EDUCATION BLOG

More from the United States Distance Learning Association Conference in St. Louis, Missouri: Interactive Curriculum Design for K-12 Classrooms - presented by Scott Anderson and Greg Pitzer of NASA  Digital  Learning  Network (DLN)

•    ten NASA education centers across the country: each one presents 30-40 programs per month | DLN programs consist of pre & post activities
•    most videoconferences are math and science oriented; try to add humanities (ex: Mission Patch Design)
•    try to address misconceptions about space
•    focus on inquiry and constructivism- students have to be involved to retain information
•    want students to view themselves as scientists

Deliver (interactive instruction)
Long-term (retention of knowledge)
NASA (as only NASA can)

Types of Inquiry
structured: students investigate a teacher presented question through a prescribed procedure |  guided: students investigate a teacher presented question using student designed procedure | open: students investigate topic-related questions that are student formulated thought student selected procedure

5E Instructional Model Design
•    Engage – to peak student interest & get them personally involved in the lesson
•    Explore – to get students involved in the topic; providing them with a chance to find the solution for themselves
•    Explain – students are given a chance to take what they have learned so far & figure out what it means
•    Elaborate – to allow students to use their new knowledge & continue to explore its implications
•    Evaluate – both students and teachers determine how much learning & understanding has taken place

→ Note about evaluation: interaction and real time question responses help instructions immediate assess if students are getting concepts under discussion.

Creating Modules | Forming Rubrics
some criteria includes: objectives, standards, vocabulary, assessment, interactivity, degree of student inquiry, videoconference content, pre/post lessons

recently added: Outside Evaluation by Teachers
ensures scientific accuracy, high level of education relevancy, appropriate support materials, pros and cons

* Pre-videoconference lesson completion is really important! NASA presenters come into the videoconference expecting that the class has done the activities. If the class hasn’t done that work, the presenters have to tweak videoconference content, maybe not meeting the expectation of the program (description). *