Professional Development prepares you to integrate the Internet…. The way it was meant to be!

Al Byers Director, NSTA Institute Program originally funded by the National Science Foundation

“More than half of the nation’s school districts report that kids are the campus experts when it comes to school technology” USA Today- June 5, 2002: At U.S Schools, Students are Technology Teachers- by Karen Thomas Citing report: “Are We There Yet”-2nd major report from National School Boards Foundation The Need

811 school districts surveyed, including 90 of largest 100 found: Only 43% of new teachers are “average” in their ability to use the Internet for classroom instruction Most Internet use is for research-based projects, with very little use of interactive learning and collaboration The Need

How do you use the Internet?

Currently over 4 billion web pages on the net Pages being added at rate of 7.3 million per day! Sizing the Internet: Cyveillance white paper report, The Need

ENC Focus ”…finding high quality web sites is not easy. The number of resources available via the Internet is immense [and] … The differences between reliable and unreliable sites may be imperceptible… [it] is clear that all educators must become informed Internet consumers.” Becoming a Critical Consumer of the Web, Dr. Kimberly S. Roempler, encFocus, v. 6, no. 3, pp

Technology & Learning “…everybody is talking, these days, about the overwhelming proliferation of Web sites…. On the positive side, …students have access to a huge array of valuable information…[But] it is unsafe to send students out on the Web without the ability to validate the information they find. Educators need to assist students in: Search Skills…, Interpreting Information and detecting bias on the Web.” Web Literacy and Critical Thinking: A Teacher’s Took Kit, Judy Salpeter. Technology and Learning, March 2003, V. 23, n. 8, pp.

“Have you tried searching under ‘fruitless’?”

What if? You could work with teams of district educators to learn how to confidently and creatively use the Internet ?

Webwatchers Training Webwatchers trains teachers to find, evaluate, assemble and integrate appropriate Internet education resources aligned to NSES

Training Program Blends face-to-face and online training over a 5 week period Facilitated by expert Webwatchers Online software enables novice technology users to create web- based lessons

Effectively search the Internet Align Web content to the NSES Integrate online content under different classroom scenarios Critically evaluate Web resources against research-based rubrics Aggregate targeted Web resources into an online framework for future classroom use Training Shows How to

You be the judge Use the Interactivity Rubric Handout to determine where you think this page would rate Search for the Origins of the Universe Let’s try one of the Rubrics

Training Tools Supports Rubric training online Self-paced tutorial with examples Dynamic practice sessions to allow you apply your knowledge as you become a discerning user of effective Internet sites.

NSTA Program originally funded by the National Science Foundation

Online Training Put face-to-face training in practice Work collaboratively with teammates Tap facilitator for help Reflect your experience via shared lesson plans, vignettes, and MP3 best practices Build a finished product – Science Guide

Those who provide such training have been called on to rethink methods and approaches commonly used in past efforts. It is becoming clear that "one-size-fits-all" workshops in which teachers get a generic overview of concepts or skills are not sufficient. This approach fails to take into consideration different levels of proficiency, provides little opportunity for practice, and rarely includes any follow-up (Fulton, 1996; Hurst, 1994; Jackson, 1999; Tally & Grimaldi, 1995). Webwatchers provides customized training aligned to district curriculum, and includes opportunities for practice, reflection and discussion. Research Says

Start by logging into the developer administrative pages. Links to… Tutorials Exercises Science Guides Discussion Boards

View facilitator, fellow developers, and preview the guide

Typing in here creates content that is displayed on the fly in formatted web guide pages Assign font styles and formatting without knowing html

Submit web pages for your grade level, reviewing each with rubrics and aligning to the NSES

Explicit help and tutorials are just a click away

Once a guide is complete, assign second tier reviewers within districts, or NSTA Webwatcher experts

Web Guide Component Review

Science Guides The result of our professional development opportunity

Science Guide Structure For example, here is a snap shot of the Energy Resources Guide

Where are they? Science Guide prototypes are now publicly available: To find out more contact:

For more info… Contact: Al Byers PH: Or stop by the NSTA Showcase for a live demo