Do you have ACT Now! news to share? Let us know and we'll share your story here.
James Frazee
Coordinator of Educational
Technology
james.frazee@suhsd.k12.ca.us
Rusty Meike
Technology Training Manager
rusty.meike@suhsd.k12.ca.us
ACT Online Really Works!
Recently, ACT Now! teachers started using a new tool that allows them to create and post web pages without having to learn any technical skills. Called ACT Online, this system makes a direct connection between a teacher's instructional abilities and vast resources of the web. The letter below is from a teacher who has already used the system in her classroom.
Last month, as I was waking up early on a Saturday morning, mentally preparing myself for my final ACT Now day dedicated to earning iMac hours, I found myself hoping for some quick and useful practical exercises to distill all those hours spent learning and using computer technology. I wanted to share my knowledge with my students yet avoid the incredibly steep learning curve required to feel successful on the web and with computers in general. The ACT Online concept encapsulates my short term goals for computer and web use with my students.
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If you would like to see Mary's ACT Online lesson, click here. Use the keyword "Vertebrate" and then click the go button. To view the entire Curriculum Library go to click here. Congratulations to Mary and all the teachers who have contributed to this library of online lessons. |
On Saturday I designed the page and by Tuesday I brought two of my classes to the internet lab. By the end of the average 50+ minute class period every student in my two classes had visited the page, clicked on the two sites and answered some key questions that have the potential to build in critical thinking skills.
Though I spent only a few hours setting up the page; this time represented many hours of happy web surfing in the name of science. My students spent 40 minutes, again directly profiting from my investment of time and my ACT Now! teachers' hours of instruction, interest, and research. The seventh grade science students were not set loose on the web to "learn something about invertebrates." They were guided to the Wood's Hole web site and had the opportunity to download a short video clip of a squid shooting backwards through the seas.
Then they surfed on to the shark page from Berkeley packed with shark photos and information. At both sites my ACT Online Page asked some key questions and they began comparing and contrasting the two marine animals, finally looking for commonalities between humans, squid and shark.
Mary Doyle
Chula Vista Junior High