Log on and Learn
By Mary Ellen Bafumo

Technology is changing the face of learning for teachers as well as students. This column is devoted to helping you make the most of online resources that enhance your professional learning and, as a result, make student learning more motivating. If you already use the Internet, perhaps you'll find some new ideas here. If you've never used online resources, why not start? What you'll find is a world of tools, most of them free, that will improve your teaching. All you need is an Internet connection to get started.

One-stop searching
Getting additional resources around a topic makes your teaching richer and broadens your students' perspective. Try www.google.com to find photos, journals, paintings, copies of original documents, speeches and more if you are teaching about the Civil War. The same is true, minus photos of course, for the American Revolution. You'll be overwhelmed by the materials you'll find on World War I or II, Korea, Viet Nam, the Peace Movement, rock music, famous leaders, poets, artists and any topic that makes its way into your lessons. Just type in whatever you're looking for - "Civil War paintings," for instance - Google will find more than you can use. If you teach social studies, simply using personal journals from any era in your lessons will change the way students think about the topic. Something dry and distant becomes real and understandable when seen through the eyes of someone who experienced it. Google can point you to a treasure trove of documents from the National Archives, museums or small state collections of historical materials.

The world of Wiki
Need to refresh your own learning about upcoming classroom topics? Log on to www.wikipedia.org - a free online encyclopedia, written and edited by its readers, with a knack for encapsulating important information. If your curriculum includes the topic of "community," Use Wikipedia's search feature and type in "community." You'll have critical information at your fingertips to craft into a lesson or enliven an existing one. Search for any topic from American History through Zanzibar and find all you'll need to get you off and teaching.

Sharing with others
If you find it helpful to see lesson plans from other teachers, then go to www.teachers.net. Thousands of lesson plans, classroom activities, curriculum reviews, worksheets and even a live teacher chat center where you can "talk" with other teachers are available to you.

Refreshing math
If updating your math skills or searching for better math lessons is something you'd like to do, try the Math Archives website at archives.math.utk.edu. This comprehensive site is K-12, but on the first page you'll find a link to extensive K-8 materials, lesson plans and ways to refresh your skills. Check out the latest math research, too.

Web explorations
If science is your teaching field, don't miss two important websites that will keep you up to date and provide interesting information to enliven your lessons. The first is www.sciencedaily.com, an online science magazine that covers the entire science front and brings you the latest research in every field of science. Better still, it summarizes the key points in research articles in a highly readable format. Seventh- and eighth-grade science aficionados will like this site, too.

Another excellent website for science topics is www.sciencenews.org. This is a weekly science update on topics that are in the news, animal intelligence, global warming, asteroids and more. It's another website that will keep science teachers up to speed and interest middle school students as well.

A real e-deal
The Internet has a host of free materials that should be fully explored, although some products have a cost. One of the best teacher development tools I've seen is Teacher Essentials from Etraffic Solutions, Inc. This online series of 130 titles (and growing) contains 30-minute, targeted learning modules for teachers. Available 24/7, Teacher Essentials individualizes learning instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach to staff development. Districts use these during hour-long staff meetings to improve classroom instruction. Need to learn how to teach note-taking, summarizing, how to use graphic organizers or cooperative learning effectively? These are only a few of the practical, research-based titles available. Modules feature self-tests, templates and other materials that can be printed, Internet links and a bibliography for additional or follow-up study. Teachers report increased collaboration and discussion around module topics.

To learn more about Teacher Essentials, visit www.teacher-essentials.com.

Online and upward
Whatever you teach, it's time to get online to enhance your learning. The more you know, the more you'll have to share with students. Log on and keep learning!

Mary Ellen Bafumo is a Program Director for the Council on Educational Change, an Annenberg legacy group.

Updated December 2009
February, 2007, Vol.37, No.5