Day 3:
Day 3 begins with a review of what we discussed at the end of Day 2, which was the mini-research project called “Show Me the Money!” (Student Resource 12.2) that’s part of the lesson. And for this lesson, today in Day 3, they’re actually going to get into their groups and go into the computer lab, and research a country to determine two different types of hotels and their local currency; they’re going to get to convert currency; they’re going to look for special laws and possible health risks. All the objectives that were set forth for the lesson today will be them piecing this information together.

Today, they create a product of all that they’ve learned throughout these three days, and I guess the most beneficial part of Day 3 would be the fact that they’re discovering the learning. I lecture – we discussed – we gave our opinions – but now they actually have to be a traveler. They’re going to pretend they’re a traveler and actually go in and connect what they’ve learned to what’s out there on the computer. What I saw today as I walked around in the computer lab was the beauty of group work, and the beauty of group work in a computer lab setting, which I try to integrate as much as possible. The best part of group work is that they need each other, and the needing each other when they find out that they can’t find the answers within themselves, they need to ask someone else, and that learning is ownership. They own what they learn.

You’ll see in the video, which is the most beautiful part of computer-based learning, they’re confused – and that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing for them to stop and be challenged and not know what to do next. That’s the best part of what you’ll see in the video, that they’re stuck. And they’ll say, “Hey, Miss C,” and I’ll go in there and say, “Well, let’s try this.” And sometimes there isn’t an answer. Sometimes the sites aren’t updated, but they’ll find it from someone else; they’ll discover another avenue to travel to find what they’re looking for, and then that’s it – they own it. Then I can actually have a discussion with them about what they learned, and they’re not looking into their notes to just dictate something to me that was already written down. The end of Day 3, I explained to them what I will expect for them for tomorrow: they’re going to show all of us that they have mastered these objectives, that they know the ins and outs of international travel in terms of currency conversion, and all of the issues that they’ll need to deal with once they get there, and their research set as well. So tomorrow, it’s their show and they present to us and they’re ready for that tomorrow.