Curriculum Terms and Concepts
Curriculum Terms and Concepts home page
Definitions
The Importance of Planning
The Elements of a Complete Teaching Guide
Using the teaching guide template to create your own 
Digging deeper into curriculum development and curriculum designs
Teaching guide for this module 
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Curriculum Terms and Concepts: 

Definitions and Expectations

This page introduces you to some key terms related to the process of curriculum development and will further describe the product you'll create in WIT.

What is "Curriculum"

"a plan for a sustained process of teaching and learning" (David Pratt, 1997, p. 5)

What is a lesson?

a coherent unit of teaching and learning, generally designed to be completed in one class session

What is a lesson plan?

a plan for a coherent unit of teaching and learning, generally designed to be completed in one class session

What is instruction:

the execution of the curriculum, actually teaching it. Instruction doesn't always follow curriculum. It is often unplanned.

Unplanned teaching and learning with the web is a recipe for wasting time.

 

 

WIT has developed a product called a "Complete Curriculum", that includes a Teaching Guide.

All WIT participants will create a teaching guide for their curriculum or lesson plan. The guide is an explicit plan for a sustained process of teaching and learning, containing the following elements:
    • aim
    • rationale
    • description of audience
    • description of subject-matter
    • learning objectives
    • instructional plan
    • list of materials
    • plan for assessment and evaluation

 

Now take a brief look at the WIT Curriculum Web Assessment Rubric.

WIT Advanced participants will be using this during WIT to guide your progress on your lesson or curriculum web. The questions it asks should guide you to develop an attractive web with a solid curriculum plan behind it.

Web-based curriculum (or "curriculum web")

    "a plan for a sustained process of teaching and learning, in which teaching and learning is facilitated with a linked set of web pages, providing explicit guidance to the learner and also providing access to selected web-based materials"

    Generally, a curriculum web includes the following web materials: 

    • a "front page" or "portal" which provides the main entry point into the lesson
    • "activity pages" which describe specific learning activities for students
    • a "teachers page" which contains information useful to the teacher, including a "curriculum guide" containing the elements listed above
    • on-line feedback mechanisms so students can communicate with the curriculum designer
    • on-line assessments so students can test their knowledge or understanding
    • links to relevant web sites


      • Sample web-based curriculums: 

A web-based lesson

a plan for a coherent unit of teaching and learning, generally designed to be completed in one class session, which utilizes the web as a medium for teaching and learning. Generally, the web page or pages will include instructions for the student, links to appropriate resources, and (occasionally), interactivity.

Participants in WIT BASIC will create a web-based lesson.

See WIT Lesson Plan assessment rubric. WIT Basic participants will be using it during WIT to guide your progress on your lesson or curriculum web. The questions it asks should guide you to develop an attractive web with a solid curriculum plan behind it.

Proceed to The Importance of Planning

  
 

 

 

 
The contents of the Web Institute Web Site, including the On-Line Curriculum, Web Tank, and Session Notes, are Copyright 1999-2000, Graham School of General Studies, University of Chicago. No one may print, copy, or otherwise reproduce these materials without the express written permission of the Director of Education Programs at the Graham School. All rights reserved. 

The chapters from Curriculum Webs: A Practical Guide to Weaving the Web into Teaching and Learning are Copyright 1999-2000, Craig A. Cunningham and Marty Billingsley. No one may print, copy, or otherwise reproduce these materials without the express written permission of the authors. All rights reserved.