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Educators Attend Workshop at BBSR to Create Internet Curriculum
Seven teachers from a variety of schools in the United States, Bermuda and England gathered at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, June 17-23 1999, for a teacher advisory group workshop created to develop online curriculum for a recently-launched website. The website http://www.coexploration.org/bbsr/coral/, a joint project of the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) and The College of Exploration and funded by the Goldman Fund, currently contains educational information on coral reefs and video clips taken in Bermuda. The site will soon feature a "Coral Cam" which will continuously capture underwater video at Bermuda's North Rock, a stunning coral reef environment, and broadcast live on the internet.
The workshop participants met during their week-long stay at BBSR to review and modify the current site. They also created lesson plans to compliment the website for use in science classrooms around the world. The educators will also form the core advisory group and help design a web-based online workshop about coral reefs that will be offered to teachers within the next year.
."This group represents a diverse mix of talent," explains College of Exploration coordinator Tina Bishop. "They were chosen based on their extensive experience with science curriculum in K-12 classrooms."
The group participants were Tina Bishop and Peter Tuddenham from the College of Exploration, Amy Pearson from Bancroft School in Massachusettes, Pat Pierce of Myrtle Beach Intermediate School in South Carolina, Hilda Taylor of Leckie Elementary School in Washington, DC, Gail Swenson of Shrewsbury High School in Massachusettes, Cheryl Schroeder of the University of Rhode Island, Cesare Filice of Mt. St. Agnes Acedemy in Bermuda and Lyndsay Chell of Stoke Damerel Community College in Plymouth, UK.
In addition to several meetings, the group also visited the future site of the "Coral Cam" at North Rock, and explored the natural environment of Bermuda, including Nonsuch Island, to put their curriculum into perspective.
This workshop has also allowed the educators to learn more about internet technology so they can then use it as a tool to educate students around the world. "The first step to conservation is education," commented one of the workshop participants.
"We've really been inspired by the natural beauty of the Island and look forward to sharing it with our students and students around the world." The group will continue to elaborate their discussions by meeting virtually online. The teachers are also working on establishing links with aquariums that would feature the Coral Cam site as an exhibition. |
