Imagine if using the internet for your
Technical and Professional Communications class was enabling and not distracting. Imagine
if your students could create and edit online projects complete with graphics, sound and
video clips, Imagine if their group members were spread across the world. Imagine that
neither you nor your students needed a degree in computer science to pull this off.
Imagine it was easy for teachers to manage such projects. That is what MC2's Zebu is
trying to accomplish.
Zebu is a server-based learning environment
that facilitates collaborative internet projects. It manages information resources,
coordinates student work and allows students to share ideas with their peers around the
globe. Needless to say, it has great potential for courses such as TPC.
This past March, 6 Lower Mainland teachers
participated in a unique pilot project combining TPC, Applications of Work and Learning
(AWAL) and Zebu. The purpose was to learn about how the MC2 Zebu software could be used in
TPC classrooms to teach applied communications. The project allowed teachers to recognize
the academic skills at use in the workplace (AWAL), and design engaging and contextual
projects to teach academic theory (applied academics), while using state of the art
technology (Zebu). The results were fantastic.
Similar to the regular AWAL day, participants
were grouped and sent to observe how academic skills are used in the workplace. For this
project, our participants went to either the Business Council of BC or CKNW. They then
returned for a lesson in the finer workings of the Zebu program. Their creative energies
were then set to task designing a Zebu classroom activity incorporating some of the
workplace academic skills that they had observed.
"This was a great experience,"
exclaimed Yale Secondary teacher, Jane Hayhoe. "Zebu has the potential to be a real
good organizer. It is very logical and user friendly." Feedback from the other
participants echoed the same excitement.
For Jennifer Merali, AWAL was the most
encouraging part of the project. "The things that we tell students everyday were
communicated from people in the workplace."
If this leaves you imagining the possibilities
for your classroom, then why not connect to www.mc2learning.com for more info. Better
still, why not consider participating in the Thinking Through Technology Summer Institute.
If this catches your attention, then respond by April 30th to scott@mc2learning.com
For many students, applications of geometry
would involve the art of carving your name with a compass. If this sounds all too
familiar, then you might want to investigate the new Cord Geometry Mathematics in Context.
The Cord Geometry (produced by ITP Nelson) has
recently been recommended for Applications of Mathematics 9 and offers a number of
attractive features. This resource uses an interactive, workplace centered approach to
teaching geometric concepts. The resources include a student book, a teacher's guide, a
teacher's resource book, supplementary worksheets, a computerized test bank and a video
highlighting how geometry is used in the workplace.
Interested in previewing copies of this text?
Email Janice Bobroske or Dennis Sawchuk for more information (mountain@uniserve.com).
