Since 1994 when the PeachStar Satellite Network first began airing instructional video resources, we have made every effort to identify the best educational programming available and to purchase that programming for use by Georgia schools. In the early years, we sought out programming that already had a national reputation and was being used successfully in other states. We also purchased programming recommended at First View, an annual conference where public television station professionals previewed and evaluated new instructional videos. We soon had established an impressive media repository that included such favorites as GALAXY Classroom, Reading Rainbow and Integrated Science.
In an effort to directly involve the educational professionals who use PeachStar programing in the programming selection process, we instituted PeachStar Program Screening in 1997. During Screening, Georgia school administrators, teachers and media specialists could view excerpts from the programming rated highest at First View and vote for their favorites. Blockfeeds of these programs via the satellite network enabled all schools to participate; however participation was voluntary. The results, then, did not provide a statistically valid measure of the preferences of the Georgia learning community. Because we asked simply for viewers to indicate programs they "liked", results also did not indicate the actual value of the program for instructional purposes. Finally, educators were asked to evaluate programs simply from segments of an entire program or series, requiring a leap of faith that the quality of the entire program matched that of the excerpt.
Now PeachStar is raising its program selection procedures to a higher level. We will not conduct PeachStar Program Screening this year; rather, we are developing a new Program Evaluation Instrument to ensure all PeachStar video resources effectively address clearly identified instructional needs of Georgia classrooms. Details of the new process will be announced soon; however, the basic elements of the Program Evaluation Instrument already have been determined:
1. We will identify focus groups comprising educators who represent each grade level and academic subject area. The groups will reflect our state's diversity in terms of wealth, geography and ethnicity.
2. Strict, clear criteria will be established to guide focus groups in their evaluations of programming. Criteria will include:
* Does the programming address the objectives of Georgia's Quality Core Curriculum (QCC)?
* Does the programming address other curricular standards recognized by professional educators?
* Based on the actual experience of the educator who is doing the evaluation, does the programming address real-world classroom needs?
* Is the content of the programming presented effectively?
3. Evaluators will assess not only video programming but also all print and web resources associated with that programming.
4. Members of the focus groups will receive thorough training in the selection procedures before they begin to evaluate programming.
5. Evaluations will be made of the entire series, rather than of excerpts.
6. Once programming has been evaluated and selected for inclusion in PeachStar's repository, the results of the evaluations will be published in the PeachStar Program Guide and on our web site. That will help educators determine which PeachStar resources best meet specific classroom needs.
The success of this new process will depend not only upon the design of the instrument but also upon the commitment and hard work of the focus group members. We soon will begin enlisting the assistance of dedicated professionals who wish to take part in this process. Your participation will ensure that every title in PeachStar's media repository meets the highest standards of experienced Georgia educators.
Sunday, February 4, 2001
Thursday, February 1, 2001
A Letter from the Division Director
Dear Colleagues:
The value of a good education is immeasurable. As a science educator in the university system for more than 25 years, I have seen knowledge transform a student's life. Former students with limited experiences of the world now have exciting careers in science because of what they learned in their first biology class. Other students, who might otherwise have no access to a college education, now are enrolled in degree programs thanks to distance learning. They, too, are discovering a brighter future than they ever thought possible.
This state has a tremendous need for high quality curriculum support in its schools. Teachers find it difficult to juggle the demands for teaching core subjects while assuring students develop the skills they need to succeed in the high tech world.
That's why I feel so proud to be the new director of PeachStar Education Services, a Division of Georgia Public Broadcasting. I know that PeachStar can change students' lives by giving them a new way of looking at learning and the world. We envision PeachStar offering a truly integrated, multimedia approach to learning that excites both learners and teachers. To accomplish that, we created a work plan with these priorities:
1. Offer multimedia learning packages A new system for selecting PeachStar programming requires all video programming to have lesson plans, web-based learning activities, and other resources to make it easier for teachers to create exciting learning experiences for students.
2. Support professional development Teachers need learning opportunities too. PeachStar will offer more workshops and conferences via satellite for teachers to grow their professional skills. One such course will cover integrating technology-based media in the classroom. This video/web series will allow teachers to experience technology-based learning themselves and acquire needed skills at their convenience.
3. Maintain close ties with the learning community Education is a collaborative process. To ensure success, PeachStar is developing multiple channels for ongoing communication with its partners. Regular satisfaction/needs surveys will allow media specialists and teachers to express their needs. Involving the Georgia professional associations for the different K-12 subject areas in the program selection process helps us target programming to real Georgia content needs. Participation of our staff in education associations will connect us to the issues.
4. Support integration of technology in the classroom - Imagine a legion of experienced classroom teachers demonstrating to and supporting their peers in utilizing technology and PeachStar in daily classroom activity. We are making that a reality by creating the PeachStar Specialist Team. By next school year, this team, along with our existing satellite help desk service, video on request line and web site will give educators the tools they need to teach our children to succeed ? in school and in life.
This ambitious plan gives us much work to do. Our talented staff, now organized in three functional teams, already is hard at work making achievement not simply a goal but a way of doing business. We thank you for your support and look forward to an even more productive, rewarding partnership as we move forward. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to share them with us. We are here for you so you can be there for your students.
Sincerely,
C. Blaine Carpenter, Ph.D.
Division Director
PeachStar Education Services
The value of a good education is immeasurable. As a science educator in the university system for more than 25 years, I have seen knowledge transform a student's life. Former students with limited experiences of the world now have exciting careers in science because of what they learned in their first biology class. Other students, who might otherwise have no access to a college education, now are enrolled in degree programs thanks to distance learning. They, too, are discovering a brighter future than they ever thought possible.
This state has a tremendous need for high quality curriculum support in its schools. Teachers find it difficult to juggle the demands for teaching core subjects while assuring students develop the skills they need to succeed in the high tech world.
That's why I feel so proud to be the new director of PeachStar Education Services, a Division of Georgia Public Broadcasting. I know that PeachStar can change students' lives by giving them a new way of looking at learning and the world. We envision PeachStar offering a truly integrated, multimedia approach to learning that excites both learners and teachers. To accomplish that, we created a work plan with these priorities:
1. Offer multimedia learning packages A new system for selecting PeachStar programming requires all video programming to have lesson plans, web-based learning activities, and other resources to make it easier for teachers to create exciting learning experiences for students.
2. Support professional development Teachers need learning opportunities too. PeachStar will offer more workshops and conferences via satellite for teachers to grow their professional skills. One such course will cover integrating technology-based media in the classroom. This video/web series will allow teachers to experience technology-based learning themselves and acquire needed skills at their convenience.
3. Maintain close ties with the learning community Education is a collaborative process. To ensure success, PeachStar is developing multiple channels for ongoing communication with its partners. Regular satisfaction/needs surveys will allow media specialists and teachers to express their needs. Involving the Georgia professional associations for the different K-12 subject areas in the program selection process helps us target programming to real Georgia content needs. Participation of our staff in education associations will connect us to the issues.
4. Support integration of technology in the classroom - Imagine a legion of experienced classroom teachers demonstrating to and supporting their peers in utilizing technology and PeachStar in daily classroom activity. We are making that a reality by creating the PeachStar Specialist Team. By next school year, this team, along with our existing satellite help desk service, video on request line and web site will give educators the tools they need to teach our children to succeed ? in school and in life.
This ambitious plan gives us much work to do. Our talented staff, now organized in three functional teams, already is hard at work making achievement not simply a goal but a way of doing business. We thank you for your support and look forward to an even more productive, rewarding partnership as we move forward. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to share them with us. We are here for you so you can be there for your students.
Sincerely,
C. Blaine Carpenter, Ph.D.
Division Director
PeachStar Education Services
Monday, January 8, 2001
Georgia Stories: History Online
Teachers of Georgia history (mandated by the state for all eighth-grade public school students) generally fall into one of several categories:
* those who are teaching the subject for the first time and did not major in the subject area in college;
* those who have lived in the state a short time and have little knowledge of the state's history;
* those who are experienced Georgia history teachers who continuously seek to broaden their knowledge of the subject and to vary their presentation in the classroom.
All of these teachers share a concern for sufficient resources to teach Georgia history. The Georgia Stories: History Online web site addresses this need through its rich sources of historical documents.
The Georgia Stories web site represents a partnership between The Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia Public Broadcasting. Designed and maintained by Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC), the site is closely correlated with the award-winning Georgia Stories I & II video series produced by PeachStar Education Services. The Georgia Stories video series consists of 37, 30-minute videos, and each of those half hour programs is subdivided into two or three "stories" which focus on discrete Study Topics in Georgia history. In all, 107 Study Topics are featured in the video series, and 23 of those topics already are covered in-depth on the web site, with more being added in the future. (The box on the next page shows the Study Topics currently available at Georgia Stories: History Online.)
The web site is a unique educational experience that permits students and teachers to assess primary source archival material on Georgia history. Original historical documents, study guides and other related educational resources are available. Student activities, questions, vocabulary, study aides and opportunities for students to post their own individual or group work are possible. Primary source materials include newspapers and magazine articles of the times, photographs, personal letters, journals, reports, public documents and recorded audio oral histories. All materials are correlated with study questions and with Georgia's Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) standards.
There has been significant use of the site by younger students, high school students, college students worldwide, and research scholars. Comments from visitors are always welcome in the "Guestbook." Some examples:
"I think this is a fabulous web site. It is full of interesting articles and stories for all age groups and educational for all." Nancy T. Rodgers-Neame, Florida, June 11, 2000
"The Georgia Stories web site offers many great resources which make our state's history even more personal and interesting to my 8th graders. Thank you for the hard work that goes into it." James Harrington, teacher, Ephesus Elementary, Ephesus, Georgia, March 29, 2000.
"For a parent whose time is limited this was a great time saver with good info!" Veverly D. Bell, parent, Sycamore, Georgia, February 29, 2000.
"I think that Georgia Stories Online is a good opportunity for kids to learn about history!" Stephanie, student, 8th grade, Madras Middle, Palmetto, Georgia, February 22, 2000.
"I am researching the various personal stories about the "Trail of Tears" in the hopes of finding information about my Great Grandmother, who family tradition reports, was adopted by the Sandlin family from the displaced Indians trekking to the Indian territory." Harold Beck, Longview, Washington, July 5, 2000.
"The Georgia Stories video series is the most popular programming ever produced by PeachStar and the most widely used series aired over our educational satellite network," said Blaine Carpenter, PeachStar Director. "According to a survey we conducted last spring, 59 percent of all responding K-12 schools and 95 percent of middle schools use Georgia Stories I & II. Now the instructional value of the videos has been greatly enhanced, thanks to the tremendous job that Georgia teachers working in conjunction with the staff at CEISMC have done to develop the web site. The Study Topics areas on the site are incredibly deep, offering far more background, detail and nuance than can possibly be covered during a 10-minute video segment. This is a premiere resource for anyone who is interested in Georgia history, whether you are an eighth-grade student or a Ph.D.," Carpenter said.
The great majority of the information on the site is available in an open section accessible to all web users. There also is a password protected section, divided into two parts:
* archival materials restricted to an educational audience
* a "teachers' only" section that provides background, references and guides to the topics and associated study questions.
If you are an educator who would like access to the restricted sections of the Georgia Stories: History Online web site, you can request a password from Carolyn Cole at CEISMC. Because of the rights agreements that GPB has with the owners of some of the archival material that is in the restricted sections, we must be able to verify that you are an educator. Send Carolyn a fax, on your school letterhead, stating you are an educator at the school, to (404) 894-9675. Be sure to include contact information (your school email address or school phone number) on your fax. You may also phone Carolyn at (404) 894-4847 or email carolyn.cole@ceismc.gatech.edu.
* those who are teaching the subject for the first time and did not major in the subject area in college;
* those who have lived in the state a short time and have little knowledge of the state's history;
* those who are experienced Georgia history teachers who continuously seek to broaden their knowledge of the subject and to vary their presentation in the classroom.
All of these teachers share a concern for sufficient resources to teach Georgia history. The Georgia Stories: History Online web site addresses this need through its rich sources of historical documents.
The Georgia Stories web site represents a partnership between The Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia Public Broadcasting. Designed and maintained by Tech's Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC), the site is closely correlated with the award-winning Georgia Stories I & II video series produced by PeachStar Education Services. The Georgia Stories video series consists of 37, 30-minute videos, and each of those half hour programs is subdivided into two or three "stories" which focus on discrete Study Topics in Georgia history. In all, 107 Study Topics are featured in the video series, and 23 of those topics already are covered in-depth on the web site, with more being added in the future. (The box on the next page shows the Study Topics currently available at Georgia Stories: History Online.)
The web site is a unique educational experience that permits students and teachers to assess primary source archival material on Georgia history. Original historical documents, study guides and other related educational resources are available. Student activities, questions, vocabulary, study aides and opportunities for students to post their own individual or group work are possible. Primary source materials include newspapers and magazine articles of the times, photographs, personal letters, journals, reports, public documents and recorded audio oral histories. All materials are correlated with study questions and with Georgia's Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) standards.
There has been significant use of the site by younger students, high school students, college students worldwide, and research scholars. Comments from visitors are always welcome in the "Guestbook." Some examples:
"I think this is a fabulous web site. It is full of interesting articles and stories for all age groups and educational for all." Nancy T. Rodgers-Neame, Florida, June 11, 2000
"The Georgia Stories web site offers many great resources which make our state's history even more personal and interesting to my 8th graders. Thank you for the hard work that goes into it." James Harrington, teacher, Ephesus Elementary, Ephesus, Georgia, March 29, 2000.
"For a parent whose time is limited this was a great time saver with good info!" Veverly D. Bell, parent, Sycamore, Georgia, February 29, 2000.
"I think that Georgia Stories Online is a good opportunity for kids to learn about history!" Stephanie, student, 8th grade, Madras Middle, Palmetto, Georgia, February 22, 2000.
"I am researching the various personal stories about the "Trail of Tears" in the hopes of finding information about my Great Grandmother, who family tradition reports, was adopted by the Sandlin family from the displaced Indians trekking to the Indian territory." Harold Beck, Longview, Washington, July 5, 2000.
"The Georgia Stories video series is the most popular programming ever produced by PeachStar and the most widely used series aired over our educational satellite network," said Blaine Carpenter, PeachStar Director. "According to a survey we conducted last spring, 59 percent of all responding K-12 schools and 95 percent of middle schools use Georgia Stories I & II. Now the instructional value of the videos has been greatly enhanced, thanks to the tremendous job that Georgia teachers working in conjunction with the staff at CEISMC have done to develop the web site. The Study Topics areas on the site are incredibly deep, offering far more background, detail and nuance than can possibly be covered during a 10-minute video segment. This is a premiere resource for anyone who is interested in Georgia history, whether you are an eighth-grade student or a Ph.D.," Carpenter said.
The great majority of the information on the site is available in an open section accessible to all web users. There also is a password protected section, divided into two parts:
* archival materials restricted to an educational audience
* a "teachers' only" section that provides background, references and guides to the topics and associated study questions.
If you are an educator who would like access to the restricted sections of the Georgia Stories: History Online web site, you can request a password from Carolyn Cole at CEISMC. Because of the rights agreements that GPB has with the owners of some of the archival material that is in the restricted sections, we must be able to verify that you are an educator. Send Carolyn a fax, on your school letterhead, stating you are an educator at the school, to (404) 894-9675. Be sure to include contact information (your school email address or school phone number) on your fax. You may also phone Carolyn at (404) 894-4847 or email carolyn.cole@ceismc.gatech.edu.
Friday, January 5, 2001
PeachStar and JASON XII Bring You Hawaii
This month, you can explore the Hawaiian islands live via PeachStar with Dr. Bob Ballard and his team of JASON Project researchers and Argonauts. It's the latest installment in the popular series of JASON Project interactive electronic field trips.
The JASON XII team chose Hawaii for the 2001 expedition site because of the "living laboratory" aspect of the islands, where researchers and participants are able to the study the elements of the natural world first hand. Viewers will experience Hawaii from a multidisciplinary perspective, including island geology, climate, biology and culture. Using volcanoes as the main theme of the project, the explorers will investigate this dynamic process both on the land and in the sea. The researchers will compare the volcanic process with other events throughout the solar system. They will also examine how the unique geology and climate of Hawaii have given rise to a distinct biology, featuring a remarkable array of endemic species. In addition, the team will explore characteristics of the Hawaiian culture and its native people.
For the first time, one of Dr. Ballard's Argonauts is a Georgia student. Timothy Trout from Greenbrier Middle School in Columbia County will join the explorers on the expedition. His enthusiastic perspective on the natural world will add a great deal to the team. "Underwater exploration, in my opinion, is one of the most fascinating areas of science. There are so many unusual plants and animals and such beautiful colors there. Everything seems to move with the same rhythm. Even the shells that are thousands of years old add to the picture of the underwater world. Discovering a new species would be equally exciting," stated Trout in his application to the JASON Foundation for Education.
The JASON Project offers students and teachers in grades 4 through 9 a comprehensive, multimedia approach to enhance teaching and learning in science, technology, math, geography and associated disciplines. The project delivers its educational content through a print curriculum, videos, fully interactive Internet programming and live satellite "telepresence" broadcasts. The mission of the JASON Foundation for Education, founded in 1990 to administer the program, is to excite and engage students in science and technology. The program also strives to motivate teachers and provide them with professional development. Dr. Ballard founded the JASON Project in 1989 after receiving thousands of letters from school children wanting to know how he discovered the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
You can view the live JASON broadcast on PeachStar's Channel 420, January 29 - February 9, Monday thru Friday at 10 AM, 11:30 AM, 1 PM, 2:30 PM and 4 PM daily. For more information on the JASON Project, visit the National Science Center web site.
The JASON XII team chose Hawaii for the 2001 expedition site because of the "living laboratory" aspect of the islands, where researchers and participants are able to the study the elements of the natural world first hand. Viewers will experience Hawaii from a multidisciplinary perspective, including island geology, climate, biology and culture. Using volcanoes as the main theme of the project, the explorers will investigate this dynamic process both on the land and in the sea. The researchers will compare the volcanic process with other events throughout the solar system. They will also examine how the unique geology and climate of Hawaii have given rise to a distinct biology, featuring a remarkable array of endemic species. In addition, the team will explore characteristics of the Hawaiian culture and its native people.
For the first time, one of Dr. Ballard's Argonauts is a Georgia student. Timothy Trout from Greenbrier Middle School in Columbia County will join the explorers on the expedition. His enthusiastic perspective on the natural world will add a great deal to the team. "Underwater exploration, in my opinion, is one of the most fascinating areas of science. There are so many unusual plants and animals and such beautiful colors there. Everything seems to move with the same rhythm. Even the shells that are thousands of years old add to the picture of the underwater world. Discovering a new species would be equally exciting," stated Trout in his application to the JASON Foundation for Education.
The JASON Project offers students and teachers in grades 4 through 9 a comprehensive, multimedia approach to enhance teaching and learning in science, technology, math, geography and associated disciplines. The project delivers its educational content through a print curriculum, videos, fully interactive Internet programming and live satellite "telepresence" broadcasts. The mission of the JASON Foundation for Education, founded in 1990 to administer the program, is to excite and engage students in science and technology. The program also strives to motivate teachers and provide them with professional development. Dr. Ballard founded the JASON Project in 1989 after receiving thousands of letters from school children wanting to know how he discovered the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
You can view the live JASON broadcast on PeachStar's Channel 420, January 29 - February 9, Monday thru Friday at 10 AM, 11:30 AM, 1 PM, 2:30 PM and 4 PM daily. For more information on the JASON Project, visit the National Science Center web site.
Monday, January 1, 2001
and a New Leader for PeachStar
Blaine Carpenter has been named Division Director for PeachStar Education Services, succeeding Janie Smith, who has retired after 30 years of service. Blaine previously served as the division's Distance Education Consultant responsible for postsecondary and higher education distance learning projects. He came to GPB from Clayton College & State University (CCSU), where he is Academic Director of Distance Learning and Professor of Biology.
Blaine earned a bachelor's degree from West Virginia Wesleyan, a master's from Marshall University and a Ph.D. in Biology-Ecology from the University of Cincinnati. He has chaired the CCSU Distance Learning Advisory Committee, Instructional Technology Committee and is a member of the Georgia Board of Regents committee for Institutional Distance Education Administrators and the GSAMS Technical Advisory Committee. He is the author of numerous articles and papers on critical thinking and distance education. Even before coming to GPB, Blaine worked closely with PeachStar to build CCSU's Going the Distance program, a collaboration between colleges and universities, the Public Broadcasting Service's Adult Learning Service and public broadcasting stations.
"I am excited about the opportunities and the challenges that this new position offers," said Blaine. "PeachStar has a proud tradition of providing programming and other educational services to Georgia classrooms and to all of our state's life-long learners. My twin goals are to expand those services and the use of those services in classrooms across Georgia."
Blaine earned a bachelor's degree from West Virginia Wesleyan, a master's from Marshall University and a Ph.D. in Biology-Ecology from the University of Cincinnati. He has chaired the CCSU Distance Learning Advisory Committee, Instructional Technology Committee and is a member of the Georgia Board of Regents committee for Institutional Distance Education Administrators and the GSAMS Technical Advisory Committee. He is the author of numerous articles and papers on critical thinking and distance education. Even before coming to GPB, Blaine worked closely with PeachStar to build CCSU's Going the Distance program, a collaboration between colleges and universities, the Public Broadcasting Service's Adult Learning Service and public broadcasting stations.
"I am excited about the opportunities and the challenges that this new position offers," said Blaine. "PeachStar has a proud tradition of providing programming and other educational services to Georgia classrooms and to all of our state's life-long learners. My twin goals are to expand those services and the use of those services in classrooms across Georgia."
New Leadership for Georgia Public Broadcasting
James M. Lyle is Georgia Public Broadcasting's (GPB) new Executive Director, succeeding Claude Vickers who has retired. Lyle, who previously served as GPB's Deputy Director, took over his new responsibilities November 1. After Vickers announced his plans to retire, Governor Roy Barnes recommended that Lyle be appointed as the new Executive Director. The Georgia Public Telecommunication Commission (GPTC), the state policy-making authority that oversees Georgia Public Broadcasting and its networks, made the appointment official in October.
Friday, December 1, 2000
Georgia Learning Connections: Serving Georgia Schools
By Sara Pitts
Do you know how to best demonstrate cellular mitosis to your students? What about explaining the election rules for the District of Columbia? Teachers who use Georgia Learning Connections do; they know to just log onto www.glc.k12.ga.us, perform a search for "cell" or the "Constitution," and the results pop right up on the computer screen. But teachers using a regular search engine... well, who knows how long it may take? With the advent of the Information Age, the world of education has become a much easier and much more exciting place to work. Distance learning has opened an array of opportunities, educational sites are showing up all over the World Wide Web, and teachers are able to access an incredible amount of information to use in the classroom through the Internet - but only if they have the patience to sift through all the results most search engines (such as Yahoo and Excite) retrieve.
About three years ago the Georgia Department of Education recognized the need to minimize time-consuming research work for teachers in order to free up their time for students. Georgia Learning Connections (GLC) was created, and in October 1999 the GLC web site, www.glc.k12.ga.us, made its debut on the Internet with over 8,000 curriculum standards, links to 18,000 educational web sites, a database of lesson plans, and a bulletin board as big as the state.
Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) standards are the guidelines Georgia teachers use in the classroom and are the foundation upon which GLC has been built. GLC was first conceived as an online repository for these QCC standards, making them instantly available to all teachers in Georgia. And in order for the standards to be most effective, the GLC staff attached teaching tools such as web links and lesson plans, so teachers can easily access resources when they teach specific standards. As a result, the GLC web site became a showcase for both the best educational sites on the Internet and the best lesson plans in Georgia. Now, English teachers looking for a new way to explain the impact culture has on literature can bypass a lengthy search at an online search engine. Instead, the teacher can go directly to the GLC web site, pull up the QCC standards for American Literature and Composition, and find 14 web links attached to Standard 33 to teach this concept to students. And, not only can teachers find web links, but they can also find lesson plans written by Georgia teachers, teacher-recommended assessments for ideas on how to test students, and assessment correlations matching that standard to standardized tests such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
Teacher Resource Center (TRC) is another major component of the GLC site, and the material found here is a supplement to the QCC standards. The TRC is organized into Curriculum Resources and Educational Resources. While the web links found in the QCC standards are very specific, Curriculum Resources is a listing of broad, general web sites for each subject area and are not connected to any one QCC standard. With the links in the TRC, a geography teacher can research facts about all of the 50 states at once with her students, instead of focusing on just one state. Educational Resources has a wide array of material with subheadings such as Georgia Treasures and Teacher Tools. Georgia Treasures is just what it sounds like - links to information about Georgia's museums, parks, libraries, government agencies, and historical sites and figures. Teacher Tools is a database of activity sheets, like calendars and rubrics, and software resources, like mini-manuals to guide new users in the basics of computer applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Netscape Navigator.
Finally, Bulletin Board is the last of the three original modules on GLC and is a listing of education announcements from all over the state. It is organized into seven categories such as Conferences, GLC Highlights, and Celebrating this Month plus an archive of past announcements. The postings on the Bulletin Board range from announcing the revised QCC math standards to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution's Honor Teacher Awards to instructions on how to use GLC itself.
With the constantly changing face of education and technology, the staff knows that the site will never be finished, that it will only keep expanding and improving to serve Georgia's teachers and students for years. With that in mind, GLC has added two more features this year to the big blue arrow that is the hallmark of the GLC home page. The additions are Georgia Education Initiatives and Lesson Plan Builder.
Georgia Education Initiatives is a showcase of educational programs in Georgia that work with the GLC staff to correlate their educational material with QCC standards. One example is Junior Achievement, a group that teaches children about the intricacies of the business world while they are still in grade school. Gifted Education, a division of the Georgia Department of Education, will have a module featuring a virtual library, a teacher's forum, and a bank of educational resources all geared toward teachers and parents of gifted children.
All of the lesson plans on GLC have been written and tested in the classroom by Georgia teachers - none were bought or gathered from an outside or commercial source. To continue this standard of excellence and consistency, GLC created the Lesson Plan Builder, an online tool for teachers to build effective lesson plans. Teachers are invited to use this step-by-step guide to write lessons for their classroom and to submit for possible inclusion on GLC. As they write these lesson plans, teachers can add worksheets, answer keys and web resources right into the lesson. Once the lesson is finished the author can submit it to GLC to be reviewed by GLC staff and possibly be posted to a specific standard on the web site. This feature is an important aspect not only for the builder but also for education in Georgia; because of the builder, teachers are using GLC to share their expertise with every other educator in Georgia.
The GLC staff has spent the past year spreading the word about the web site to teachers across the state, spending time doing hands-on training sessions, and sending out informational material to superintendents and principals. The GLC staff wants the Internet to be useful, not an unwieldy research tool that is eventually abandoned because it's too time consuming. The resources should benefit all teachers: Whether they choose to use the resources word for word in the classroom, modify them for their class's needs, or just use them for new ideas, the ultimate goal should be to improve student achievement in Georgia.
Do you know how to best demonstrate cellular mitosis to your students? What about explaining the election rules for the District of Columbia? Teachers who use Georgia Learning Connections do; they know to just log onto www.glc.k12.ga.us, perform a search for "cell" or the "Constitution," and the results pop right up on the computer screen. But teachers using a regular search engine... well, who knows how long it may take? With the advent of the Information Age, the world of education has become a much easier and much more exciting place to work. Distance learning has opened an array of opportunities, educational sites are showing up all over the World Wide Web, and teachers are able to access an incredible amount of information to use in the classroom through the Internet - but only if they have the patience to sift through all the results most search engines (such as Yahoo and Excite) retrieve.
About three years ago the Georgia Department of Education recognized the need to minimize time-consuming research work for teachers in order to free up their time for students. Georgia Learning Connections (GLC) was created, and in October 1999 the GLC web site, www.glc.k12.ga.us, made its debut on the Internet with over 8,000 curriculum standards, links to 18,000 educational web sites, a database of lesson plans, and a bulletin board as big as the state.
Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) standards are the guidelines Georgia teachers use in the classroom and are the foundation upon which GLC has been built. GLC was first conceived as an online repository for these QCC standards, making them instantly available to all teachers in Georgia. And in order for the standards to be most effective, the GLC staff attached teaching tools such as web links and lesson plans, so teachers can easily access resources when they teach specific standards. As a result, the GLC web site became a showcase for both the best educational sites on the Internet and the best lesson plans in Georgia. Now, English teachers looking for a new way to explain the impact culture has on literature can bypass a lengthy search at an online search engine. Instead, the teacher can go directly to the GLC web site, pull up the QCC standards for American Literature and Composition, and find 14 web links attached to Standard 33 to teach this concept to students. And, not only can teachers find web links, but they can also find lesson plans written by Georgia teachers, teacher-recommended assessments for ideas on how to test students, and assessment correlations matching that standard to standardized tests such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
Teacher Resource Center (TRC) is another major component of the GLC site, and the material found here is a supplement to the QCC standards. The TRC is organized into Curriculum Resources and Educational Resources. While the web links found in the QCC standards are very specific, Curriculum Resources is a listing of broad, general web sites for each subject area and are not connected to any one QCC standard. With the links in the TRC, a geography teacher can research facts about all of the 50 states at once with her students, instead of focusing on just one state. Educational Resources has a wide array of material with subheadings such as Georgia Treasures and Teacher Tools. Georgia Treasures is just what it sounds like - links to information about Georgia's museums, parks, libraries, government agencies, and historical sites and figures. Teacher Tools is a database of activity sheets, like calendars and rubrics, and software resources, like mini-manuals to guide new users in the basics of computer applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Netscape Navigator.
Finally, Bulletin Board is the last of the three original modules on GLC and is a listing of education announcements from all over the state. It is organized into seven categories such as Conferences, GLC Highlights, and Celebrating this Month plus an archive of past announcements. The postings on the Bulletin Board range from announcing the revised QCC math standards to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution's Honor Teacher Awards to instructions on how to use GLC itself.
With the constantly changing face of education and technology, the staff knows that the site will never be finished, that it will only keep expanding and improving to serve Georgia's teachers and students for years. With that in mind, GLC has added two more features this year to the big blue arrow that is the hallmark of the GLC home page. The additions are Georgia Education Initiatives and Lesson Plan Builder.
Georgia Education Initiatives is a showcase of educational programs in Georgia that work with the GLC staff to correlate their educational material with QCC standards. One example is Junior Achievement, a group that teaches children about the intricacies of the business world while they are still in grade school. Gifted Education, a division of the Georgia Department of Education, will have a module featuring a virtual library, a teacher's forum, and a bank of educational resources all geared toward teachers and parents of gifted children.
All of the lesson plans on GLC have been written and tested in the classroom by Georgia teachers - none were bought or gathered from an outside or commercial source. To continue this standard of excellence and consistency, GLC created the Lesson Plan Builder, an online tool for teachers to build effective lesson plans. Teachers are invited to use this step-by-step guide to write lessons for their classroom and to submit for possible inclusion on GLC. As they write these lesson plans, teachers can add worksheets, answer keys and web resources right into the lesson. Once the lesson is finished the author can submit it to GLC to be reviewed by GLC staff and possibly be posted to a specific standard on the web site. This feature is an important aspect not only for the builder but also for education in Georgia; because of the builder, teachers are using GLC to share their expertise with every other educator in Georgia.
The GLC staff has spent the past year spreading the word about the web site to teachers across the state, spending time doing hands-on training sessions, and sending out informational material to superintendents and principals. The GLC staff wants the Internet to be useful, not an unwieldy research tool that is eventually abandoned because it's too time consuming. The resources should benefit all teachers: Whether they choose to use the resources word for word in the classroom, modify them for their class's needs, or just use them for new ideas, the ultimate goal should be to improve student achievement in Georgia.
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