The Craft of Teaching with the Web

To this point, we have been walking on the "educentric" side of our craft. You have finished developing a "Big Question" and you have identified a student learning gap that you would like to attack. Our last job will be to develop a student performance task. In other words, how are your students going to demonstrate that they have answered the big question and filled in their learning gap? There are many fantastic "traditional" ways to make your students stand and deliver, but before we craft our task, let's take a look at some "technocentric" tools you might use with your students.

Task 1: Technocentric Tools
(Estimated Time = 1 1/2 hrs)

Due April 21

You will find several online tools below. Pick one of the online tools below. Check under the hood, kick the tires, and give it a test drive.
Report back to the group about your test drive. Was the product easy to use? Should it be used by students? Because your classmates are only investigating one tool, they are relying on your advice to guide them. No pressure!
Once again, we are all going to respond to one discussion thread, so that it is easy to read all the comments. (That was a great idea Perry)

Inspiration	How about asking your students to create a mind map? You may want to look at Inspiration. ( Example ) You will need to download a trial version, and install it on your machine. It will also make Web pages of the constructed mind maps. This is a great "one" computer in the classroom tool. http://www.inspiration.com
Homestead	Want your kids to create Web pages for their project? How about a drop-&-drag online Web page creator. Homestead is way cool! The best part about Homestead is that it stores the pages on their server, so you don't need to contact your District Web-Weenie. :-) http://www.homestead.com/
Beseen Or Blackboard	How about having your students create an online quiz, discussion board, chat room, or email group? http://www.beseen.com/ http://www.blackboard.com/
Filamentality	All of the projects you have viewed in our online class, were started by using Filamentality. This tool steps you through creating a project. Why not let your students create their own project? The best part about Filamentality is that it stores the pages on their server, so you don't need to contact your District Web-Weenie. :-) http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/
The Rubricator	Maybe your students would like to create their own scoring rubric. You will need to download this tool, and to be honest, I have not ever used the Rubricator. So if you are up for an adventure, this might be a good choice. http://sltech.com/Product.html

Task 2: Writing Your Task
(Estimated Time = 1 hr)

Due April 25

In my travels, the process of developing a solid performance task is often taken way too lightly. Now be honest, have you ever finished a project saying to yourself, "they missed the point."

Before you write your performance task, look at Bernie Dodge's Taskonomy Web page for ideas.
Go back to Module 3 and write a student performance task for your Big Question. Your performance task does not need to be complex. Just a simple statement describing how your students are going to demonstrate that they have answered the big question and filled in their learning gap. You may want to include one of the tools above, but most importantly, you want to construct something that accurately evaluates that the students "got the point."
Post your task by actually replying to your Big Question/Learning Gap statement on the module three discussion board. (You will be posting to module 3.)

Task 3: A Fond Farewell
(Estimated Time = 1 hr)

Due April 25

First of all, a big "thank you" for your time and effort. Hopefully, you took away a handful of ideas that will help you sharpen your craft. We have come full circle, and it is time to look at new set of magnetic words/phrases.

Students as Infotectives	Is It Worth It?
Technocentric	Virtual Architecture
Learning with Technology Profile	Activity Structure
Essential Understandings	Telecollaboration
Teleresearch	Facets of Understanding
Learning Gaps	Case Study
Educentric	Performance Task

Identify one word on the list that attracts you and one word that you are repelled by. Visit the discussion board one last time, and post your words.

I am hoping to extend this opportunity to other teachers, so your input will not only be helpful for me, but it might keep your colleagues from suffering through the same fate. Keeping that in mind, please do the following task.