Web-Enhanced, Standards-Oriented Teaching Units on Post-Wall Germany for the Secondary School Classroom

Abstract

Every year teachers take stock to determine which instructional practices worked well and which need to be improved. In recent years German teachers have likely focused on the national standardsI and technology since they have been encouraged or mandated to deliver standardsbased instruction and to use technology. Technology is now an integral part of life in the U.S. Advertisements on television or in print regularly refer to a company's URL. There is a computer in most households and people of all ages surf the Net. In Germany, Chancellor Schr6der is now arguing forcibly for German schools to teach students how to use technology so that jeder Jugendliche die Chance [hat], sich schon in der Schule mit den neuen Medien vertraut zu machen.2 Use of the Internet will proliferate with the arrival of NGI (Next Generation Internet3), which can handle end-to-end multimedia applications such as realtime interactive video and high quality video-ondemand.4 Teachers must now consider how they can harness the Internet to enhance future learning and teaching. One advantage of the Internet in foreign language classes is quick access to cultural artifacts and authentic multimedia documents in the target language. This enables cross-cultural learning in revolutionary ways.5 The World Wide Web gives