NSW HSC Online Professional Development Node
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Bringing real-world problems into the classroom
The Internet creates new opportunities for teaching by bringing authentic issues and problems that can form the basis of guided, reflective inquiry to the classroom. Learning through real-world experience and contexts is not a new concept in teaching; we have had field trips, laboratories etc as part of the curriculum for a long time, however these are often difficult to incorporate into the program due to time, financial or logistical constraints. The online environment allows use easier access to the real-world through electronic communications, computer simulations and educational websites where scientists, researchers and students explore and problem-solve together and students all around the world contribute to their progress. Students in the Globe Program, for example, conduct a continuing program of scientifically meaningful environmental measurements. They transmit their data to a central data processing facility via the Internet, create maps and graphs on the interactive website to analyse data sets, receive vivid images composed of their data and data from other GLOBE schools around the world, acquire information from a variety of sources, and collaborate with scientists and other GLOBE students and communities worldwide in using these data for education and research. Research has shown that students who participate in the GLOBE program demonstrate higher knowledge and skill levels in environmental science methods and data interpretation than those students who have not. (Bransford et al. 2000, p. 212)
Examples:
The Globe Program is a hands-on international environmental science and education program. GLOBE links students, teachers, and the scientific research community in an effort to learn more about our environment through student data collection and observation.
References:
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (eds). 2000. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. The National Academy Press. Washington, D.C. (Available online) http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9853.html 
[19 October 2001]
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