Weird Richard News Update

Sent Date

04-06-02

Message

TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY UPDATE

A weekly newsletter for families and educators committed to
building brighter futures for kids in a technology-rich society.
THIS WEEK: MORE HANDS-ON FUN!!

This week's sponsor message from Edventures Learning Labs,
preparing students for future success through project based
learning.

A COMPLETE LEGO LAB FOR YOUR SUMMER OR AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM!!

Thanks to everyone who wrote to Edventures last week after our
BrickLab program announcement. We're glad you're as excited
about the program as we are! The free curriculum samples will
remain available for others to download and use. For anyone
who missed out last week, click below to see the BrickLab and
download the free curriculum samples in Math, Engineering,
Communications, and Pysics! These are fun activities and the
only materials required are LEGOŽ bricks!
http://www.edventures.com/l/10/tlu20/index.html

TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY THIS WEEK

We had such an enthusiastic number of responses from our readers
last week that we have decided to do a second issue on hands-on
learning with LEGOŽ manipulatives. We've observed some fabulous
techniques used by educators to "hook" children into learning
and exploring through the use of fun materials like LEGOŽ parts
and find that it is one of the most effective ways to teach.

USING HANDS-ON MANIPULATIVES TO TEACH TECHNOLOGY CONCEPTS

LEGOŽ materials are nearly indestructible, colorful, fun, and of
a high quality that ensure they will be a dependable tool for
years to come. One of the best methods of integrating them
with technology can be with a software design package. Using a
simple paint program, for example, students can diagram the
floorplan of a house or school. They can then print out this
blueprint and build a replica out of LEGOŽ materials! What a
great integration project that naturally embeds technology use
and fun manipulatives!

TRY THIS IN YOUR CLASS OR HOME THIS WEEK!

There is a fantastic bit of free software available for the PC
that we found out about through Richard Wright, the Director of
Curriculum Development at PCS Edventures. It is called
BlockCAD and it was developed by Anders Isaksson. He offers it
freely to all and we've found it a great modeling tool.

You can gain access to this activity by setting up a free trial
subscription to Edventures Online where all of Weird Richard's
activities are available!

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!

We hope that this week's newsletter has been useful to you in
your educational pursuits. In the coming weeks we will continue
to address additional methods of integration and special topics
related to technological literacy. Together, we can build a
brighter future for students around the world by preparing them
to use technology as naturally as they use a pencil and paper!

Until next week!

Technological Literacy Update