This blog might be slightly redundant, since I covered some of this in the blog about evaluating an inquiry-based lesson. I created an inquiry-based lesson for TIE 542, as I said earlier. It can be found at http://mrsdmsrowe.tripod.com/index.htm. This was an inquiry-based curriculum web, in that it follows all the parts of a curriculum web and has an authentic, real world problem. I really liked that you had to think about all the problems and total curriculum in advance, before creating the website. I think this is a part of a curriculum web that is left out of the majority of sites. It’s not just about hooking up the lessons to the teaching standards, which is actually difficult for me, since I have not had to do it before. It’s about giving a teacher options to modify the lesson based on the criteria used in its design.
Also, the curriculum web appears and can be student-driven for long-distance learning. This covers several bases. A home-schooled student, sick student, homebound student, and long-distance learner are all covered. All the related curriculum items they need should be available by looking at the site. Any links or annotated bibliography should be there. This also looks toward the future of anywhere, anytime learning, which seems to way that curriculum instruction is headed.
I think the biggest improvement in learning is the reflection on what the student has learned. I think that in elementary education, so often we simply fill the student’s head with facts and figures. We don’t have them reflect, at least in the older grades, on why they are learning what they are learning and how they will use it later. Too often I have heard the phrase “what good is it” or the question “why” while I am teaching. With a clearly defined, real world scenario, this becomes instantly clear.
Including a rubric for self-grading is terrific for projects of these types; it really helps the learner focus on what details they need to include or focus on. And the higher the education level, the more valuable they become.
The teacher needs to know their content, and their learners. It is a real test of a teacher to create a comprehensive curriculum web that is focused, adaptable, and as close to self-sustaining as you can get. Someone needs to check the links from time to time to make sure they work, and be able to update the site accordingly, especially if it will be used on a yearly basis. The book, Curriculum Webs, was very helpful in defining details to make a webpage better, and outlining the parts of an effective curriculum web.
Annotated bibliography of book used for this blog:
Cunningham, C. A., & Billingsley, M. (2006). Curriculum webs weaving the web into teaching and learning. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
Definition and process of creating comprehensive web pages/sites for sustained teaching and learning, incorporating a teaching guide, self-assessment and reflection by the learner, and feedback mechanisms.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Getting Over “Teacher Comfort” in Integrating Technology
In fourteen years of teaching technology, one thing hasn’t changed: if a teacher is not comfortable with the technology they are given, they won’t use it. Two things have to be present for the teachers to use the technology; professional development and insistence by the administration. Even when I give professional development, I only am able to win over just so many teachers. There are those instantly ready to try it out, those who need a push and suggestions for lessons on integrating it, and those who think it’s great but refuse to use it. Or they don’t understand how to use it, and won’t ask for help, and are so used to doing things the way they’ve always been done, they see no reason to change and incorporate it.
It has consistently been the push of the administration, up until 6 years ago, that the new technology that walks into the building needs to be used in a lesson during the evaluation of the teacher in January/February. The year I installed Microsoft Office, the principal wanted to see Power Points at the open house the following September. Most teachers still upgrade them and have them running in the background during Open House each year. When we received SMARTBoards, and MimioXis, the principal wanted to see them used, even if only for a portion of a lesson. In the last two years, we received new digital cameras, and all the teachers know how to use them. They don’t all know how to upload the prints to iPhoto and print them, they leave the cameras on my desk for me to complete. So that is one of the topics of professional development this year. The reason it may work, and they will begin developing the photos, is because they know I am stretched to the limit on what I can do.
However, professional development does not stop at the one session I give to several teachers at once. It means answering the questions at any time, or giving “refreshers” to those who ask, shortly after they ask, before they give up and lose interest. It is offering the same course in a different way, with more ideas for integration to prompt those who haven’t used the technology or are tired of using it in the same way all the time. Even giving memos through email or in their mailboxes of a great website or two, as well as references on handouts to helpful sites they can peruse on their own is a must, just to keep the technology in the forefront of their minds, as a reminder to use it.
And since the administration stopped insisting on seeing the technology at work, several teachers have relapsed or not felt the drive to use the given technology. This year also saw the incorporation of SRS Crickets and MOBI pads into the building, but I don’t see their widespread use with out administrative backing. In discussing the situation with other Computer Instructors in other schools, the same two truths hold true – both on-site professional development and administrative backing are needed, or the technology gathers dust.
It has consistently been the push of the administration, up until 6 years ago, that the new technology that walks into the building needs to be used in a lesson during the evaluation of the teacher in January/February. The year I installed Microsoft Office, the principal wanted to see Power Points at the open house the following September. Most teachers still upgrade them and have them running in the background during Open House each year. When we received SMARTBoards, and MimioXis, the principal wanted to see them used, even if only for a portion of a lesson. In the last two years, we received new digital cameras, and all the teachers know how to use them. They don’t all know how to upload the prints to iPhoto and print them, they leave the cameras on my desk for me to complete. So that is one of the topics of professional development this year. The reason it may work, and they will begin developing the photos, is because they know I am stretched to the limit on what I can do.
However, professional development does not stop at the one session I give to several teachers at once. It means answering the questions at any time, or giving “refreshers” to those who ask, shortly after they ask, before they give up and lose interest. It is offering the same course in a different way, with more ideas for integration to prompt those who haven’t used the technology or are tired of using it in the same way all the time. Even giving memos through email or in their mailboxes of a great website or two, as well as references on handouts to helpful sites they can peruse on their own is a must, just to keep the technology in the forefront of their minds, as a reminder to use it.
And since the administration stopped insisting on seeing the technology at work, several teachers have relapsed or not felt the drive to use the given technology. This year also saw the incorporation of SRS Crickets and MOBI pads into the building, but I don’t see their widespread use with out administrative backing. In discussing the situation with other Computer Instructors in other schools, the same two truths hold true – both on-site professional development and administrative backing are needed, or the technology gathers dust.
The Usefulness of Blogging in Education
I see both positives and negatives to blogging, at least as an elementary educator’s tool. First of all, most of my students as well as myself have seen blogging as a person’s thoughts on a subject. Longer blogs usually mean more passion about a subject; shorter blogs are either more to the point or mean less knowledge about a subject.
In the case of these blogs, 400 words seems more like an essay on the subject, to reflect not only our knowledge but our research about a subject. And blogging is a way to share that knowledge that can draw more of an audience, granted. But this is higher education, where sharing knowledge and reflection and even starting debates is a must. In elementary education I see this being accomplished to a lesser extent for several reasons.
First and foremost, most students don’t like to do work of any kind. It has to be assigned and graded for them to do it. If it doesn’t count, as with the achievement tests, they tend not to work at it, at least in my school. We have to stress how important it is in seventh grade to raise the scores higher for the high schools to look at.
Second, students need to be taught language and sentence structure and revision before blogging can be successful to any extent. We have a very difficult time getting the students to create rough drafts, or even read over what they have typed into a word processor.
However, I think that with practice students can get better at it and turn it into what it is intended to be; a learning tool for sharing and trading and discussing ideas/topics. Especially at first, imposing some limit for students is a must – a paragraph means different things to different students, even when a definition is given. But as time goes on, and teachers of all grade levels do some sort of blogging in some or all their classes, the students will be able to increase their communication potential.
Several studies on the topic have been done, and I read them before completing this blog. I also know what we have done the past several years in trying this at my school, and I see the fifth through eighth grade language arts classes come into the lab, and the frustration of the teachers. Each year, we seem to get less and less out of the students – from cooperation to quality of work. And when they are comfortable with a teacher, there’s even less cooperation. The studies and information I looked at include: http://ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet20/williams.html, http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/6/41/, http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LB5T4v52GdTTc3GpwGHxX8339vjvnGqL25j8XMgvmkyMnyjvL272!-635650599!-165273011?docId=5002623298, http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml, and http://www.techteachers.com/blogs.htm.
In the case of these blogs, 400 words seems more like an essay on the subject, to reflect not only our knowledge but our research about a subject. And blogging is a way to share that knowledge that can draw more of an audience, granted. But this is higher education, where sharing knowledge and reflection and even starting debates is a must. In elementary education I see this being accomplished to a lesser extent for several reasons.
First and foremost, most students don’t like to do work of any kind. It has to be assigned and graded for them to do it. If it doesn’t count, as with the achievement tests, they tend not to work at it, at least in my school. We have to stress how important it is in seventh grade to raise the scores higher for the high schools to look at.
Second, students need to be taught language and sentence structure and revision before blogging can be successful to any extent. We have a very difficult time getting the students to create rough drafts, or even read over what they have typed into a word processor.
However, I think that with practice students can get better at it and turn it into what it is intended to be; a learning tool for sharing and trading and discussing ideas/topics. Especially at first, imposing some limit for students is a must – a paragraph means different things to different students, even when a definition is given. But as time goes on, and teachers of all grade levels do some sort of blogging in some or all their classes, the students will be able to increase their communication potential.
Several studies on the topic have been done, and I read them before completing this blog. I also know what we have done the past several years in trying this at my school, and I see the fifth through eighth grade language arts classes come into the lab, and the frustration of the teachers. Each year, we seem to get less and less out of the students – from cooperation to quality of work. And when they are comfortable with a teacher, there’s even less cooperation. The studies and information I looked at include: http://ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet20/williams.html, http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/6/41/, http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LB5T4v52GdTTc3GpwGHxX8339vjvnGqL25j8XMgvmkyMnyjvL272!-635650599!-165273011?docId=5002623298, http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml, and http://www.techteachers.com/blogs.htm.
Description and evaluation of one or more inquiry-based lessons (WebQuest or other):
Well, since I created one, I’ll use that. http://mrsdmsrowe.tripod.com/index.htm is where you can find the first page. I believe I created this for TIE 542 with Randy Hansen. I was trying to create a real-world problem that integrated the capability of learning a new skill without the direct input of a teacher – a lesson that could be completed by a distance learner. The baseball teams that are represented incorporate both Chicago teams, although other teams could be substituted. It teaches the basics of Excel spreadsheets, and the reference page includes Web 2.0 options to learn from, like YouTube videos.
Students are supposed to pick a team and eight players on that team, choose one of the three boroughs of New York, and create an itinerary of places they will eat for three days on a tight budget. Then they create two spreadsheets, meant to be introductory to spreadsheets and Excel functions. And although this was to be done alone and online by a student, I created it so I could use it in my classroom. However, I found that it was not as basic and simple as I had hoped. I really couldn’t force my class to do this online since I can’t give homework, and there really wasn’t enough class time I could devote to them viewing all the references or trying to learn on their own, so I had to build up to this. Most were able to complete their first spreadsheet roster okay, but seriously needed a lot of one-on-one help to complete the second, more complicated spreadsheet. They also thought the cell addresses of where items were supposed to go was confusing. So I have used this lesson with modifications since. I haven’t bothered to change it for two reasons: up to now, I haven’t owned Dreamweaver to make the changes, and I’m not well-versed in Dreamweaver to make the changes, and two, I’m not using it as designed. I’m also not sure if I could upload to this site again or if I would have to get a new one from tripod.
I included a teacher page with the reasoning behind the creation of the site, something that might be helpful to someone who stumbles across the page and wants to try it in a class setting. Also an annotated bibliography of sources I used. I don’t normally find this on webquest sites I visit, and I think it’s a good idea to know the intent behind the creation of a site. Normally it’s for commercial purposes, and not usually solely for education.
Students are supposed to pick a team and eight players on that team, choose one of the three boroughs of New York, and create an itinerary of places they will eat for three days on a tight budget. Then they create two spreadsheets, meant to be introductory to spreadsheets and Excel functions. And although this was to be done alone and online by a student, I created it so I could use it in my classroom. However, I found that it was not as basic and simple as I had hoped. I really couldn’t force my class to do this online since I can’t give homework, and there really wasn’t enough class time I could devote to them viewing all the references or trying to learn on their own, so I had to build up to this. Most were able to complete their first spreadsheet roster okay, but seriously needed a lot of one-on-one help to complete the second, more complicated spreadsheet. They also thought the cell addresses of where items were supposed to go was confusing. So I have used this lesson with modifications since. I haven’t bothered to change it for two reasons: up to now, I haven’t owned Dreamweaver to make the changes, and I’m not well-versed in Dreamweaver to make the changes, and two, I’m not using it as designed. I’m also not sure if I could upload to this site again or if I would have to get a new one from tripod.
I included a teacher page with the reasoning behind the creation of the site, something that might be helpful to someone who stumbles across the page and wants to try it in a class setting. Also an annotated bibliography of sources I used. I don’t normally find this on webquest sites I visit, and I think it’s a good idea to know the intent behind the creation of a site. Normally it’s for commercial purposes, and not usually solely for education.
Description (including screen-shots) and evaluation of one more intriguing educational Web 2.0 (or 3D) applications
Description (including screen-shots) and evaluation of one more intriguing educational Web 2.0 (or 3D) applications: I have three to show. The first is Heritage Key, because it is more educational than Second Life, and yet you can use the same login avatar, and it uses the same interface, so it is familiar. Although Heritage Key is still being developed, I have high hopes. You can utilize tools and view artifacts, as well as explore a dig site for Egypt right now. It’s very 2.0 in that it is interactive between the user and the site, as well as other users, and it has a great 3D effect – more like 360ยบ effect. http://heritage-key.com/ Copied from the site: “Registering unlocks all King Tut VX areas for you to explore with your personalized avatar. Bring in your friends, or meet new ones in Heritage Key VX when attending a Heritage Expert's lecture. Take a guided tour (we don't ask for bakshish) or follow in Carter's footsteps. Challenge yourself and dig for treasure - and HK Points. Learn more about the wondrous objects found in KV62, or just wander around in the Cosmic Gallery. Change your perspective and admire the Boy King's artefacts from every angle - Heritage Key VX allows you to get up close to the most amazing objects ever discovered!” I am hoping they add more ancient sites to allow student access to explore the past with more realism than a text book can give. Some screen shots:
The first shot is in the hall where you get started and learn how the controls work. The second is on the dig site.
The second intriguing site is Google Earth. Again, it’s another downloadable interface to the computer. http://earth.google.com/intl/en/ Google Earth, aside from just being a really cool program, has many features for educational value. The newest version, 5, allows the viewer the ability to see historical images of places with a special Historical Imagery button. Also 3D as well as web 2.0, all images are not just taken by satellites anymore. There are professional photographers on the ground, taking images of the street level buildings. They now also allow uploads of images from users to supplement their files. There are tools that can be used, such as a ruler to measure distances from one point to another, mapping out a path, as well as the ability to see any point in the world. And also view the Mars, the moon and the sky.
The first is of my parents’ house, where I lived for at least 20 years. They’ve been there now for 30. The second is of the moon. All the dots are points of interest.
The third and final one is Club Penguin. I use it as a representative site for all the interactive sites out there along similar lines; I found that Disney runs four of them, including Club Penguin. http://www.clubpenguin.com I find these sites intriguing because they are the first sites that students play on where they interact with other real people from everywhere around the globe. This is where they learn how to appropriately respond to everything others can throw at them on the Internet. They also learn how to navigate a site and where the controls are. They can choose safe servers where their chat is limited, or open servers where they can talk freely to others. Inappropriate behavior can be reported. They can play games, earn coins they can spend on their penguin and igloo, even have a pet that will wander off if they don’t take care of it. I feel sites like this are not only adorable, but teach a lot of life skills.
The first picture is of my penguin, powerlite, and some of the clothes it can wear, and the second is of the disco, where you can dance and interact with other penguins, as well as an overview of my screen with the interface at the bottom. Much simpler and less controls, but with the same basic thought as Second Life.
The first shot is in the hall where you get started and learn how the controls work. The second is on the dig site.
The second intriguing site is Google Earth. Again, it’s another downloadable interface to the computer. http://earth.google.com/intl/en/ Google Earth, aside from just being a really cool program, has many features for educational value. The newest version, 5, allows the viewer the ability to see historical images of places with a special Historical Imagery button. Also 3D as well as web 2.0, all images are not just taken by satellites anymore. There are professional photographers on the ground, taking images of the street level buildings. They now also allow uploads of images from users to supplement their files. There are tools that can be used, such as a ruler to measure distances from one point to another, mapping out a path, as well as the ability to see any point in the world. And also view the Mars, the moon and the sky.
The first is of my parents’ house, where I lived for at least 20 years. They’ve been there now for 30. The second is of the moon. All the dots are points of interest.
The third and final one is Club Penguin. I use it as a representative site for all the interactive sites out there along similar lines; I found that Disney runs four of them, including Club Penguin. http://www.clubpenguin.com I find these sites intriguing because they are the first sites that students play on where they interact with other real people from everywhere around the globe. This is where they learn how to appropriately respond to everything others can throw at them on the Internet. They also learn how to navigate a site and where the controls are. They can choose safe servers where their chat is limited, or open servers where they can talk freely to others. Inappropriate behavior can be reported. They can play games, earn coins they can spend on their penguin and igloo, even have a pet that will wander off if they don’t take care of it. I feel sites like this are not only adorable, but teach a lot of life skills.
The first picture is of my penguin, powerlite, and some of the clothes it can wear, and the second is of the disco, where you can dance and interact with other penguins, as well as an overview of my screen with the interface at the bottom. Much simpler and less controls, but with the same basic thought as Second Life.
Description of one or more resource depositories or lists with materials relevant to my interests
Description of one or more resource depositories or lists with materials relevant to my interests: Let’s see – being the computer teacher, I have many. And I’m assuming that by “my interests” we’re keeping to the professional side and listing educational options. I love http://internet4classrooms.com, the only problem with it is I really need to search through to find the best interactive activities and bookmark them for use on all the machines, especially since they changed their site around to make it more organized than it used to be. They focus on language arts and math skills.
If you want to learn all about Internet safety, try http://www.webwisekids.org, or http://isafe.org, or http://www.netsmartzkids.org. All are leading websites in teaching and providing resources for educators in teaching Internet safety. Since the passage of Illinois State Law, mandating the teaching of Internet safety to grade school students, as well as similar laws in other states, like Virginia, the Internet has exploded with sites to help parents, educators and kids. Even Disney has gotten in on the act, with http://home.disney.go.com/guestservices/safety, formerly known as Surfwell Island, but for parents.
Any site that has multiple activities for younger students, like http://abcya.com or http://littlefingers.com - online without payment, of course, is a huge benefit to my classroom. For less curriculum-based skills, http://funschool.com is terrific on “special” days, like holidays, filled with interactive games that the students like. For fun, most of the younger students also have free or subscription penguins on http://clubpenguin.com or webkinz on http://webkinz.com. http://addictinggames.com is also popular with all ages of my students, but you can run into inappropriate games, especially by Archdiocese definitions – any shooting game that uses guns, even to kill zombies, and games like that are technically banned.
Where purchasing comes in, I use http://micrograms.com and http://mackiev.com. Both have terrific listings for Macintosh software. I also use my Scholastic Software Club points to purchase software for free from http://scholastic.com. Just like the book clubs when we were kids, I pass out flyers to the whole school of students, allowing them to purchase home software at a discount from Scholastic. In return for their orders, I get points and get to trade them for software. It’s one of the only ways we get new software for the school, unless I buy it.
If you want to learn all about Internet safety, try http://www.webwisekids.org, or http://isafe.org, or http://www.netsmartzkids.org. All are leading websites in teaching and providing resources for educators in teaching Internet safety. Since the passage of Illinois State Law, mandating the teaching of Internet safety to grade school students, as well as similar laws in other states, like Virginia, the Internet has exploded with sites to help parents, educators and kids. Even Disney has gotten in on the act, with http://home.disney.go.com/guestservices/safety, formerly known as Surfwell Island, but for parents.
Any site that has multiple activities for younger students, like http://abcya.com or http://littlefingers.com - online without payment, of course, is a huge benefit to my classroom. For less curriculum-based skills, http://funschool.com is terrific on “special” days, like holidays, filled with interactive games that the students like. For fun, most of the younger students also have free or subscription penguins on http://clubpenguin.com or webkinz on http://webkinz.com. http://addictinggames.com is also popular with all ages of my students, but you can run into inappropriate games, especially by Archdiocese definitions – any shooting game that uses guns, even to kill zombies, and games like that are technically banned.
Where purchasing comes in, I use http://micrograms.com and http://mackiev.com. Both have terrific listings for Macintosh software. I also use my Scholastic Software Club points to purchase software for free from http://scholastic.com. Just like the book clubs when we were kids, I pass out flyers to the whole school of students, allowing them to purchase home software at a discount from Scholastic. In return for their orders, I get points and get to trade them for software. It’s one of the only ways we get new software for the school, unless I buy it.
Criteria for the Evaluation for Web-based Materials
Criteria for the evaluation for web-based materials are subjective at best. It depends on the needs of the person evaluating the site. There are several ways to evaluate websites for education, and several sites that have evaluation tools available to help educators make better decisions. http://www.libraryinstruction.com/evaluating.html has a useful checklist. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/eval.html is Kathy Schrock’s most complete listing of evaluation tools and how to go about it. However, the final analysis is up to the individual and the individual’s needs. Websites can be totally 1.0 – giving information only, and I can still have the students read and answer comprehension questions about the material, if that’s what I need.
It also depends on availability of content for what I want to teach. At first, the Internet was limited and focused mostly on core curriculum subject content. As time has gone on, more and more content is available to help teach Internet safety, security and information on computers in general. It’s been great watching the Internet become more interactive, especially with the changes to standard computer operating systems. I felt powerless and lost when I lost all my software the first time, switching from Apple IIes to Macintoshes. And this time, switching to OS X.4, we lost all the software again, but there’s no money in the budget to replace any of it, and there were very little options in software since the companies hadn’t caught up to the new operating systems. There was also a movement in software to prevent the copying that had gone on previously without buying licenses. Some of the companies figured out how to put security on each disk, like the I Spy series. So you have to purchase one per computer. Others, like Ultrakey, thought it would be better to go online, and charge a minimal rate per student for a year’s access. Several free sites, like RainforestMaths, also went this route. http://useducationcity.com has been pressing me lately to sign up as well.
It is not about finding content to teach the sixth, seventh and eighth grade. With Microsoft Office, I realized I have more than enough to teach them. It’s teaching the younger students that is the real problem. I need to teach them so many basics, and supplement the classroom curriculum, and I usually use a wide range of software for that. I realized that with the faster processor, the Internet could be my salvation for course content, and at least for the first year last year, I found enough free sites to make it worthwhile. Internet4classrooms.com is terrific, and I did quite a bit with that with the younger students. This year is a different story. I really haven’t reworked the curriculum in years, and the school will be evaluated next year. I need to standardize the curriculum, and it’s difficult to be fluid in that situation without enough software to manage, and enough money for subscriptions. We are already costing more in tuition than other schools. The administration feels that passing off the cost of the website subscriptions is not feasible, so either I pay the cost, or I have to keep finding new things to do. Some of the software has caught up, but that costs money, too. And I know my students. After 14 years, I have the capability of watching my students grow, and being able to test a website to see which parts would most appeal to them, teach them the most, and work within the time frame of the class period.
It also depends on availability of content for what I want to teach. At first, the Internet was limited and focused mostly on core curriculum subject content. As time has gone on, more and more content is available to help teach Internet safety, security and information on computers in general. It’s been great watching the Internet become more interactive, especially with the changes to standard computer operating systems. I felt powerless and lost when I lost all my software the first time, switching from Apple IIes to Macintoshes. And this time, switching to OS X.4, we lost all the software again, but there’s no money in the budget to replace any of it, and there were very little options in software since the companies hadn’t caught up to the new operating systems. There was also a movement in software to prevent the copying that had gone on previously without buying licenses. Some of the companies figured out how to put security on each disk, like the I Spy series. So you have to purchase one per computer. Others, like Ultrakey, thought it would be better to go online, and charge a minimal rate per student for a year’s access. Several free sites, like RainforestMaths, also went this route. http://useducationcity.com has been pressing me lately to sign up as well.
It is not about finding content to teach the sixth, seventh and eighth grade. With Microsoft Office, I realized I have more than enough to teach them. It’s teaching the younger students that is the real problem. I need to teach them so many basics, and supplement the classroom curriculum, and I usually use a wide range of software for that. I realized that with the faster processor, the Internet could be my salvation for course content, and at least for the first year last year, I found enough free sites to make it worthwhile. Internet4classrooms.com is terrific, and I did quite a bit with that with the younger students. This year is a different story. I really haven’t reworked the curriculum in years, and the school will be evaluated next year. I need to standardize the curriculum, and it’s difficult to be fluid in that situation without enough software to manage, and enough money for subscriptions. We are already costing more in tuition than other schools. The administration feels that passing off the cost of the website subscriptions is not feasible, so either I pay the cost, or I have to keep finding new things to do. Some of the software has caught up, but that costs money, too. And I know my students. After 14 years, I have the capability of watching my students grow, and being able to test a website to see which parts would most appeal to them, teach them the most, and work within the time frame of the class period.
The Value of Internet Resources for Education
The value of Internet resources for education continues to increase like gold on a daily basis to me. You can’t do anything without checking the Internet. The trick as an educator, is to grasp how to use those to the best advantage for the students, and effectively. And get past educator fear – Wikipedia is not a bad site, but it should only be a starting off point for research and evaluation, because it can be contributed to by anyone, so all info may not be accurate. It is my job as an educator to teach students how to evaluate websites by looking at their links and creators, and deciding what is best for their use in a project or paper. There has to be a balance between having a controlled environment and allowing the students access to learn how to appropriately use the sites. YouTube is great; however, the availability of inappropriate content means that I need to block it in the computer room because I can’t control 28 students and be everywhere at once. So I leave it unblocked in the classrooms for teacher or individual use, because they have more control over the one computer. However, denying them access also means they get more creative, and it is up to me to channel that creativity positively.
And figuring out which search engine to use – the differences between them – is also an important understanding for an educator. http://www.monash.com/spidap.html is a great site to help get started, as is http://www.cln.org/searching_faqs.html. A couple more: http://websearch.about.com/od/dailywebsearchtips/qt/search-engine.htm and http://www.netstrider.com/search/.
Utilizing the Internet can start conversations, and propose those pesky real-world scenarios that have no answers but can create in-depth passionate deliberations that hold more meaning than just reading a textbook. They can also apply what they learn in a classroom, say about copyright laws, to decide a real-world case. The Associated Press accused artist Shepard Fairey of copyright infringement. He used a photo taken by one of their photographers to create the famous “Hope” poster. Looking at the article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/04/ap-accuses-shepard-fairey_n_164045.html?page=7&show_comment_id=20487102#comment_20487102, and a copy of the copyright laws http://www.copyrightkids.org/cbasicsframes.htm, students in eighth grade were asked to play judge/jury and come to a verdict for the case; whether “fair use” was a fair argument for Shepard Fairey to use or not.
I address the usefulness of the Internet in curriculum content in the next blog.
And figuring out which search engine to use – the differences between them – is also an important understanding for an educator. http://www.monash.com/spidap.html is a great site to help get started, as is http://www.cln.org/searching_faqs.html. A couple more: http://websearch.about.com/od/dailywebsearchtips/qt/search-engine.htm and http://www.netstrider.com/search/.
Utilizing the Internet can start conversations, and propose those pesky real-world scenarios that have no answers but can create in-depth passionate deliberations that hold more meaning than just reading a textbook. They can also apply what they learn in a classroom, say about copyright laws, to decide a real-world case. The Associated Press accused artist Shepard Fairey of copyright infringement. He used a photo taken by one of their photographers to create the famous “Hope” poster. Looking at the article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/04/ap-accuses-shepard-fairey_n_164045.html?page=7&show_comment_id=20487102#comment_20487102, and a copy of the copyright laws http://www.copyrightkids.org/cbasicsframes.htm, students in eighth grade were asked to play judge/jury and come to a verdict for the case; whether “fair use” was a fair argument for Shepard Fairey to use or not.
I address the usefulness of the Internet in curriculum content in the next blog.
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