With an old computer and 30 dollars worth of off-the-shelf components, you can gear up with cutting edge avian monitoring technology and help save the birds.

The California-based Buck Institute for Education, an organization committed to the use of project-based learning worldwide, defines the concept as "a systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks."

Are you looking for a new approach to engage your students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics? NASA's Do-It-Yourself Podcast activity sets the stage for students to host a show that features astronauts training for missions, doing experiments in space or demonstrating equipment. We'll provide a set of audio and video clips along with photos and information about a space-related topic. You and your students may choose as many items as you want to include in your project and download them to your computer. Students may use the information we provide or conduct their own research to write a script for an audio or video production.

real world problem solving experiences

You have 10 days to catch as many fish as you can. The money you make from these fish will need to support your family for the next month. Each fish nets $2. Each day, you'll choose whether you want to take none, one, two, or three fish for the day. There are two other fisher folk also trying to catch as many fish as they can - they will follow your lead, and base their catch on yours. The lake in which you are fishing can only support 20 fish (that is the carrying capacity of the lake). Every night, the fish that remain after a day of fishing will reproduce at a rate of 25% (for the purpose of this game, we round to the nearest whole number). However, the total number of fish can't exceed 20. For instance, if there are 12 fish, they will multiply to 15 overnight. If there are 19, they will multiply to 20. Ready to play?

"Yet, at the very moment that the bond is breaking between the young and the natural world, a growing body of research links our mental, physical, and spiritual health directly to our association with nature-in positive ways."

What are authentic tasks? Explore the links to learn more about authentic tasks, to investigate examples of web environments that use authentic tasks, and to read the theoretical ideas that provide the foundation for the approach.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines authentic as genuine and real.6 Lebow described authentic activity as "experiences of personal relevance that permit learners to practice skills in environments similar to those in which the skills will be used."7 Brown, Collins, and Duguid described authentic activities as the "ordinary practices of the culture."8 According to Newmann and Wehlage, authentic activities are real-world tasks that a person can expect to encounter on the job, in the home, or in other social contexts.9 An important implication of these definitions is that authentic activities have the potential to foster meaningful intellectual accomplishment and learning, since authentic learning activities are directly related to students' real-life experiences.

Several educators suggest in the newest issue of Science that schools use video games to simulate the real-world situations in the classroom to help students develop critical-thinking skills and enhance their understanding of science and math and, perhaps, even encourage them to pursue careers in those and related fields such as technology and engineering.

This page contains web-based projects created by students at the University of Richmond in partial fulfillment of the requirements for teacher licensure in the state of Virginia.

Spacehack a directory of ways to participate in space exploration. interact + connect with the space community.

This is a community for teachers and students interested in global education. Contribute by adding media, conversation, and collaborative project ideas.

CUP makes educational projects about places and how they change. Our projects bring together art and design professionals - artists, graphic designers, architects, urban planners - with community-based advocates and researchers - organizers, government officials, academics, service-providers and policymakers. These partners work with CUP staff to create projects ranging from high school curricula to educational exhibitions.

The school's approach to reengaging students in learning has an important twist: Downtown's curriculum is entirely project based. Its alternative format allows students to choose a thematic, integrated pathway of subjects each semester, find connections among these subjects in real-world settings, and, hopefully, discover their passions along the way.

School Grounds Projects Using Google Tools All the information needed to carry out Digital Fieldwork in the school grounds. The manual is based around a 6 session project investigating any aspect of the school grounds and covers the following topics: digital photography, blogging, Google Earth, Google Maps, digital video, and project management.

To address the one-size-fits-all problem of ISD frameworks, e-learning entrepreneur Elliot Masie (2005) proposed that organizations classify e-learning projects into one of three tiers of effort and investment.

If you're talking Acceptable Use Policies try:
http://www.techlearning.com/blog/2006/09/aup_20.php
http://schools.becta.org.uk/index.php?section=is
http://stream.minot.k12.nd.us/blog/craig/?p=45
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/rules/acceptableUsePolicy.htm
http://education.otago.ac.nz/NZLNet/safety/samples.html

If you're talking classroom activity, here are a sampling of success stories doing what works:
@ http://www.21centuryconnections.com/success
@ http://4teachers.org/inttech/index.php?inttechid=ss&PHPSESSID=d3bcba72bd3e6d2a551b7b46165abce4
@ http://dww.ed.gov/

Answering 10 questions will help guide faculty in adopting digital technology for the classroom @ http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/AdoptingDigitalTechnologi/39875?time=1211144403

Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0: Part 1
@ http://www.solutionwatch.com/512/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-1/


T S wrote:
> Does anyone have a source of some guidelines regarding using technology in the classroom effectively?
> Thanks