According to Winston Churchill, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” It’s exciting to learn about civilizations before us, but it can be even better to learn about those cultures in a hands-on, rich environment. The PBS resources from Egypt’s Golden Empire use multimedia tools and a variety of different activities to introduce the topic. Students work individually, in small groups, and as a whole class. They are challenged to think about the culture as they create projects on the topic. Looking at these resources got me wondering about how a teacher can best organize and implement all of the great activities they discover and develop throughout each school year. There are so many resources we can use to teach about important topics like, say, ancient Egypt, but it can be a challenge to disseminate all the material to students, check for understanding, and effectively manage group discussions on the topic. This, in turn, got me thinking about an email I received earlier this week.
“Calling all Moodlers! Join us for a MoodleMoot to see what Moodle can do for you!” What? Are any of you understanding this foreign language? If these terms are new to you, you might want to check out Moodle www.moodle.org. It’s a popular open-source learning management system (read: free-learning software platform to help you run your class.) Moodle lets you, the teacher, create a dynamic website for your students. In case you were wondering, it stands for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment…Moodle is just a lot easier to say! Since its creation in Austraila, Moodle has spread widely around the world to schools in over 200 countries. Many teachers are using Moodle to supplement the learning in traditional classrooms, but it is used to support virtual classrooms as well.
Some teachers like to use Moodle simply as a means to deliver online instructional tools like lessons and quizzes and other course-related resources and information to their students. Others use more of Moodle’s tools to create a community of collaboration and discussion in the classroom. Some of these collaborative tools include forums, blogs, wikis, and databases. Using these tools can help you create a private classroom environment that is similar to the types of online environments many of them spend a lot of time in outside of school.
Moodle is a part of the IMS Global Learning Consortium, a group of companies working to improve education through the strategic use of technology. It is part of a growing number of quality open-source tools teachers can use, which is especially important in today’s economy. Districts are not able to budget money for expensive technology, so we need to be searching for good, free tools like this.
Ask around to see if any of your colleagues are using Moodle in their classes. You may be able to try out their site to see how well it is working in their class, and see if it is a tool that will be beneficial to you. If you don’t know anyone who is using it, you can log in as a guest to experiment with the demonstration site. If you are currently using Moodle and you have comments you would like to share with us, please let us know. We will continue the conversation on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
The Gateway to 21st Century Skills is a project of JES & Co., a company who is a contributing member of the IMS Global Learning Consortium. Moodle is also a contributing member of this consortium that has the goal of improving education and learning through technology. Working together, educators and education-minded businesses like these will help our students excel in the 21st century.
~Peggy's Corner - 5/1/2010~
Showing posts with label Ancient Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ancient Egypt. Show all posts
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Walk Like An Egyptian
Whenever I talk to students about ancient cultures, they seem to divide into two camps. There are the kids who find it cool to learn about how ancient peoples lived, and then there are the kids who don’t quite see the point (“hello, they’re, like, dead!”). Generally, though, most students come around to like learning about ancient civilizations, and to see that despite the centuries that separate us, we still share many of the same concerns and problems as ancient cultures.
Ancient Egypt was a sophisticated culture that was, in many ways, light years ahead of its time. Thousands of years before antibiotics were developed, for example, ancient Egyptians treated infections with moldy bread. They also invented calendars, black ink, ox-drawn plows, paper, irrigation systems, locks, and (much to Lady Gaga’s delight) eyeliner. Several millennia later, the ancient Egyptians are still trend-setters.
This week, I’ve selected three resources from Egypt’s Golden Empire, a collection of great materials based on the documentary series by PBS. The lessons include free online video clips from the series, as well as interactive features designed to maximize the students’ virtual immersion in ancient Egyptian life and culture. One reason that I like these lessons so much is their breadth: the inclusion of varied hands-on projects, video clips and interactive maps, writing exercises, and discussions all allow for kids of different learning styles to soak in the content, as well as flex their creative muscle. The lessons also include resource lists for additional information. PBS is the nonprofit public broadcasting service that provides high-quality television programming to the U.S. and beyond. Their companion Web site offers free video vignettes, teacher resources, online games, and more. The lessons below are all aligned to McREL standards.
A Day in the Life of an Egyptian
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.1794667111
Subjects: Ancient history, World history
Grade: 6-12
Just like life in the modern era, the daily lives of ancient Egyptians varied according to their social class. In this lesson, students learn about social orders in ancient Egypt, and the day-to-day responsibilities of the various classes.
The Queens of Ancient Egypt
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.6870685874
Subjects: Ancient history, World history, Women’s history
Grade: 6-12
Women in ancient Egypt enjoyed many of the same legal and economic benefits as men. This lesson focuses on some of the great Egyptian queens, such as Nefertiti, Tiy, and Nefertari – all of whom were held in high esteem by their husbands, the pharaohs. Students examine the reasons that these women were powerful, and how they influenced the lives of their subjects.
Architectural Marvels
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.9053693648
Subjects: Ancient history, World history
Grade: 6-12
The ancient Egyptians were master builders and craftsmen. Thousands of years later, we still marvel at the pyramids they created. In this lesson, students study great architectural structures erected by the Egyptians, including temples, obelisks, and pyramids. Students learn how these objects were constructed, the purposes these structures served in Egyptian culture, and what modern day people can glean from examining them.
~Joann's Picks - 5/1/2010~
Ancient Egypt was a sophisticated culture that was, in many ways, light years ahead of its time. Thousands of years before antibiotics were developed, for example, ancient Egyptians treated infections with moldy bread. They also invented calendars, black ink, ox-drawn plows, paper, irrigation systems, locks, and (much to Lady Gaga’s delight) eyeliner. Several millennia later, the ancient Egyptians are still trend-setters.
This week, I’ve selected three resources from Egypt’s Golden Empire, a collection of great materials based on the documentary series by PBS. The lessons include free online video clips from the series, as well as interactive features designed to maximize the students’ virtual immersion in ancient Egyptian life and culture. One reason that I like these lessons so much is their breadth: the inclusion of varied hands-on projects, video clips and interactive maps, writing exercises, and discussions all allow for kids of different learning styles to soak in the content, as well as flex their creative muscle. The lessons also include resource lists for additional information. PBS is the nonprofit public broadcasting service that provides high-quality television programming to the U.S. and beyond. Their companion Web site offers free video vignettes, teacher resources, online games, and more. The lessons below are all aligned to McREL standards.
A Day in the Life of an Egyptian
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.1794667111
Subjects: Ancient history, World history
Grade: 6-12
Just like life in the modern era, the daily lives of ancient Egyptians varied according to their social class. In this lesson, students learn about social orders in ancient Egypt, and the day-to-day responsibilities of the various classes.
The Queens of Ancient Egypt
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.6870685874
Subjects: Ancient history, World history, Women’s history
Grade: 6-12
Women in ancient Egypt enjoyed many of the same legal and economic benefits as men. This lesson focuses on some of the great Egyptian queens, such as Nefertiti, Tiy, and Nefertari – all of whom were held in high esteem by their husbands, the pharaohs. Students examine the reasons that these women were powerful, and how they influenced the lives of their subjects.
Architectural Marvels
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/dcrecord.2010-03-21.9053693648
Subjects: Ancient history, World history
Grade: 6-12
The ancient Egyptians were master builders and craftsmen. Thousands of years later, we still marvel at the pyramids they created. In this lesson, students study great architectural structures erected by the Egyptians, including temples, obelisks, and pyramids. Students learn how these objects were constructed, the purposes these structures served in Egyptian culture, and what modern day people can glean from examining them.
~Joann's Picks - 5/1/2010~
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