2D: Life Relevant Learning helps make Science Come Alive!

[Elizabeth Bonsignore]

Life relevant learning (LRL) environments help children see that STEM
fields are personally relevant to them - and that their participation matters.
Tammy Clegg and Jason Yip will give a little background on LRL, and then Tammy, Jason, and I will demo several learning tools that help support LRL goals: Search Party (an online information literacy tool for collaborative searching), SINQ (an interactive, community-based site for collaborative Science Inquiry), and StoryKit (a mobile storytelling tool). Jason will be sending everyone in the session an email about things you should have before the session, but if you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, we recommend that you bring it so you can follow along in the demos!

[Elizabeth Bonsignore]

Thanks to all who participated in today's session on technologies designed by the HCIL for Life-Relevant Learning. We hope that it was helpful to you all! Some of you asked about more information regarding Dan Russell's SearchResearch and Search Education Evangelism site. Here is a link to some of Google's Search Education Evangelism webinars: https://sites.google.com/site/gwebsearcheducation/webinars

You should see some links to videos, as well as some nice search tips from the webinar page, but the entire site has information that may help both students *and* educators to learn more effective search techniques.

Also, here is a link to Dan's searchResearch site: http://searchresearch1.blogspot.com/

And a link to the University of Maryland's Future of Information Initiative (http://www.fia.umd.edu/), which has a link to Dan Russell's information literacy presentation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=srAd_b...)

If you are interested in sending recommendations for StoryKit, please feel free to send email to [e-mail] --> Alex Quinn and I get these emails and will try to respond as quickly as we can to your questions and suggestions.

If you have interest in Kitchen Chemistry programs in particular, Tammy Clegg is the expert ([e-mail]) and Jason Yip is her right hand man ([e-mail]). I help a bit, too.

Thanks again, and have a great Retreat!!