NEWSLETTER FROM ONLINECLASS(TM)
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http://www.onlineclass.com
tbt@onlineclass.com
November, 1999
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Contents:
What About Coprolites? Mid-Session Report
With Election Season, Balloteers Returns
Explorer Joins Winter Blue Ice Session
New Teachers or "Old" - Who's Using Technology?
Kudos
Letters to the Editor
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***** What About Coprolites? Mid-Session Report *****
It's always a pleasure to give the mid-session report, as classes hum along
and a vibrant sense of creativity fills the air. We have seven classes
running right now. Daily, we witness the joyous process of online learning.
In the past few days alone, we have
- processed votes on the destination for a virtual ocean voyage
- forwarded questions for a marine biologist
- received a "manual" on warfare for an ancient Greek Hoplite army
- loaded up an illustrated report on the Allosaurus dinosaur
- presented an online gallery of imaginary cities seen from a bird's eye
view
- posted student-created Excel comparative weather data charts
- collected personal stories about weather disasters experienced across
North America
- reviewed the first loops and swoops of schools' roller coaster
designs.
....a typical week at OnlineClass.
Yet, there is one interactive exchange that has recently stood out, and
demonstrates what is possible when students are inspired to think.
When we began Dinosaurs Alive! five weeks ago, the questions coming in from
the Web classroom for our guest paleontologists were fairly "routine" for
grades K-6. "Do you like being a paleontologist?" "What is the biggest
dinosaur bone you've ever found?" "How do you find dinosaur bones?" Good
questions. Nothing surprising. And then a funny thing began to happen.
As individual classrooms began to study the dinosaur each had "adopted,"
the questions began to change, the urgency became more distinct. "We are
going to build an Ornithomimus. How big and long were it's beak, and tail
do you think? How heavy is a ornithomimus skeleton?" (Kyoto International
School); " We are very confused about our adopted dinosaur. Could you
please help us track the family tree of the Ankylosaurs?" (Meeker
Elementary); "Was the Basilosaurus only in Alabama?" (Greystone
Elementary); "Do you know what dino DNA is?" (Waukee Elementary School);
"Why is ancient life buried under ground? Why does it get pushed down?" (5
year old homeschool student).
The questions had become much more pointed and direct, because the students
had a task and they needed answers. Our paleontologists from the US and
Australia were quite impressed. As the questions increased, one expert,
Vickie Clouse, from Montana State University at Havre, Montana, began this
week a furious dialog with students that ignored the age of the questioners
and just tackled the depth of their questions. Look below at what happens
when kids are engaged (we'll give you an abbreviated version). Enjoy the
dialog and let us thank our lucky stars that there are professionals like
Vickie and all of our other guests who enjoy treating our kids like the
curious creatures they are!
Cameron and Vicki, Meeker Elementary, fourth grade
> WOW!!! We looked at the websites you sent us today
> during our lunch recess.
> They are amazing. Thank you for so many good
> resources. ...We have already discovered that we had Scelidosaurus
> misclassified as an ankylosaurid dinosaur. It was really a stegosaurid.
> We also now understand two ways of classifying dinosaurs--the
> Linnean method and with a
> cladogram. There is so much to know about
> dinosaurs!!!
VICKIE CLOUSE: Excellent! Try to understand as much as you can about
cladograms. The Linnaen system of classification is
not used much anymore in paleontology. You are
learning so much in the process of this project!! I
wish that I would have had the same opportunity to
participate in the on-line Dinosaurs Alive! and to
make connections such as these when I was in
elementary school. You are all so very fortunate!
Good luck to you, and keep in touch!
@@@@
> Lindsay C, Maclay School (2nd grade)
> Is the tylosaurs a dinosaur?
No, _Tylosaurus_ is a type of mososaur.
Mososaurs were large, extinct reptiles that swam in
the sea. On the other hand, most paleontologists now
agree that dinosaurs were not reptiles. Instead, they
believe that dinosaurs were very closely related
(similar) to birds. Dinosaurs had special ankle
joints and hip bone arrangements that allowed them to
walk upright with their legs directly underneath them.
The marine reptile Tylosaurus had 4 fins and was
about 25 feet long. Because it had fins, _Tylosaurus_
certainly couldn't walk like a dinosaur....
@@@@
> Nathan, Meeker (4th grade)
> We have talked about coprolites. Has anyone ever
> found a coprolite from an
> infant or juvenile dinosaur?
Hi Nathan:
Great question!
As far as I know, there have been no reports of the
positive identification of a coprolite produced by an
infant or juvenile dinosaurs. It is very difficult to
correctly identify and assign the particular type of
dinosaur that made any particular coprolite.
Dr. Karen Chin, an expert in studying coprolites, can
make an hypothesis (best guess based on all available
information at the time) but, she may never be
absolutely certain of which particular dinosaur (or
other animal) made the coprolite. The plant/bone
content of thin slices of the coprolite, when studied
under a microscope, can suggest that either a plant
eater or meat eater made it....
@@@@
> Dylan, Grand Turk Homeschool, British West Indies (3rd grade)
> We have small lizards on our island. They shed their
> skin. Did the Dinosaurs shed their skin too?
VICKIE CLOUSE: Excellent question Dylan!
I've often wondered about this too. I have two 6 foot
long pet iguanas that shed their skin continuously.
Since, no human has ever seen a living dinosaur,
paleontologists may never know for sure if they shed
their skin. We can only study the fragmented, and
very sketchy evidence that we find fossilized in the
rocks.
Although we do find rare skin impressions, and very
rarely, fossilized dinosaur skin itself, it is
unlikely that we will someday find fossilized skin
that we could say beyond a doubt was in the process of
being shed.
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**** With Election Season, Balloteers Returns ****
Presidential elections are just around the corner (?!) and, although the
election rhetoric may sound the same, the Internet classroom has come a
long way in being able to follow along.
Four years ago, we launched a program called "Balloteers: Voting in the
21st Century," an interactive investigation of the Presidential elections
of 1996. At that time, we spent a good deal of time helping the
participating schools find e-mail providers so they could participate, and
the number of political Web sites we could draw from added up to something
like 15.
Times have changed. Whereas in 1996, we were predicting how someday the
Internet would alter voter habits and profiles and that political
information would be readily available online, in January, 2000 we will be
dealing with the reality. Already, maverick candidates such as Minnesota's
governor Jesse Ventura have used the Web as a formidable platform to engage
young people in the body politic (no pun intended); and an increasing
number of voters of all ages turn to the Internet to bypass traditional
media for their information on the candidates and the issues. This is the
information age that your students will live with as adults. How do we
prepare them to become good "consumers" of news and information in such a
new world?
"Balloteers: Voting in the 21st Century" is a ten-week investigation of the
presidential elections and the new media. Online, participating students
will maintain an elections "newspaper," using an online writers' workshop
and Q&A access to professional reporters to improve their writing skills.
Provided background and suggested writing assignments will hone their
political savvy, and an online moderator will remind students to be careful
and discerning users of the media. Writing assignments are tailored
separately for grades 4-8 and grades 9-12.
Balloteers will be offered three times before our next president is
announced - January - March, 2000; March - May, 2000 and September -
November, 2000. A few schools are already registered for all three
sessions. Others for only one. Please join us for this hands-on
investigation of elections and the new media.
To read more about it or to register for Balloteers, visit
<http://www.onlineclass.com/Ballot>
______________________________________________________________________
***** Explorer Joins Winter Blue Ice Session *****
Explorer Ann Bancroft, first woman to walk to the North Pole and leader of
a 1996 expedition to the South Pole, is readying a new expedition across
Antarctica. She leaves November, 2000. Ann has been a guest on Blue Ice:
Focus On Antarctica before. Many of you have seen the photographs of her
expedition on our Web pages.
In the January - March, 2000 session of Blue Ice, Ann will be one of five
online experts answering student questions about our great seventh
continent. What will be unusual, is that we will have the chance to talk to
her about her preparations for her big journey, and we will be able to
eavesdrop on some live training Ann and her co-traveler Liv Arnesen will be
doing as they test equipment. Here's what Ann wrote in a recent newsletter:
"The most important aspect of training for us is learning to work well as a
team. We are learning from each other as we merge two lifetimes of
experience into one team. We have hundreds of logistical decisions to make
together - we need to decide everything from what telecommunications
devices
to take, to what food to eat. Liv is partial to dried fish, while Ann
likes
cheese. Fortunately, we are in complete agreement on the value of
chocolate!
"To complete the traverse of Antarctica, we need to cover about 2400 miles
(3840 kilometers) in about 100 days. Since we ski pulling our sleds at a
little more than 1 mile an hour, we'd need to ski 24 hours a day to
complete the traverse in 100 days. To increase our speed when the wind
allows, we will be using parasails. The technology of sails have improved
immensely in the last few years. We are on our third type of sail already.
We are working hard to improve our sailing skills. Here's to a snowy,
windy
winter!
"We know that the next year will fly by. We are excited and energized by
the
response so far, and by the chance to have you and many others "ride along
on our sleds" with us."
To learn more about the Bancroft Arnesen Expedition, visit
http://www.yourexpedition.com/educators.html
To sign up for the full Blue Ice food webs and weather curriculum (and a
chance to talk to Ann and our other science experts), visit
<http://www.onlineclass.com/BI/BISub.html>
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By the way, January 10, 2000 marks the start of the next session for all
seven of the programs now running, plus "Balloteers" and "On the Trail with
Lewis and Clark," Register now so that you can get into the private Web
sites in early December for teacher prep. For more information on all of
our programs, go to <http://www.onlineclass.com/General/schedule.html>
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***** New Teachers or "Old" - Who's Using Technology? *****
Wisdom on the street says that the Internet teaching boom won't take off
until us "oldsters" retire and the new generation of kids raised at the
keyboard walks into the classroom. As a producer of online content, I'm all
for growth in the industry, no matter how it happens. But a new graph came
in the mail the other day from Market Data Research that says something
different about age and experience. It compared technology preparedness
between new teachers and experienced teachers in public and non-public
schools. Of those surveyed, 13% of new teachers and 13% of experienced
teachers considered themselves "very well prepared" to integrate technology
into the classroom. A small number. Dead even.
In fact, in most categories - very well prepared, well prepared, somewhat
prepared - the figures were extremely close for both groups (13/13%,
26/27%, 49/52%, respectively). Only in the last category - not at all
prepared - did the new teachers have a slight edge over the "experienced" -
only 8% of new teachers consider themselves unprepared vs. 13% of
experienced teachers. ...Not exactly the gap we are led to expect.
Our experience at OnlineClass backs up the above statistics. By surveying
our teachers both formally and informally, we have found that a significant
percentage of our participating teachers have as much as 20 years in the
classroom and many hold advanced degrees. Now, to explain this phenomenon
would lead us into unsubstantiated speculation, but we can cheer the
statistics nonetheless.
And we do, everyday, because that is how often we celebrate that such
motived, talented, wise and experienced souls are interested in what we do.
They are often the ones who most seamlessly adapt our programs into the
busy classroom. They combine a hunger for something new to spice up their
teaching with the maturity to know that learning new things (even for
teachers) takes time, patience and a sense of humor. They have the depth to
tap years of teaching activities and apply them to the new adventure, and
the generosity to share their resources with others. They are mentors and
they are friends. They have been in the classroom long enough to know
trends from true innovation and to go for the best. We love and thank them
all. So do the new teachers who jump on board to join them.
Of course, more important in the MDR statistics is the still relatively low
percentage of teachers of any ilk who consider themselves prepared to put
technology to work. It will be a team effort to bring those numbers up.
We're glad our experienced friends are around to offer leadership and
example.
Cathy de Moll, President, OnlineClass
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***** KUDOS *****
And speaking of our veteran teachers, kudos to Michael Hutchison, long-time
OnlineClass participant (Balloteers, 1996 was his first class), who has
just been named "Technology and Learning Magazine's" Teacher of the Year
for the central US region. Look for his presentation of his online
experiences at the National School Board Association conference in Dallas
in November. Congratulations, Michael!
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***** LETTERS TO THE EDITOR *****
Dear OnlineClass,
I would like permission to use your information on Attachments (from the
October newsletter). I teach computer applications at the Middle School
level, and this is one of the areas I cover. I would like to use your base
information in a HyperStudio presentation on eMail, and as a handout for
student folders. Is this
possible?
Also, I am involved with several mailing lists which NEED to learn when
to use attachments. Can I paraphrase to send?
Thanks for taking time to address this topic... in fact, thanks for
OnlineClass in general.
Carol Kerrigan
FROM ONLINECLASS: Thanks, Carol. We are always happy to allow use of our
newsletter material and appreciate the attention, as long as you let us
know how it will be used and you give the e-mail address
<tbt@onlineclass.com> and URL for OnlineClass <http://www.onlineclass.com>.
Thanks for asking.
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We love to hear from you on issues related to online teaching and learning.
Please write to us at <tbt@onlineclass.com>. Put "letters to the editor" in
the subject line. Thanks!
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(c) TBT International, Inc., DBA OnlineClass. 935 McLean Ave, Ste 2, St.
Paul, MN 55106. Tel: 651-771-3809 or 800-822-3809 E-mail:
<tbt@onlineclass.com>
Please accept our apologies if you are receiving more than one copy. Send
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Note that on a few occasions, we receive remove requests from folks who
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makes it difficult to help, especially if we get bounced from the current
address. If you fit in this category, please accept our apologies for being
unable to answer your request, and please help us by identifying the
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