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Teaching Online With Lesson Plans from the Teach India Project

It is the goal of the Teach India Project to create, collate, collaborate and present community based learning resources about India.  We use to the internet to reach the widest audience in the most cost effective way. 

Our goal is to support K-12 teachers in designing and developing engaging content and deeper learning for their students.  Our lesson plans are designed to save teachers time and effort in searching for online information that can be used in the classroom.   Our lessons and lesson plans present a wide variety of teaching elements, such as lessons, activities, quizzes and readings that can be delivered in a traditional classroom, in a classroom where technology is blended in or in a completely virtual classroom.  In any of these settings, it is our belief that student learning will be enriched with the multimedia resources that we have identified and the creative suggestions we have compiled for using them.

15 Suggestions
If you are new to all this
Idea Books 

 

15 suggestions for using the Internet to enhance classroom teaching using examples from our Lesson Unit about Mahatma Gandhi

  1. Download pictures from a website before class and bring them to the classroom.

Example:  GandhiServe Foundation is a research and media service and has one of the largest holdings of primary media related to Mahatma Gandhi. Visit http://www.gandhiserve.org/ Look at photographs online. 

  1. Download articles to be used for guided reading in the classroom.

Example:  A collection of readings from a special issue of India Perspectives is devoted to Mahatma Gandhi, January 2008  http://meaindia.nic.in/indiaperspective/2008/032008-8.pdf   The index is on page 15.  Grade 6 and up. 

  1. Download and distribute articles for extra reading for the topic.

Example: A collection of readings from a special issue of India Perspectives is devoted to Mahatma Gandhi, January 2008  http://meaindia.nic.in/indiaperspective/2008/032008-8.pdf    The index is on page 15.  Grade 6 and up. 

  1. Have learners read the articles to prepare for a discussion in the class.

Example:  The article, No Place for Gandhiji In My Life by Meenal Pandya  

  1. Use articles as a prompt for a class discussion.

Example:  Indians voice their hopes and predictions in this article from the BBC which reports on a poll conducted in December 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6320413.stm  Refer to the Lesson Plan for suggested questions. 

  1. Have learners listen to a speech online.  Ask them to listen for certain words.

Example:  Listen to Gandhiji's voice!  Links to Audio recordings in English and Hindi from the GandhiServe Foundation. 

  1. Show students movie or movie clips from a website.  Ask them to look for answers to a question.

Example:  Watch-Ask-Think

Watch this video from the GandhiServe Foundation  to learn about the most salient life principle of Mahatma Gandhi in action amidst India’s fight for independence. 

  1. During class go online and display websites from the world wide web to illustrate the lesson.

Example:  Gandhiji Online 

  1. Fact finding – ask learners to go online – use a list of website from our lesson plan – and find facts.

Example:  Gandhiji Online 

  1. Ask learners to find specific facts or answer questions about a topic from one or more web sites that you have identified.

Example:  Timeline of Gandhiji's life and work 

  1. Go on a virtual tour of a museum.  Ask learners to identify specific resources so as to structure the tour.  For variation – as a student activity have learners design a Virtual Tour.

Example:  The web site of Mani Bhavan, a Gandhi museum and Library in Mumbai.  The web site has educational and multimedia resources about the life and times of Gandhiji.     http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/ 

  1. Have learners evaluate an online resource, and as individuals or a group – have them assess the quality of information:  Are there broad generalizations?  Are facts consistent throughout the resource?  Is there is a publication date?  Are there grammatical and spelling errors?  Are assumptions and biases apparent?  Are sources cited?

           Example: Examine these web pages that present various timelines. 

  1. Make a quiz together – have learners visit a site and contribute one or more quiz items each.

Example:  Visit the website of the GandhiServe Foundation here to learn more about Gandhiji.

  1. Play a quiz online.

Example:  An animated, interactive quiz on Mahatma Gandhi.  It is on the format of the ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ game show and covers salient points in Mahatma Gandhi’s life and work. Click here 

  1. If your school has a website, upload a presentation so that students can watch it themselves.

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If all this is new to you and you are asking yourself "Do I have to know how to program to be able to use the Internet to teach?"

No, you do not have to be a programmer or a computer expert to be able to use the Internet to teach, but you do need to have some basic skills.  You must be able to use word processing software properly, use a browser to access the World Wide Web, and be able to set up folders and save files on your computer.  But you will quickly get beyond the basics and before long you will be want to design your own web pages!

 

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Idea Books

 
75 e-Learning Activities: Making Online Learning Interactive by Ryan Watkins; Pfeiffer; April, 2005.
 
Engaging the Online Learner: Activities and Resources for Creative Instruction by Rita-Marie Conrad and J. Ana Donaldson; Jossey-Bass; January, 2004.
 
The Online Learning Idea Book: 95 Proven Ways to Enhance Technology-Based and Blended Learning by Patti Shank (Editor); Pfeiffer; February, 2007.

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January 2009
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