Using Curriculum Webs to Improve Teaching and Learning

This blog might be slightly redundant, since I covered some of this in the blog about evaluating an inquiry-based lesson. I created an inquiry-based lesson for TIE 542, as I said earlier. It can be found at http://mrsdmsrowe.tripod.com/index.htm. This was an inquiry-based curriculum web, in that it follows all the parts of a curriculum web and has an authentic, real world problem. I really liked that you had to think about all the problems and total curriculum in advance, before creating the website. I think this is a part of a curriculum web that is left out of the majority of sites. It’s not just about hooking up the lessons to the teaching standards, which is actually difficult for me, since I have not had to do it before. It’s about giving a teacher options to modify the lesson based on the criteria used in its design.
Also, the curriculum web appears and can be student-driven for long-distance learning. This covers several bases. A home-schooled student, sick student, homebound student, and long-distance learner are all covered. All the related curriculum items they need should be available by looking at the site. Any links or annotated bibliography should be there. This also looks toward the future of anywhere, anytime learning, which seems to way that curriculum instruction is headed.
I think the biggest improvement in learning is the reflection on what the student has learned. I think that in elementary education, so often we simply fill the student’s head with facts and figures. We don’t have them reflect, at least in the older grades, on why they are learning what they are learning and how they will use it later. Too often I have heard the phrase “what good is it” or the question “why” while I am teaching. With a clearly defined, real world scenario, this becomes instantly clear.
Including a rubric for self-grading is terrific for projects of these types; it really helps the learner focus on what details they need to include or focus on. And the higher the education level, the more valuable they become.
The teacher needs to know their content, and their learners. It is a real test of a teacher to create a comprehensive curriculum web that is focused, adaptable, and as close to self-sustaining as you can get. Someone needs to check the links from time to time to make sure they work, and be able to update the site accordingly, especially if it will be used on a yearly basis. The book, Curriculum Webs, was very helpful in defining details to make a webpage better, and outlining the parts of an effective curriculum web.

Annotated bibliography of book used for this blog:

Cunningham, C. A., & Billingsley, M. (2006). Curriculum webs weaving the web into teaching and learning. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
Definition and process of creating comprehensive web pages/sites for sustained teaching and learning, incorporating a teaching guide, self-assessment and reflection by the learner, and feedback mechanisms.