Grades: K-12
Dates: February 15 - March 29, 2007

While educators are aware of the high level of technology integration in the classroom, many teachers are unprepared to use technology in their classrooms and do not know where to begin learning how to do so. In this course, learners will gain a better understanding of some key issues surrounding technology integration, such as how to meet technology standards and which types of technology are best for which purposes. Learners will identify potential lessons or concepts in their classrooms that may benefit from technological enhancement, and then devise a plan for integrating technology into their lesson plans.

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Grades: K-12
Dates: July 19 - August 30, 2007

This course is designed to give educators strategies to help students build critical thinking skills and attain information literacy. Learners will explore different information search process models and strengthen their online research skills. Learners will then create a model for use in an Internet-based lesson that is designed to teach students where to find information, how to evaluate it, and how best to apply it to the task at hand.

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Grades: K-6
Dates: February 15 - March 29, 2007

Connecting with authors motivates students to read and write. In this course, learners will explore author studies and learn how to use technology to introduce the idea of “authorship” to their students. Learners will explore author Web sites and other Internet sources in order to build a collection of resources that introduce students to a variety of genres, as well as encourage students to experiment with communicating in different forms with others.

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Grades: 5-9
Dates: March 15 - April 26, 2007

Our role as educators requires us to not only give students information, but to give them the skills and tools necessary to acquire and decipher information on their own. The study of current events in the classroom is a perfect way for students to practice identifying relevant information, analyzing opposing views, forming opinions, and expressing themselves clearly. This course is designed to give educators strategies for incorporating current events, controversial issues, and pop culture into the curriculum, as
well as ways to use technology to help students develop discussion, debate, and problem-solving skills. Learners will explore technology-based activities and lessons that focus on contemporary issues. As a final task, they will create their own current events lesson plan that uses technology to foster understanding, discussion, and debate.

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Grades: K-12
Dates: April 19 - May 31, 2007
This course is designed to help educators develop a curriculum that meets the diverse learning needs of their students. First, learners will assess and identify the learning styles of their students. Then, they practice planning lessons that address many learning styles simultaneously by creating a cross-curricular unit topic with technology-based activities designed to support learning. Learners will build adaptations and accommodations into their plans, so that they may easily integrate what they’ve learned into their teachings.

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Grades: K-12
Dates: June 21 - August 2, 2007

Curriculum mapping is an educational tool aimed at fine-tuning the scope and sequence of the curriculum that students encounter through their 13 years of schooling. Developed by mapping expert Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs with assistance from curriculum mapping consultant Dr. Susan Udelhofen, this course will teach learners how to use mapping in their school building and at the district level. As a final project for this course, learners will create their own curriculum map. They will also be asked to review the projects developed by two of their colleagues.

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Grades: 4-6
Dates: October 18 - November 29, 2007

This course fosters an enjoyment of teaching writing to students at this wonderful developmental cusp. Most 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students are capable of independent reading and writing, and this course capitalizes on that greater independence with a focus on research papers and multigenre research papers. Because a research paper commits students to a topic for an extended time, the course explores finding topics that writers can love and live with. The focus on writing the research paper enables learners to think about both the reading and writing connection and the use of writing to learn across the curriculum. The course also encourages the use of computers to make research, storage, and revision easier. As they progress throughout the course, learners will examine their own writing life and how it impacts their writing instruction, and write themselves.

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Grades: K-12
Dates: September 20 - November 1, 2007

The Web democratizes information; it is, in essence, an anarchistic democracy. Anyone can publish anything on the Web if he or she can acquire space on a Web server. Whatever your views on this (as an educator and/or personally), this is the reality of the Web and the Internet. Therefore, we as educators have a new role added to our jobs. We must actively and with forethought ensure that our students become aware of the new responsibilities the Web imposes on them: evaluating Internet material and using it appropriately and well. In order to help them make effective use of this tool, we need to include in our lessons exercises about evaluating Web information, citing wisely, and giving attribution. This in effect, forces us to review and rethink how we present information. This course will present strategies and techniques to help learners create their own set of criteria for themselves and their students to evaluate Web resources. They will create a Student Web Research Proposal, and then develop a lesson plan that they will implement in the classroom.

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Grades: K-12
Dates: September 20 - November 1, 2007

Inquiry-based learning is a teaching method that invites students to explore a question or problem, to make discoveries, and thoughtfully investigate those discoveries in their search for knowledge. Through a dynamic combination of text, video, interactive activities, and online discussion, learners explore the main components and discover the value of inquiry-based learning.

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Grades: K-12
Dates: March 15 - April 26, 2007

In this advanced course learners will be able to develop, implement, and produce a plan to create a functional and informative Web site that they will publish on the Internet. They will analyze ways Web publishing can foster interaction among students and identify the differences between administrative and instructional uses of a Web site. They will also employ various strategies to design a Web site and use the tools needed to publish on the Web.

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Grades: K-12
Dates: April 19 - May 31, 2007

This course focuses on how to promote equity in mathematics education for students with disabilities. The “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997” mandates that, whenever possible, students with disabilities be educated in the same classrooms and with the same curricula as their peers. Learners will discover how to adapt their own curricula and collaborate with special needs teachers to help students succeed in the classroom. Learners will develop new instructional strategies for making mathematics more accessible for students with disabilities. As a final task, learners will develop a plan to incorporate accessibility strategies into their daily teachings.

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Grades: 3-12
Dates: June 21 - August 2, 2007

This course is designed to give you strategies for teaching reading in the content areas and information on how to use reading strategies for all students in grades 3-12. You will explore learning environments that promote effective reading and learning, specific skills and knowledge that students need in order to read content material effectively, and strategies to help students become more effective readers and independent learners. You will also plan learning experiences that encourage students to access prior knowledge, set a purpose or target for reading, organize ideas, select appropriate strategies to make meaningful connections, summarize and take notes, and reflect on what they have discovered through their reading.

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Grades: K-12
Dates: July 19 - August 30, 2007

Although it is a vast reference source and an effective teaching tool, many educators avoid using the Web in their classrooms because students have not acquired the skills needed to effectively use the Internet. WebQuests—inquiry-oriented activities in which some or all of the information that students interact with is found within Internet resources—are one way that the Web can be meaningfully incorporated into the curriculum. In this course, learners will design a WebQuest to enhance a classroom unit or a particular curriculum area and engage their students in meaningful research.

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