RE@L is proud to announce the upcoming release of our new powerful LearningProduct: “1Up On Vaping” in early February.
An integral part of this anti-vaping product is our new RE@LPortal, a gateway to essential teaching, learning and sharing resources for users everywhere.
RE@L VP Don Rawitsch tells our readers about the rest of the RE@LPortal™ story:
“Our RE@L customers will be able to access this new host of resources via the RE@L STEM Portal.
The RE@LPortal provides access to a host of new opportunities and resources for both teachers and students. Note the graphics provided for Phase One of our RE@LPortal.
When a school purchases a RE@L learning product, it provides access codes to the user, as well as the names of teachers and students who will use the product are then stored in the Portal.
Teachers have access to both teacher-only resources and those used by students. Students can access descriptive documents and instructions for activities, slide decks with visual information, links to tools for analyzing information and to useful Web sites, and worksheets for recording data collected and analysis notes that are submitted to the teacher for evaluation.
(Click on Graphics to view details.)
A product might also include brief video clips to show teachers and students how to operate both online resources and physical kits provided by RE@L for the Investigation.
The RE@LPortal is also ideal for several forms of communication, including video conferencing. A license to use the RE@L View video conferencing service via the Portal is provided to the school. With RE@L’s help, conferences can be set up between schools in different parts of the country that used the same STEM Investigation so the students can compare results.
RE@L can also make available conferences between a school and a STEM expert so the students can gain insight in interpreting their data. Another Portal feature allows teachers to share instructional ideas with each other and also to pose questions to RE@L’s staff.
As examples of the critical role played by the Portal in a RE@L STEM Investigation, consider these real-world teaching-learning steps in our soon to be released Water Quality product:
- Teacher introduces the problem of water pollution and its effects on the ecosystem to class: Uses RE@L PowerPoint decks and handouts accessed from the Portal to illustrate.
- Students do a classroom exercise on Food Webs: Use RE@L worksheets accessed from the Portal.
Teacher takes group of students to local water sources to collect water samples: Portal helps teacher find suitable water source locations using GIS finder.- Teacher introduces nine different chemical and observational tests, which the students apply to their water samples using a RE@L supplied commercial Water Test Kit: Uses RE@L PowerPoint deck accessed from the Portal to provide instructions. Uses RE@L worksheets (electronic or print) accessed from the Portal for students’ recording data.
- Teacher introduces the Water Quality Index, a scientific method for combining the nine tests for a water sample into a single overall measure: Also uses RE@L worksheets (electronic or print) accessed from the Portal for guiding students through the calculations to produce an Index number for a water sample.
- Teacher introduces the RE@L-GIS (Geographic Information System): Uses RE@L PP decks accessed from the Portal to provide an overview. Also uses RE@L-GIS user guide accessed from the Portal to provide instructions. Students use access to RE@L-GIS through a link in the Portal.
• Students enter their water test data into the RE@L-GIS: They again and freely access the RE@L-GIS through a link in the Portal
Students view the resulting aerial data map of their community from the RE@L-GIS and discuss possible explanations for their water test data: They access the RE@L-GIS through a link in the Portal
• Students prepare reports on their results and conclusions for sharing with a local or regional water quality official, a professional who can also describe for them the nature of his/her job and career: Students communicate with the official using the RE@L View video conferencing feature of the Portal.
- Students compare their results with those from other schools in the district (or in other districts) to broaden their view of the impact water pollution: They communicate with other classes using the RE@L View video conferencing feature of the Portal.
- Teacher shares implementation ideas for the Investigation for the benefit of other teachers: Uses the Portal’s internal message posting feature.”
In summary, the RE@L STEM Portal is the solution for engaging in STEM Investigations that are “mixed media,” going beyond simply a set of online activities from a single application.
The RE@LPortal helps teachers and students manage and integrate multiple sources of information in the same way STEM professionals do.
Our RE@L readers know a portal is an opening. RE@L’s revolutionary new Portal is far more than that.
It is truly a Gateway to more powerful Teaching and Learning.”
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Thanks to Don Rawitsch for showing us how this powerful, new RE@L Portal™ works.
Stay tuned for 1Up On Vaping. It’s coming to a middle school near you!