Technology Lesson Evaluation

Lesson #1

http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/destinationmars/

This is a lesson I discovered on the Discovery.com website.  Using my rubric, I was impressed with how it met most of the criteria in different areas. What I also liked about it was that it gave a vocabulary list associated with the lesson, and had a sound link for students to hear pronunciation of unknown words! (I thought this would especially be helpful for my special education students.)

The goal of the lesson is to have students work collaboratively to design a vehicle that could be used on Mars.  After researching, brainstorming and sketching, the students present their project to a ‘team from NASA’.  

This is a great project/lesson for students in middle school, especially if the teacher is adept at coordinating and facilitating cooperative learning groups. The objectives of the lesson are clearly stated, and the site also offers suggestions for assessment using a simple rubric.  Also, some great links to sites about Mars and NASA are included.  The lesson gives some very good discussion questions. 

I wish I was teaching science, for this is something that I think that would be a great activity.  I think I could adapt it for my special education language arts students and still use the technology component as well. 

Using my rubric, I will evaluate the lesson described above:
 

Integration of Technology: Satisfactory:  I think it uses technology well, without having the students spend too much time ‘surfing’ the Net.  Depending on how advanced a school is, kids might be able to do their sketches on the computer, using drawing software.

Instructional Activities: Superior: I think this lesson would be FUN!  I think kids would find it enjoyable, too, and I think they would also grasp the concepts.  Anytime students are invested and engaged in the lesson, they will learn and be excited about learning.

Technology Resources: Satisfactory: the resources are planned for, although if a classroom didn’t have Internet access, this might not be a great technology lesson!

Objectives: Satisfactory: The objectives are listed clearly at the beginning of the lesson, and they are achievable objectives. 

Standards:  Superior: There are links to all sections of the lesson, including a link to the corresponding standards.  This lesson touches a number of standards while also being creative and kinesthetic for kids.

Grade Level Appropriateness: Satisfactory:  This is a perfect fit for middle school students, as they are often interested in artistic creation, science and outer space.  The challenge is a good fit for kids on this level, but it could also be adapted for varying levels of ability.  Using cooperative learning groups would enable students also to move at different paces, and the teacher could either extend the lesson for high achievers or modify it for students with challenges.

Time Allotment:  Satisfactory:  I think the lesson allows just enough time without extending it too far.  The activity and lesson could be extended or part of a larger project, but it could also stand alone as an activity, and the time allotted seems appropriate.

Lesson #2

http://www.fi.edu/fellows/payton/rocks/lesson.htm

This is a lesson I discovered by using a great website called www.lessonplans.org.  This lesson is designed for a science class, and it involves a lot of researching and visiting different websites for information, so it is actually a good tool to help kids with searches, too.

The goal of the lesson is to learn about the rock cycle and about different types of rocks.  The lesson itself has designated appropriate websites that have this information, some animated and some not.

This lesson would be a good way for students to do research on the Internet, but as a lesson, I felt there didn’t seem to be a lot of ‘direct instruction’ by the teacher.  I think too much dependence on the Internet leaves the students disconnected.  I think it would be helpful for the teacher to have an instructional activity with the rocks that students collect.  The lesson has the students observe a lot of online rocks, but there is no substitute for the real thing, and I think more hands on in the class would be more beneficial in this type of lesson.

Using my rubric, I will evaluate the lesson described above:
 

Integration of Technology: Superior:  This lesson definitely incorporates the Internet (the students take quizzes, see animation, etc. on the Internet) and has them alternating between a lot of different websites, etc.

Instructional Activities: Needs Improvement:  Again, I think more in-class activities away from the computer would help balance this lesson and tap into the students’ interests in the ‘real thing’!

Technology Resources: Satisfactory:  This lesson absolutely depends on reliable Internet access for every student.  The reality is that not every school has this available, or students are sharing, etc.  The plan depends solely on the Internet, which is not always reliable.  It would be good to have a “Plan B”.

Objectives: Satisfactory:  The objective is pretty straightforward and the activities all relate to that same objective.

Standards:  Needs improvement: While this lesson does relate to science standards, they are not mentioned in the lesson.  This would be an easy thing to fix, and would make the lesson more complete.

Grade Level Appropriateness: Satisfactory:  This is set for 6-8^th graders, and all of the actiivites would be appropriate for that grade level.

Time Allotment: Needs improvement:  There is no mention of how long this lesson would take, so it is difficult to evaluate.  As a lesson setup, that is an important part of planning, so this is an area on which to improve.