Applications of Technology: Internet

One example of using internet in the classroom takes place in 7th grade English. These classes spend an average of 1 - 2 days a week working in computer labs. They are given a general topic and asked to research the topic. In the beginning of the year they are only asked to write a few sentences about their choosen topic, but as the year progresses they will be required to write longer papers and include correct citations.

Another great example for including internet in the classroom occurs in science. The 7th grade science teacher has a wiki for his class that allows students and parents to remain up to date on what is taking place in teh classroom. This teacher incorporates internet research into a genetics project. Two students are paired together at random through drawing from a hat and the couple is also assigned a random assortment of features (i.e. hair color, body build, IQ, etc.) These students will research their genetic characters and determine what their children will look like and create a life for their characters that include jobs and hobbies that would fit their body type and IQ.

In my math classes, I had students research careers that they would want to work in and determine how math would apply to this job. They must determine their average salary and creata a family budget on theis salary. They will look at how many kids they want to have, if they will work once married, and what are "necessitites" and "luxuries." They will determine what type of life style they can afford based on their amount of education and employment they choose.