Online Interactive Learning Tools
Engaging Students in Online Learning

Interactive websites are designed to enhance online learning opportunities and engage students in authentic learning processes.

They are designed to interact with the user through a text-based or graphical user interface. 

There are now 1000's available, but below are some that are well known for their standards based curricular activities.

______________________________________________________

Aligned to NETS-T: 1.a, 1.b, 1.c, 1.d, 2.a, 2.b, 2.c
_____________________________________________________________

Illuminations

Illuminations is designed to:

-Provide Standards-based resources that improve the teaching and learning of mathematics for all students.

-Provide materials that illuminate the vision for school mathematics set forth in Principles and Standards for School Mathematics.

Illuminations is part of the prestigious Verizon Thinkfinity program.

There is a library of 103 online activities that help to make math come alive in the classroom or at home. There are lesson plans and links to exemplary websites chosen by an editorial panel. 

Google Earth

Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places, and share with others. Just added is historical imagery from around the globe, ocean floor and surface data from marine experts, simplified touring with audio and voice recording. Please download Google Earth to carry out the activities and complete the assignment.

For a tutorial on Google Earth, click here.

For advanced tutorials on Google Earth, click here.

For additional video resources, click here

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS:  Google Earth takes up a lot of bandwidth, which may mean a tremendously slow "trip" for users with slow connections or dial-up issues. 

Additional Resources

A number of interactive sites listed by subject have been compiled on a Wiki by Melissa White.
The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
Don't miss the Online Telescope site!

21things Hands-On Activity and Assignment:

1. Visit the Illuminations site or choose a site from the Wiki (there are a number of curricular and grade level interactive sites) and go through one of the interactive activities. Go to your portfolio and write a short description of the activity and how you would use this activity in a lesson. Include the URL to the site you are using.

2. Go to Google Earth. Type your address in the "Fly to" area and locate your house. Take a screen shot and paste it into your portfolio.

3. Take one of the Sightseeing tours in Google Earth. Locate the tours under "Places" and click the + sign next to Sightseeing. Then select one tour to go on.  Write a short description of the tour for your portfolio.

4. Go to the Layers Tab, under the Places tab, and expand it by clicking on it. Click the + next to Ocean to expand it. Visit a shipwreck or an ocean expedition by double-clicking on it. You many need to zoom out to see the icons for the sites you are looking for. Take a screen shot and place it into the portfolio.

21 Things for 21st Century Educators by CCRESA, IISD, MISD, SRESD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at 21things.weebly.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://21things.weebly.com/.