This is a great tool for teachers to find great tools for Earth Science education- it provides lesson plan ideas as well as great interactive tools/resources that can be incorporated into the lesson plan. It is specific to Earth Science Education, but I think it is a great site for teachers to find a complied list of resources for individual topics in the discipline.

Cyber-Science 3D provides a fun learning experience for both teachers and students. Cyber Science 3D uses advanced animated computer models to bring science education to another level by providing a wide array of resources on science topics that can compliment science experiments.

A useful way to illustrate how the three main types of rock are related to one another and how changes to rocks happen in a recurring sequence is the rock cycle. This is a great interactive feature that teachers can weave into their lesson plan or allow students to work on during home or class time. This same website www.learner.org has content for other Earth Science fields as well as other disciplines: math, science, history and literature.

Stephen's article "Tpack model for teaching integration" really intrigued me due to its emphasis on the complexity of the model. It was nice seeing the author's spin on TPack and how he believes that many people have misconstrued using TPACK effectively as simply incorporating one or two technological tools repetitively in their instruction. When in fact, it is about effectively applying technology in classrooms to benefit or enhance learning- as oppose to merely being there to look like we are accommodating the 21st generation of learners. He mentions, "Project based learning" as a driving force for this model and how true implementation of this avenue is much more beneficial than a yearly "tech learning session." I think one of the greatest resistant forces is that teachers and administrators don't always understand TPACK in its truest essence. They often associate using technology as successfully mastering a single component: "technology" of the TPACK framework, when in all sincerity a successful TPACK framework is being able to creatively use technology to enhance learning/content.

Jamie Kasper, associate director of Arts Education collaborative, provides her own perspective or interpretation of the TPACK model.

Favorite line(s): o "TPACK gives us a model to think about the intersection between technology, content, and instruction" o "We can say the same thing about technology: while we can spend a limited amount of time learning the skills to use it, we eventually need to move beyond skills to think about technology's use in learning."

I am pretty sure that the instructions on Lore ask what is TPACK (if that helps any!)

Description
Activity 1 ~(5pts)*What is TPACK?



1-Find two resources that describe/define/support
the TPAC model. Highlight your favorite lines and then tag and post them to our
diigo account. Post by Thursday night. (5/31)

Great video that explains the concepts of TPACK in a more simplistic manner. I think is does a great job of showing how not integrating such a model could harm our current/future learners- learners of the 21st century.

Favorite Line: "integrating these three knowledge areas is a WICKED problem ( a big problem) ... wicked problems require creative solutions, you need to be a designer of the total (t)PACKage..."

The video "TPACK Framework" definitely portrays the most important message of TPACK which is successful implementation of TPACK is not an easy process; rather it is a process that will require creativity from teachers. I really like what Stephen stated with his golf analogy and I feel like the video is great for teachers who are new to the framework by explaining TPACK in a very simple format: you need to have knowledge of the content you are teaching, knowledge of how to effectively teach as well as creative ideas of how you will use technology to tie in the content effectively. Through this video, I can see how the subject being taught can be considered as a resistant force to the framework. It is absolutely possible to apply TPACK in every content area however I feel that it is easier or more obvious to apply it in science curriculum as oppose to language arts (I am in no way saying that it is impossible). In order to make TPACK successful introducing teachers to this framework and ensuring them that is okay if they run into a brick wall because this not a 1-2-3 fix and it will require creative solutions.

Innovation to me is the enhancement of education using customized tools. Recently, there has been great buzz about promoting SMART technologies- a collaborative leaning software that accommodates a variety of learning styles- promoting varied instruction. The SMART notebook collaborative learning software is the world's leading lesson creation software that opens options for interactive lessons that support student-centered learning. Of the vast technologies within this field I seemed to find SMART boards as a very innovative tool for classroom instruction. A SMART board is basically an interactive white board that allows teachers to project a website or image from the laptop to the white board. These SMART boards are capable of storing and saving lessons as well as turning simple lessons into more interactive and customized ones geared to enhance student learning. I think this application is more useful in disciplines such as Science because science changes all the time and has the ability to be much "active" using the web- this is not to say that it cannot be useful in the other disciples however.

A brief 10-minute video describing the importance of STEM education and its implications. Posted by Chesterfield County Public Schools (ccpsva). 19 Dec 2008

This site provides lessons on a wide array of earth science topics that kids can access at home which includes interactive videos, games, activities and lessons. It also provides great resources for teachers that can help foster creative lessons with the content. The website is a little confusing at first because each link (topic) will redirect you to another website (i.e. National Geographic) but it exposes you to different approaches to teaching the content.