TIES09_33

An Interdisciplinary Model for a Classroom Without Walls: Learning.21st

 * Instructor:** Benjamin Friesen, Teacher / Tech Integration, Hopkins West Jr. High

Learning.21st is a nine-week elective designed to teach students how to leverage the power of the web and become proficient with web-based skills that can be directly applied in their lives. Sample lessons and student perspectives will be shared. Presented by a Google Certified Teacher.
 * Description**


 * Reactions**

Leah Delia Larson -- Of all the sessions I attended, this was by far my favorite. I would love to teach an elective class with an emphasis on web publishing and research skills at the middle school level, as Friesen is doing in Hopkins. Friesen's students impressed me with both their knowledge of the tools and their interest in the subject matter. The [|class website] has lesson plans and links to the resources used. The class focused on blogging, creating and using a Ning social network, and online collaboration and research. This class //almost// makes me wish I could go back to middle school...

Jennifer Kotsmith Kraus: Two of my daughters have/had Mr. Friesen. He is fabulous! The technology skills he gives them make a subject (earth sciences) that would normally be 'totally' boring to 8th graders, extremely engaging. This is a testament to what well handled, well presented technology can do in a classroom. And like Mr. Friesen, who started by adding in little bits at a time, we can do this too.

Leah -- It is great to hear that more of his students really liked the class. I think that for students, it ties the content to the highly technological word they live in. It tends to be us "older" teachers who are less comfortable with that. Friesen said he is actually looking for another teacher somewhere to develop a humanities focused version of his class... I would love to work on something like that.

I was also really interested by the fact that he emphasize the process over the content, which I think you have to do to master new skills. It may also be part of why we sometimes struggle as teachers with new technologies -- it is so hard to find the occasion to just "play" with a new tool!