 |
Organize students into groups to complete the following activities:
- The Changing Work Force
Have students bring in copies of the newspaper classified section for job openings. Tell them to cut out listings for jobs they think involve the use of information technologies. Have them make a collage or bulletin board of all the listings that require these skills. Brainstorm with your students the types of courses a person might need to take to prepare for jobs involving information technology.
- My Favorite Use of Technology
Have your students focus on a specific application of technology that is of particular interest to them. Have them select something that is not a part of the regular school curriculum. For example, your students might select the use of computers in professional or amateur sports, or the use of computers in some branch of medicine. Challenge them to become the class expert in this topic. Provide them with an opportunity to share their expertise with each other. You could have them produce a hypermedia product, give an oral presentation, or create a class newspaper to share the information.
- When Students Are the Experts
Your students are often more comfortable and skilled with computers than their parents. Have them think of a particular computer skill they have developed. Challenge them to think about how they could teach this skill to an adult. If possible, have them actually use their planned instructions with an adult. Lead a group discussion or ask students to share with the class what this experience was like. How did the adult feel about learning from them? What feelings did they observe in the adult as the session continued? Did they learn anything about their own level of computer knowledge?
- The Global Library
Your students have access to a tremendous collection of information. Have a group discussion on the concept of a global library. What does this term mean to them? If they could connect to every art gallery, every library, every museum, every database, and so on, how would they use this network? If every student in every country had access to exactly the same information, would this help to promote world peace and the idea of a global community? You might want to reference the Research Library Group, an international organization for information resource sharing (www.rlg.org/libres.html*) and ArtMuseum.Net (www.artmuseum.net*).
|