Research

Research
Research: careful study that is done to find and report new knowledge about something []

In this article, the 2010 National Teacher of the Year, Sarah Brown Wessling, discusses her use of social media to promote social justice in her high school English class. Student projects in th article that incorporated social media such as Google Docs, Twitter, iPods, and Facebook successfully include a rewrite of familiar childhood tales after examining gender roles, creating an outreach program between teens and elementary age students, creating a non-profit organization, and an extensive research project where students took responsibility for their own learning seeking other mediums through which to learn a foreign language. Points of concern for using this medim of social media are expressed by leaders of well known organizations such as National Public Radio and Internet Society. Highlighted in the article is an incredible resource for teachers, [], a collection of free, online activities, and resources that intigrate technology into classroom curricula. Enjoy!
 * Social Media in the Schoolhouse**

Freda, A. (2011, Spring). Social media in the schoolhouse. //Teaching Tolerance//, (39), Retrieved from http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-39-spring-2011/social-media-schoolhouse

For my Art instruction, I have my students use the internet for scavenger hunts about particular artists, eras of art, methods of producing art, and for researching content and inspriation for their artwork. I used to use (and sometimes still do) magazines in my classroom for my students to peruse, but sometimes that can be time-consuming searching for a particular image. I now use the internet and various image banks, such as [|www.google.com] and [|www.bing.com] to search for specific images for my students to draw, replicate, or use as inspiration.

For my Spanish Instruction, I have my students use the internet for research of individuals we study who have spear-headed social justice issues, current events, expanding vocabulary, and using online dictionaries.

At my school, many of the technical area classrooms have laptops or PC's for the students within the classrooms (but not in my class). I solicited feedback from the teachers at my Technical High School and recieved the following feedback for research:

For English Students use of Galenet database to do their research, as well as the internet. [] They also view movies, use songs, conduct interviews and the teacher uses easybib.com for the source citations. How to use concept mapping for writing papers: media type="youtube" key="KhgxuNvbNrA" height="390" width="480"

For Horticulture and Landscape Design www.ffa.org Future Farmers of America website www.harrisseeds.com for ordering seeds, plugs and cuttings for the greenhouse [|www.wetsel.__com__] for containters, pots, soil, and materials for the greenhouse.

For Criminal Justice Major use of the Newspaper for current crimes reported.

For Early Childhood Education www.naeyc.org www.earlychildhoodnews.com For Engineering www.bls.gov Bureau of Labor Statistics for career information

For Computer Gaming Board of Education databases & choosemaryland.org

For Printmaking and Magazing Production @http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/16/50-excellent-3d-adobe-illustrator-tutorials/

In the article "Collaborative Literacy: Blogs and Internet Projects," Boling, Castek, Zawilinski, Barton, & Nierlich (2008) share several concrete ideas for using blogs and other collaborative internet sites. In one of the classrooms where blogging was used, reluctant readers turned into enthusiastic readers and writers in writing with their blogging buddies across the country. Another teacher encourages her students to comm ent by posting thoughtful questions that the students then have to research and comment with suggestions. Still another teacher has the students collaboratively edit poems on googledocs and then audio record them and send them to the youthradio blog (youthradio.wordpress.com).

Boling, Castek, Zawilinski, Barton, & Nierlich. (2008). "Collaborative literacy: Blogs and internet projects" //The reading teacher//. //61//(6) p504-506.

Additional resources for finding ideas and examples of implementing these resources in your classroom can be found at the following: [|Kim Kofino's blog] a technology integrator currently working in Jap an. Her blog is especially useful because she outlines specific lessons and time taken to work with teachers to set up blogs, podcasts, 1:1 laptop to student integration. Melissa Enderle's wiki the elementary technology integrator at my school. She has lists of resources including handouts and powerpoints from the technology trainings she has done at our school [|Katie Christo's webpage] the former middle school technology integrator at my school. She also has loads of presentations and former trainings that she's lead, as well as the projects that she is leading at her school to integrate technology in a meaningful and natural way into the curriculum.

This video is an excellent argument for teaching 21st century skills and upgrading our curriculum with technology tools. It was created by the New Brunswick School System to create awareness in the teachers and help them to see the reasons and necessity for a shift in the curriculum. It is very well done.