the students’ career path just because the guidance counselor suggested it. They could instead delve into digital marketing or computer animation.
To introduce students to the diverse aspects of science, here are some websites:
- The Association for Science Education – has online teaching resources, interactive pages, online tests and links
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council- has online and downloadable teaching materials like interactive presentations, information sheets, online exhibits and workshop materials. It covers topics like DNA, biodiversity, animal welfare, plants and the like.
- Cancer Research UK –online lessons on the biology of cancer, ethical issues surrounding human tissue research, how to tips on leading a healthy life, and the impacts of vaccine, among others.
- CERN- is the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. The website has online lectures, games, demonstrations of experiments in the classroom, movies, and presentations about high-energy physics, etc.
- DNA Interactive – has interactive applications, information modules, lesson plans and student worksheets.
- European Learning Laboratory for the Life Sciences – brings secondary school teachers and scientists together in a research environment. There is online teaching information like a bio-informatics activity and a role-play about genetic testing.
- Astronomy Exercises – has a series of astronomy exercises that can be downloaded, specifically targeted to secondary schools.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) –Biointeractive is an extensive website with animations, slide shows, videos and lectures by top research scientists. There are also online slide shows covering evolution, medicine, human origins, among other topics. There are also interactive biomedical laboratory simulations like a bacterial identification lab, a cardiology lab and a neurophysiology lab.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) –provides educational content for all student ages. It includes podcasts, videos, classroom activities, and instructions for building space shuttles.
- National Human Genome Research Institute – has videos, animations, articles, lesson plans and games for high school teachers on the Human Genome Project.
Sources:
“Free online teaching materials.” Retrieved November 1, 2009 from
http://www.scienceinschool.org/2007/issue7/web
Zarske, Malinda, et.al. “Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition.” Retrieved November 1, 2009 from
http://itll.colorado.edu/TeachEngineering/Images/Curriculum/ASEE%202004-1887_TeachersTeachingTeachers_Final.pdf
(Published 9 November 2009, Smart Communications Inc.)
