The following is a guest blog entry from the owner of Pass-Ed.com. In the interests of full disclosure,  I did not receive anything in compensation for sharing his post here.

Would you agree there is a large discrepancy between the use of technology, and the learning of the core content subject matter within schools?  To me, at least, it appears many technology teachers focus solely on technology, while core subject area teachers focus on teaching core subject matter-with no mixing of content and technology.  When I realized that this divide existed, and that it was detrimental to Twenty First Century learning, I decided that it was time to start a publishing company dedicated to the development of core curriculum resources atop Web 2.0 technology.

My new publishing company, Pass-Ed, has already developed two suites of products: one built on Google Earth and one built on Twitter.  The Google Earth units were developed for middle school and high school social studies classes, primarily U.S. History.  The five units:  Colonial Economic Regions, Considering the Realities of the Holocaust, Cuban Missile Crisis, Gatsby of the Twenties and Okies Head West are each problem-based and student centered.  For example, in the Cuban Missile Crisis unit, students imagine that they are the only person in the world who has a friendship with both Soviet Premier Khrushchev, and U.S. President Kennedy.  After learning about the events of the crisis, students must develop a multi-media proposal for world peace.   In the Realities of the Holocaust unit, students develop multi-media presentations to refute the revisionist claim that the Holocaust never occurred, using information contained in the unit.

Typically when people think of using Google Earth in schools, they think of geography.  However, the Pass-Ed units do not use it as a geography tool; instead they use it as a wrapper for high quality content found online.  Through their studies, students access written text, images, and audio visual files.  Of course, by using the tools contained within Google Earth, the students are developing manipulative skills as well.  For example, when studying the Colonial Economic Regions, students will draw the triangular trade routes onto the Google Earth layer.

I find students love working with Google Earth because it is digital and the activities contained in the units are quite engaging.  One student recently said, “This doesn’t really feel like learning.  It’s fun.”   I wonder then, was he saying that learning shouldn’t be fun?  Unfortunately, I worry that learning is seen as a cumbersome activity which takes time, but doesn’t really have any practical reward.  Therefore, when developing the Pass-Ed units, I strive to combine educationally valuable material with excitement and meaning.  Isn’t that what real learning should be about?

Here is the link to my website: http://www.pass-ed.com 

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure