Real+World+Application

=**Real World Application**=


 * Based on your feedback we have created the following structure for the kit. Feel free to use this as a starting point and either following it or take creative license with it.**


 * ** Define topic (Cindy Miller) **
 * ====What is it? Real World Application is applying one's learning (knowledge and skills) to real world scenarios or problems that helps this learner to be creative, communicative, collaborative, and a problem-solver in a real-world audience setting. ====
 * ====Why is it important for learners? It helps them answer the question: "Why does this have to do with real life?" when students are confronted with abstract topics in their academic courses. ====


 * ** Ideas for Educators (Cindy Miller) **
 * ====A simple list of ideas about how educators can promote the topic in their classroom:====
 * ==== __Create a collaborative classroom__ utilizing these four characteristics: 1) Shared knowledge among teachers and students; 2) Shared authority among teachers and students; 3) Teachers as facilitators; and 4) Heterogenous groupings of students. Great site on collaborative learning: []====
 * ==== __Implement Simulations__ -- here is a website with a variety of interactive curriculum simulations that I set up for K-12 teachers in our state to use in their classrooms: [] ====
 * ==== __Develop Project-Based Learning__ lessons, which uses in-depth and rigorous classroom projects to facilitate learning and assess student competence. It focuses on student-centered inquiry and group learning with the teacher acting as a facilitator. Here are some sites to visit: ====
 * PBL Online
 * PBL Checklist
 * PBL Exemplary Projects
 * Edutopia has numerous ideas, videos, and lessons for using project-based learning in the classroom.
 * ==== __Incorporate Cooperative Learning__ -- here is a link to the best sites by Larry Ferlazzo: []====
 * ==== __Utilize interactive video conferencing__ by connecting students to real world events and places. Here are some sites to explore in this area: ====
 * Videoconference Program Database-- a great content provider that has a list of free programs along with many others.
 * Connect 2 Texas -- is a network of Texas-based educational content providers including museums, cultural, historical, and scientific organizations, and authors.
 * Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration
 * Discovery Center for K-12. $150 per program. Programs must be scheduled three weeks in advance.
 * K-12 Interactive Video Conferencing Wiki-- you will have to request access to this wiki, but it has many wonderful interactive video conferencing sites.
 * A Teacher's Guide to Video Conferencing
 * ====__ Consider Digital Gaming __ --====
 * Education Arcade
 * Learning -- Games that Teach
 * Second Life
 * Crystal Island
 * [|CSI Web Adventures]
 * CyberSafety Games
 * StarLogo TNGis the next generation of modeling and simulation software.
 * Molecular Workbench provides visual, interactive computational experiements for teaching and learning science.
 * Eduweb-- develops award-winning digital learning games and interactives about art, history, science and technology.
 * Whyville is an educational site geared towards children from ages 8-15. Its goal is to engaged its users in learning about a broad range of topics, from science and business to art and geography.
 * ==== __Investigate Social Networking__ -- Nings, Facebook, Bookmarks, Blogs, Wikis, etc. ====
 * Classroom 2.0 Ning
 * The Global Education Collaborative Ning
 * Edutopia Groups
 * Global Classroom
 * Literacy in a Digital Classroom Ning
 * Diigo Educators Network
 * iTeach Mobile Group
 * Think.com-- is filled with project ideas and tools to help users create projects, in an online space where students and teachers can collaborate together.
 * The Educator's PLN
 * iMoodle Ning
 * The Innovative Educator Blog
 * TechLearning Blog
 * TravelinEdMan -- The World is Open Blog
 * EDge21 Blog -- teaching and learning in the 21st century
 * 100 Ways You Should Be using Facebook in Your Classroom
 * ====[|50 Ways to Use Wikis for a More Collaborative and Interactive Classroom]====
 * ==== __Develop Virtual Career Exploration__ that give students the opportunity to explore real careers by having them create online career portfolios and hear from real career professionals. ====
 * CareerShip-- an online career exploration adventure
 * O'Net OnLine -- a tool for career exploration and job analysis
 * Career Cruising-- an industry-leading online career guidance and planning system. It costs $550 per year for unlimited amount of students in your school district.
 * Drive of Your Life come and test drive careers for the one and only you.
 * CareerForwardis a self-contained online learning course that may be used in companion with a variety of online career planning tools to provide students with the opportunity to assess their career interests, explore career options, and create a career plan.
 * Career Discoveryis a site that helps students develop their road to success
 * Career Exploreris a great list of career videos
 * Career OneStopshows pathways to career success
 * Dream It--Do It! knows that everyone has dreams about their future and their career plans.
 * Job Shadow is an excellent resource to help students explore career choices and possibilities with real professionals.


 * **Reading & Videos (Case Studies) (Jeff Stutzman)**
 * In this video, Games and Education Scholar James Paul Gee discusses the merits of gaming education. I think the application here is the problem solving aspect that games offer which is a direct real world application: [|James Paul Gee]
 * An article promoting the idea of real world application for college studies. The same can be said for K-12 education as well. [|An Education with Real World Applications]
 * Article discussing the need to change the way Math is taught. [|When Will I Use this?]
 * Great article from Scholastic on a school in Texas where students become Real Life Accountants to prepare real people's taxes. **[|How themed schools-within-a-school turned things around in Texas.] **
 * Another article discussing PBL and offering examples (from [|Edutopia])


 * ** Tools for topic (Jeff Stutzman) **
 * Below are several resources, websites, etc. to reference for creating lessons with real-world applications. Each tool is briefly described as well.
 * [|NaNoWriMo] Have your students write their own novels through NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which happens each November. Participants are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Students who reach the goal are eligible to receive a free proof copy of their book from Amazon.com which is a sponsor of the Young Writers Project. *This is my second year doing it with my freshmen and there's no better way to teach elements of plot and other literary terms.
 * [|The Buck Institute for Education] While this site also connects to several other areas, it offers an excellent [|template] to use in planning PBL (Project Based Learning) specific lessons. The best PBL lessons simulate real world scenarios and result in products that actually serve their local community or school. (see below for a sample lesson from BIE)
 * ** Sample lesson/unit plans (Jeff and Cindy) **
 * [|Hometown Heroes](A 9th grade English lesson from the West Virginia DOE)
 * [|West Virginia DOE Teach 21 Lesson Plan Depository](A searchable database of Real World PBL lessons, complete with instructions, connecting standards, and internal links)
 * Thinkfinity.org has a ton of real-world application lesson plans in all curriculum areas that are interactive and project-based to help students learn and develop real-world solutions.
 * Global Project Based Learning Resourcesfor teachers who want to do multi-cultural and multi-classroom projects.
 * Curriki-- over 40,000 K-12 learning resources.
 * PBS Teachers -- numerous real-world classroom resources
 * PBS Teachers -- numerous real-world classroom resources


 * Additional resources & links
 * Anything else that you want to share on the topic

==Navigation ( We can leave this on the bottom of every page so that people can jump around )==
 * Home
 * About the Authors(everyone add your own - we'll put them alphabetically by the first letter of your first name)
 * Introduction(Blue group)
 * Core Academic Knowledge(Blue group)
 * Critical/Divergent Thinking(Red group)
 * Complex Problem Solving(Red group)
 * Effective Communication(Orange group)
 * Working in Collaboration(Orange group)
 * Learning how to Learn(Green group)
 * Global Perspective(Yellow group)
 * Real World Application(Yellow group)
 * Video tutorial or Teacher Quick Start Guide (Green group)