Intel's Free Workshop for Educators
By Meg McCaffrey -- School Library Journal, 10/1/2004
Intel Corporation is offering a free 15-hour workshop for K–12 educators. Called "Teach to the Future Workshops on Interactive Thinking Tools," the course promotes using Web-based tools to create technology-integrated lesson plans that are aligned with national education standards.
The face-to-face, hands-on workshop picks up where the chip maker's popular Teach to the Future Essentials course left off. While the original 40-hour course focused on how to use technology in the classroom, including Microsoft Office products, the new workshop goes far beyond basic technology instruction. "It's not about how to do word processing," says Wendy Hawkins, Intel's director of education. "It's about how you teach with technology."
Hawkins says the workshop will help teachers better use the technology the library has to offer. Plus, teachers can pass along their knowledge to students, who will then increase the amount of quality work done in the library using computers.
Furthermore, says Hawkins, the workshop aims to help educators "get inside kids' heads." How? There's instruction on Web-based tools that helps teachers understand how young people think and learn. The tools are free and available on Intel's Innovation in Education Web site (www.intel.com). They include Seeing Reason, a mapping tool to help students understand cause-and-effect relations, and Visual Ranking, a critical thinking exercise. Julia Fisher, who taught science at Kyrene Akimel A-al Middle School in Phoenix last year, found that the two tools improved her students' higher-level thinking skills.
Intel is encouraging schools to choose one "Master Teacher" to attend the workshop. That person will then return to her school to instruct peers. Techno-geniuses, however, need not apply. The company is seeking participants who have basic familiarity with computers and Microsoft Windows, e-mail, and the Internet. But they must have taken the Essentials course. Visit www.intel.com/education/teach/us, and click on "U.S. Availability" for contact information and the names of schools offering workshops in your area.
