Nothing says 21st century learning skills like an Internet-based collaborative learning lesson plan focused on using technology to compile and synthesize information. An embedded video shows you what collaborative learning in high school...

Put a spotlight on internet safety with a activity designed to boost positive online communication. Scholars listen to the story, Yettele's Feathers by Joan Rothenberg, and answer questions. An emoji-themed handout challenges pupils...

Show your learners that the game of Telephone isn't the only way messages get mixed up. Pairs transform into the sender and receiver of a message sent in packets. At least one pupil is the messenger who either delivers, delays, or...

How can you tell what someone is feeling when they aren't saying a word? Explore non-verbal communication with an activity based on Cynthia Breazeal's work with expressive robots. One learner puts a bag over his or her face and uses body...

Remember Morse Code? High schoolers investigate ways in which people communicate and assess which communication methods are appropriate and effective in different situations. They evaluate how constant changes in the world of technology...

Groups analyze and interpret their data from previous research in order to develop individualized findings. The teams then use guidelines to help determine what aspects of their research to include on a poster. Class members...

What's life like aboard an ocean exploration vessel? Junior oceanographers examine the important role of communication in ocean research in lesson two of a five-part series from NOAA. The materials introduce the class to life on...

Learners develop self-awareness and discuss the importance of cooperation and communication through worksheets and hands-on, collaborative activities. 

How is technology a useful tool for active citizenship? Pupils assume the role of technology consultants reviewing citizenship projects. Small groups collaborate to make recommendations about how to incorporate technology to improve...

Helmets not included! Scholars brainstorm adjustments and sensors to football helmets in an engineering design project to help prevent injuries, such as concussions and spinal injuries.

Here's a resource designed to serve as an introduction to a computer science course. Groups brainstorm an innovation that may improve technology or use technology to solve a problem. The plan guides the teacher through the introduction...

Enable students to use the blues to explore urbanization, technology, and their effects on everyday life in the 20th century. Musicians were among the large number of people who, between 1914 and 1945, participated in the Great Migration...

Do you ever give your class the "teacher look"? Without saying a word, they become silent and engaged (hopefully). How do they know what you're thinking? Explore the concept of nonverbal communication and how it relates to our...

Chatting, texting, commenting—there are so many options for online communication! How do teens know what's appropriate? Social scholars collaborate to define the elements of a healthy online relationship during an activity-packed digital...

Now that your kids know everything about the world around them, it's time to get them familiar with the importance of connecting and communicating with other people using digital technology. They engage in two different activities that...

Today's kids are probably not familiar with the conventions of letter writing, due to the boom of technology. Here is a lesson that will provide opportunities for formal and informal letter writing. 

Communication is key. Scholars produce videos to highlight their engineering solutions to the plastic problem in the ninth installment of the series of 10. Feedback from other groups lets them improve the videos.

Learners practice listening to and reading various types of media and text. In groups, learners use video, newspapers, magazines, and more to compare and contrast different types of information. They identify the differences between fact...

Young journalists learn to appreciate the advantages of how modern media technology enables rapid news delivery as they compare today's media revolution to how the telegraph and Morse Code revolutionized news coverage during the Civil...

Here is a phenomenal language arts instructional activity on media literacy for your middle and high schoolers. In it, learners produce a research product in the form of a public service announcement (PSA). First, they view examples of...

Groups work together to design a lighthouse, from designing and drawing the wiring diagram, to creating prototypes of the switch and circuit, to envisioning and building a scale model along with a blueprint. By including different...

A fun and challenging activity for nearly any age group, partners must work together to build the tallest structure possible using paper clips, straws, and pipe cleaners. In addition to being tall, the structure must also be able to...

All of the people in your class would agree that life would be different without the invention of the telephone! Study Alexander Graham Bell's most famous and influential invention through the primary source document of his...

Meet me in the tunnels. Scholars choose a tunnel entrance and mark it on their side of the cardboard. They describe the location to their partners and see if they can guess each other's locations. Punching a hole through the cardboard...