After reading the Wilson article, I decided to go to the web and search for web based inquiry teaching lessons. I soon found WISE: The Web Based Inquiry Science Environment (http://wise.berkeley.edu) and signed up for a free teacher account. WISE offers standards based modules to help guide students through inquiry based science lessons. You can search through their project library to find modules by topic: biology, earth science, environmental science, physics, and some math as well. The title of this blog comes from a project I found on the website. Some are good, some are not so good- but with a teacher account you can create some of your own! Very neat I think. :)
Of course, technology plays a huge part in education today. Kids are much more computer/tech savvy than I ever will be, but I think it's important to try keep up. If you can use the same kind of technology as your students, it shows that you're "with it" (which is, like, cool). Wilson points out that there are many positive effects from technology integration but I think you have to be careful. Just because I can find an internet based web lesson on genetics doesn't mean I should use it. Will it really help the students learn the concept better? Just because I can quickly put together a power point presentation doesn't mean I should. Is power point really the best format to get my point across? I think technology becomes much more useful in the classroom when the students are using it, and it's helping them achieve a greater understanding. Knowing which technologies to use at what time will help me be a better teacher. There is SO MUCH out there and I hope 750 can help me to choose wisely!
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