By using Internet today students can have cyber tours of most places around the world and education is not linked to one classroom or place. Students can talk to and explore the minds of multiple people all at once; students have access to researched summaries and original documents; students can talk to other students and exchange views on a multi-cultural and international level, even using translation services to talk to people using another language.  A lesson can have widespread ramifications and explore far more than just the set lesson outcome.

Students are exposed to computers at home and have gravitated to a faster pace of watching and learning. Exposing these same students and teachers into controlled classrooms is like taking an eagle, restraining it, and giving it lessons on how to fly, before letting it go into the air, and then maybe telling the eagle he is flying wrong because his wings arent looking right. I remember that cartoon from Ways of Learning where twenty different animals get a lesson on how to run, and then get assessed on the task, using Outcome Based levels of achievement, so they  know exactly what level they display and their level of accomplishment.

Students now come to school with computer skills that are often far superior to the computer skills of teachers. Instead of not using computers, these skills need harnessing and directing to fly in the right direction. Many schools are now having students use their own laptops in the classroom, and the new directions and possibilities this level of teaching offers is unlimited. Computers are being provided for teachers and Internet access and training is being given to teachers as the value is being acknowledged and recognized and expected.

Open ended learning tasks which stimulate students into creative research and feedback, provide avenues for individual students to work at their own levels and within their own capabilities to still reach the Lesson Outcome, but within their own capabilities. Here is an example:

I have been teaching Year 9 SOSE in the area of Politics, using my own website as a source, which directs students in one instance to the Trinity College Website, which has links and information, which in turn directs students to all the areas they need, to complete a lesson task.

The research consolidation has already been done for me to access and forward to my students. Other sources come from the UK and USA, and students also search their own links and add them with the teacher and other students.

If this could in turn be linked to a school based network of resources that are in turn available to other classes and individuals, teachers teaching the same subjects would save time in lesson preparation and be able to research further to extend student learning in even more extended ways.

http://library.trinity.wa.edu.au/subjects/sose/polaw/austgov.htm

I sent students to this site from message link 222 on my own site, where messages are available without students having to join Yahoo or be a member of the group...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teachersnewslink

 From the itemized link,Students were able to watch Parliament in action, follow links to private lives of politicians, research Hansard documents to follow current bills, and link various other government styles with those of their own country.  The Trinity site provided all this information for this particular topic so there was no need for me to repeat all this research in this particular instance.

The Student outcomes for this unit as expressed in the WA Student Outcome Statement  Document  ......NSS 4.2 Understands that rules and laws result from decisions about rights and responsibilities

........................NSS 5.2  Understands that the features of political and legal systems adapt to ensure people's rights and responsibilities.

The following unit on Legal Issues links the two learning areas and builds on the learning from the previous Unit.

For their assessment, students were given 3 tasks. They had to itemize facts about the Government of WA and their local Government.

They had to create a game that showed their knowledge of Rules and Laws and Consequences.

They had to write an essay based on their understanding of a movie called "Lord of the Flies" where rules were created to suit the expectations of two leaders, and Germany's Democrary and how leadership of a country is dependant on  personality.

It was a very interesting response and the Power Point Presentations on the politics was far more clearly underrstood and enjoyed than the written tasks by the students. 

In Year 8 SOSE in the area of Economics, instead of following the traditional way of all students studying the same farm in the same way, an open ended question freed students to look at the economics of studying any farm of their choice. Simultaneously students worked on multiple areas, and shared their findings and discoveries with other students, during the research and through Power Point Presentations which are far more dramatic and explicit than cardboard projects and neatly pencilled booklets.

 Everything students can do on paper was done with a higher level of involvement on the Power Point Presentations., and students felt they learnt far more like this than the traditional methods.

Students can return and amend or add to their project, change their direction, and even run multiple projects at once. The course outcomes were not only met, but exceeded, and the learning was meaningful and worthwhile, especially, when coupled with, what became personal interests.

The Outcome  Statements from the Outcomes Document were these for the Economic Systems.

NSS 3.3 Understands that flows exist in the production, distribution and exchange of goods or services.

NSS 4.3 Understands that people make decisions about the production, distribution and exchange of goods and services to satisfy needs and wants.

NSS 5.3 Understands that features of economic systems adapt to change to ensure people's need are met.

 The students had three assessment tasks.

They had to research the farm of their choice and produce a Power Point Presentation about what the farm produces in relation to the land and the economics of producing this product.

The second task was  to create a game that showed that they understood how a farm worked including issues such as buying and selling, products and activities on the farm.

The third part was to answer questions about farms in general from information they derived from school, home or the Internet.

They were encouraged as part of their study to start a mini farm of their own with worms, herb gardens, chickens and whayever else they chose to do and keep a progressive journal on what happens for the entire term. Worms  were provided for the students who wished to have worm farms.

The follow up unit is looking at environmental issues realating to the farms such as recycling, energy uses such as solar power, and the effects on the environment in relation to land usage and what has happened such as pollution, depletion of natural resources and replanting. (salinity)

Students do individual researches using one search engine.

http://www.google.com

 They use the australian segment for this area and they use search words as given by the teacher.

Students use the Internet to find out certain information in the same way my grandfather used an encyclopaedia, but with a difference.

They can now look for what they want, cut and paste information into a Power Point or Word Document, and explore  even further if they so wish.

They can cyber tour  and they can explore areas that they find interesting.

Every Power Point is different even though the basic information given is the same.

Students have the skills with Power Point to create movies and videos of their research, include voice, and send this via the Internet Zip to exchange with other students worldwide.