Graphic organizers have always been an important form of learning for students. It takes the important aspects of a unit and places them into an easily retrievable form. With the use of google docs and the internet we can now take graphic organizers to the next level. They can include images, links, sounds and videos (of themselves would be even better). In this first simple graphic organizer, I include only images to aid students understanding of the basics of the lymphatic system. Once again, the beauty of google docs makes this easy to manage and assess students learning even if you are at a conference in another part of the country. Its important to try to word prompts in a way to make sure students don't just copy and paste. Instead of asking for definitions ask for definitions in under 10 words or in exactly 15 words. This is something I didn't do with this graphic organizer and had trouble with students ctrl c and ctrl v'ing. Although simple, the process of students using the internet to research and insert images gets them comfortable with some of the most commonly used applications of the internet.
An interesting side note: at the NESSC conference this past week I went to a presentation by a school (Hall Dale) that is using Marzono's Taxonomy instead of Bloom's. The first level was retrieval not remembering. I think this better matches what students will need for the future. All information is available at your fingertips what you do with it is more important than knowing it. What would your tests look like if students could use the internet to take them? I guess the better question would be what would my tests look like. Something for me (and you) to think on.
The orignal google doc
