What Difference Do GEM Capabilities Make in Real Life?
As one small example, Nancy Barkhousea teacher and major collaborator with me on this articlehas a class of 32 students in grade 4, many with a history of low motivation. She started by asking herself how to actively engage this group and decided to maximize her class’s 10-year-old computers. She’s using a WebQuest designed collaboratively with teachers in the U.S. and Australia while studying online for her Master of Online Education from the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. After students complete the WebQuest [http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/nbarkhou/farm/index.html], they’ll integrate fine arts by having students choreograph movements appropriate for the animals they research. The activity will be based on curriculum outcomes and meaningful assignments, and students will work in collaborative groups using technology and fine arts. Student reports may be done as multimedia presentations or in traditional formats. It is tremendously important, according to Barkhouse, that
