Travel, Learn, Teach: Exploring Community Resources for Learning X - EDU-X710P

Course Description

Visit Local Resources and Bring the Community into Your Classroom

Explore your community by visiting a specific place (actually or virtually) to acquire new knowledge and resources to enhance your teaching.  This course allows K-14 educators to purposely discover the richness of their region’s resources and turn those findings into valuable teaching enhancements.  Promote the real world, community connection with students.  It can also be taken in preparation to an upcoming field trip with the class or in preparation for a guest presenter.  This course also encourages the concept of lifelong learning via exploration and self-motivation.  This course requires either creating a new lesson plan or augmenting a current one that combines your newfound knowledge and/or materials.  Local museums, nearby regional or state parks, a local recycling plant, local businesses, a community garden, and cultural learning centers are just a few ideas that can help maximize learning opportunities for you and your students.  Discover what is in your own backyard that will bring value to your teaching!  This course can be taken multiple times by choosing a subsequent course number each time, and a different location to visit for each course.

Examples:

Activities include:

• Rationale - Written Assignment (Pre-Trip)
• Gathering and Curating Resources for Multi-Media Enhancement for Lesson Plan (During Trip)
• Community Learning Evaluation Letter - Written Assignment (Post-Trip)
• Create and/or Enhance a Lesson Plan and Include Choice of One Multi-Media Enhancement (Post-Trip)

Learner Outcomes

• Recognize how your community learning aligns with teaching standards
• Rejuvenate or add to content knowledge in a particular subject matter by visiting a community location (actually or virtually) that may be rich in educational resources
• Research and add primary resources and experiences into the classroom
• Design or augment a lesson plan that incorporates newly discovered teaching resources to complement curriculum
• Document your community visit learning
• Use explorational resources to promote lifelong learning and community connections with students

Course Details

Number of Units: 1.0 graduate level extension credit(s) in semester hours

Who Should Attend: This course provides continuing education for teachers (K-14) who want to incorporate community resources into their teaching to enhance student learning and motivate lifelong learning.

Required Materials: Course instructions will be available to you in your student account upon enrollment. Any travel expenses and/or entry fees are the responsibility of the student.

Applies Towards the Following Certificate(s), Professional Programs and Series

• Travel, Learn, Teach Series : Exploring Community Resources for Learning Courses - Enroll in One or More