| Recommended
Informal Education Websites: |
| Teaching
Tools |
| American
Museum of Natural History Resources for Learning |
Resources for Learning is a collection
of activities, articles, evidence and analysis and more,
for educators, families, students and anyone interested
in teaching or learning about science.
|
Bay
Area Science Education Collaboratory
(A collaboration of DesignWorlds
for Learning and ROCKMAN,
et cetera)
|
A collaboration between teachers, museum
learning resources and educators, and learning technology
& web design specialists to help teachers and parents
be more successful in helping their students learn science.
Co-designed initially by and for middle school teachers,
the Collaboratory has created a new kind of web interface
between exemplary museum and web learning resources
and the California science content standards, as well
as a growing dynamic online learning community.
|
Brooklyn
Expedition
Curriculum Development Site |
Designed for children, ages nine through
sixteen. The lessons included here cover a range of
topics, from Brooklyn history to the science of bridge
building, and the exploration of African and Latin American
artifacts. All of lessons on the site were created by
experienced classroom teachers.
|
| Exploratorium
Hands-On Activities |
Looking for fresh ideas for your classroom
or at home? Check out these activities that cover everything
from sprectoscopes to candy.
|
| Educators'
Cheapbook |
Science educators are always looking
for new, interesting activities to help them teach science.
What can be more rewarding than to share an activity
with a colleague and then have another colleague in
a different part of the country share the same activity
with you a year later?
|
| Informalscience.org
Tools |
Find tools to help you think about learning
and construct effective collaborations with evaluators
and learning researchers.
|
| TERC
|
For over 37 years TERC has emphasized
an innovative, inquiry-based approach to learning by
students from every background, searching for ways to
include more students in meaningful learning experiences
in science and mathematics.
|
| Communities/Networks |
| AERA
Informal Learning Environments Research Special Interest
Group (SIG) |
Purpose: To further educational research
in informal learning environments and to promote a community
practice interested in establishing and maintaining
a better understanding of teaching and learning.
|
| Bionet |
Bionet lets visitors to the site explore
and debate the latest discoveries in life sciences.
This website has been created by eight European science
centres and museums, and is presented in nine different
languages. Explore science, look at the ethical issues,
compare the laws in different countries, play games
and express opinions.
|
| Exploratorium
Educator Newsletter |
EduNews, the Exploratorium's free educator e-mail
newsletter, is sent to subscribers four times a year.
Each issue includes announcements about the museum's
Webcasts, events, print publications, and online resources,
and provides updates about learning and teaching initiatives.
|
Informalscience.org
Community
|
Plug in. There's a broad community of
people and organizations interested in informal learning.
Find links to professional societies, list serves, museums,
universities, funders, and more.
|
| National
Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) |
A worldwide organization of professionals
committed to the improvement of science teaching and
learning through research. The ultimate goal of NARST
is to help all learners achieve science literacy.
|
Visitor
Studies Association
|
The Visitor Studies Association (VSA)
is a non-profit professional organization dedicated
to the proposition that museums, art galleries, visitor
centers, aquariums, botanical gardens science centers,
heritage sites, parks, zoos, and, other public-access
recreational educational facilities, in addition to
meeting their own organizational objective, should be
effective meeting the expectations, needs, and interests
of visitors.
|
| Annotated
Readings |
Informalscience.org
Knowledge Network
|
What do we know about informal learning?
Do interactive searches through thousands of references
of the research literature on informal learning in museums,
on the web, and beyond. Download articles. Post your
work.
|
Journal
of Research in Science Teaching
|
The official journal of the National
Association for Research in Science Teaching, which
publishes reports for science education researchers
and practitioners on issues of science teaching and
learning and science education policy.
|
Journal
of Museum Education
|
Theory, training, and practice in the
museum education field. Journal articles, written by
museum, education, and research professionals, explore
such relevant topics as learning theory; visitor evaluation;
teaching strategies for art, science, and history museums;
and the responsibilities of museums as public institutions.
|
