Home About Contact E-Line HomeArchivesSearch
The Help Desk  
Volume 2, No. 20                     16 May, 2003

[To view this newsletter on line:
http://www.emck.net/eline/03_05_16.htm.]


Do you access your school email over the summer? We can forward The Help Desk to your home email account, or hold off until fall. Simply reply to this email, tell us when to stop/switch, and when to start/switch back!

NETS-S Technology Standards

NET-S technology standards for grades 6-8: the ability to handle simple hardware issues, select appropriate tools for problem-solving and collaboration, understand ethical and legal implications...read the whole list! 

Technology at workFor over 12 years, the Kentucky Educational Technology System (KETS) has planned, largely financed, and helped districts implement a technology revolution across the state, making Kentucky a national leader in online connectivity and student computer access. What is missing, of course, is a reflection of the educational goals of KETS in student assessment. In the next few years, that will change. The National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S), as designed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and a fairly extensive list of collaborators, will serve as the basis for a new student assessment initiative.

Of course, there's no shortage of controversy surrounding KETS and technology funding, state-wide assessment, and student standards. But underlying it all is a desire to prepare our students for life beyond K-12, where digital technology use is no longer controversial - it's reality. In this issue of The Help Desk , we feature ISTE, and some of the resources they make available in support of the student standards they have developed.


On-line Lesson Planning ISTELesson Plans in support of NETS-S

http://cnets.iste.org/search/s_search.html

In support of the NETS-S technology standards, ISTE provides this searchable database of complete lesson plans in both Web and PDF format. All plans are prepared and field-tested by teachers. The plans are tied to national curriculum standards as well as NETS-S, and come with linked resources.

Content Area Resources
The Arts Color MattersColor Matters

http://www.colormatters.com/

Although this site doesn't specifically contain lesson plans, it has a wide range of topics and links associated with the place of color in everything from science to computers. Particularly interesting are the topics in The Color Police, where colors associated with environmental issues and our terror alert system are discussed. The project of J.L. Morton, the website is a free resources offered by her consulting and research service, Colorcom, with additional support from private donations.
Mathematics (and Science)

PUMASPUMAS

http://pumas.jpl.nasa.gov/

A project of Ralph Kahn in association with NASA, this site is poised to grow beyond the relatively small list (47) of resources it now delivers. The acronym stands for "Practical Uses of Math and Science," and the resources are problem sets which apply math and science to specific real-life problems. The problems are listed by grade level and topic, and include ties to standards.
Reading and Writing

Reading is fundamentalReading Is Fundamental

http://www.rif.org/

A not-for-profit organization supported by the U.S. Department of Education and corporate sponsors including Coca-Cola, RIF has a family and community focus, and primarily serves at-risk readers up to age 11. Although there are no lesson plans on the site, the Educators section includes an attractive summer reading/activity worksheet in PDF format, and provides links to an interactive story completion activity called Writers' Blocks, an on-line story posting concept with a twist - multiple students adding to and finishing stories that have already been started!

Science East Kentucky Science CenterEast Kentucky Science Center

http://www.wedoscience.org/

This not-for-profit organization located in Prestonsburg has no online lesson plans, but it offers direct support, consultation, and programs for its geographic region. There are several middle school-appropriate programs available through its outreach program. A new building is under construction! The Center also offers professional development this summer in partnership with Morehead State University.
Social Studies US News ClassroomUS News Classroom

http://www.usnewsclassroom.com/

Most of the lesson plans posted in this site sponsored by the news magazine are teacher-prepared and teacher-tested. With an obvious slant towards current events and social studies, plans are arranged by date and subject, and are tied to National Council for the Social Studies standards. Most are high school, but there are middle school plans mixed in. Complete instructional units are also available, though the current ones require paid membership in their classroom subscription service.
Software Sources ESCEducational Software Cooperative

http://www.edu-soft.org/index.shtml

This clearinghouse for software supports educators as well as developers. Most of the listed software is free for download, and the Cooperative provides links to the developers sites for this service. Membership is primarily for developers (and is not free), but is not necessary to access software. The titles vary from demos, shareware (partial functionality or timed use), or freeware. ESC is a non-profit resource "...whose purposes are to advance the mutual benefit of authors, publishers, dealers and distributors of educational software; to voluntarily cooperate formally and informally with each other to better develop, advertise, distribute and sell educational software; and to provide the public with information regarding the benefits, uses, and availability of educational software." (Quoted from the site.)

Professional Resources ISTEThe International Society for Technology in Education

http://www.iste.org/

ISTE is the premiere educational technology professional organization, and one of the major sponsors of the National Educational Computing Conference, now it its 24th year. ISTE is collaborating with the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky Educational Professional Standards Board to provide updates to teacher technology standards, new administrative standards, and assessment scenarios. The website provides access to a wide range of online resources, including research and policy writings. ISTE publishes a wide range of print resources and books associated with their charter, as well as several premiere journals and newsletters.


Newsletter archive (including further information about this resource): http://www.emck.net/eline/ Questions, comments, feedback, or requests for removal from the mailing list: eline@emck.net