Reflection on Lesson Accelerators

While I can't view the entire Lesson Accelerator, I think I have enough idea of what they are to figure out how they could be implemented in the classroom and in staff development.

Time of War
The first lesson accelerator I looked at was Time of War.  The lesson used Excel to make a timeline of major events in World War I.  I'm excited for the tutorials to work so that I can follow the tutorials to make my own timeline.  I've tried to make timelines before and they never look very good.

I'm not sure if I would use this exact assignment in my classroom.  I usually use timelines if I want students to see relationships between what is happening in different parts of the world, when events/timing are confusing, or as a big picture review.  I don't want to spend a lot of time on the creation of the timeline itself.  Therefore, I would probably give the students a template with the format and let them fill in the events and perhaps the pictures.  Some students would need the tutorials for this part and they would need the tutorials for the finishing touches (printing, fitting on one page, etc).  I do think many of my students would find knowing how to make timelines in Excel useful as some create their own timelines to study.  Once I figure out how to make the timelines I will probably make my own tutorials for the students to use.  They would definitely need the tutorials as many of my students do not know how to use basic functions in Word and Excel.

Wonder Wander
Wonder Wander is designed for a 10th grade English class.  The lesson teaches students how to conduct a web search.  This looks like it would be a useful tool at the beginning of the research unit.  This could also be useful in other subjects for the same purpose (if students are not taught in English class).  I might skip the first tutorial (how to put an address into the browser), but the rest looks pretty useful.  The students simply follow the tutorials and answer questions in a Word document using cut and paste.  

Both of these lesson accelerators could be used in staff development.  They could be used in pretty much the same way as you would with students or to model how to make your own lesson accelerators.  Many of the people in my department would like to have their students create timelines or teach them how to conduct quality web searches.  However, they would not know how to create these lessons themselves.  They would need the step by step instructions lesson accelerators provide.  I know I get frustrated when someone presents a great idea but does not give me instructions on how to create it myself.  I also want to be able to access the instructions again when I attempt to create my own product. 

Viewing a sample lesson accelerator would also be a good way to instruct teachers on how to create their own.  The technology teacher could also provide instructions on using screen capture, Moodle, or whatever tools were necessary for teachers to create their own lesson accelerators.  While some students are comfortable experimenting with technology, many want detailed instructions.  I've heard many student complaints about teachers assigning "technology" projects that are beyond the skill level of students.  Further, the teacher does not know how to work the technology either so they are not able to help.  Many problems and frustrations could be avoided if teachers would create detailed instructions for the students to follow as they create their projects.