Sent Date 11-02-01 Message TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY UPDATE A weekly newsletter for families and educators committed to building brighter futures for kids in a technology-rich society. THIS WEEK: Part VI in our "Technology for All Americans" series discussing the ITEA's educational standards on the abilities required for success in a technological world. This week's sponsor message from Edventures Online, the ultimate source for building technological literacy in students... SPECIAL HOLIDAY LEGO OFFER FROM EDVENTURES! LEGO materials are awesome tools for teaching design principles, a critical component to technological literacy for your students! PCS Edventures has two special curriculum areas in its huge course catalog that deal specifically with LEGO materials -- Engineering and Architecture! Now, for a VERY limited time you can purchase an Edventures account AND receive an incredible LEGO kit, designed especially for education! Click here to learn more and to try it for FREE! http://www.edventures.com/l/11/tlu5/index.html TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY THIS WEEK We are nearing the end of our introduction to the twenty standards identified by the ITEA as critical to achieving technological literacy for students. This week, we present the standards focused on the "Abilities of a Technological World." Technology design, use, and maintenance requires specific skills and awareness -- read the standards and then we'll show you one method you can use to introduce these concepts to your children at home or in the classroom. Read on! ITEA STANDARDS THIS WEEK "Abilities of a Technological World" Standard 11: Students will develop abilities to apply the design process. Standard 12: Students will develop abilities to use and maintain technological products and systems. Standard 13: Students will develop abilities to assess the impact of products and systems. TRY THIS AT HOME OR IN YOUR CLASS! Last week we talked about introducing engineering design concepts through fun, hands-on activities using technology that kids know and love -- skateboards, roller blades, etc. This week, challenge your students to apply their own design skills to create something useful. A wonderful activity that can effectively tie together the standards related to abilities is the creation of a "recycling center." Try this: 1) Challenge your students to design the perfect recycling center for classroom or home use. Have them take into account the cost of production, location, traffic flow, use levels, cleanliness, volume and weight of the materials, moisture, and any other important design issues. 2) Have your students clearly identify the skills and actions necessary to maintain and use the system on a regular basis in an efficient fashion. 3) Challenge your students to clearly state the impact of this recycling system -- both positive and negative. Does it take up more space than it is worth? Does it block a door and create a fire hazard? Does it save money, protect the environment, raise awareness of environmental issues? This is just one example of an extended design activity -- use it as a springboard for others that may be more exciting or more appropriate for your particular group. SEVEN DESIGN TECHNOLOGIES NEXT WEEK! Only one more Technological Literacy Update left that will provide an overview of the final seven of the ITEA's 20 Standards for Technological Literacy. Our next series, beginning in two weeks, will evaluate, in more depth, the seven technologies of the design world. We hope you have enjoyed TLU this week and that it proves useful to you and your students. Try to find a moment to integrate some of this information into your daily routine with your students or family this week. Together, we can build a brighter future for students around the world by preparing them to use technology as naturally as they use a pencil and paper! Until next week! Technological Literacy Update EASY LIST REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS Our technological literacy newsletter is read weekly by over one hundred thousand educators and parents! If you are receiving our email by mistake, you can remove your e-mail address by simply hitting reply! We'll send you an email to confirm your removal. Copyright© 1995-2004 by Richard Wright for PCS Edventures.COM All Rights Reserved. LEGOŽ is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site.