Technology for Teaching (K-4)

 

Southern Regional ETTC

Phone: (609) 652-4931

Email: ettc@stockton.edu
 
Description:

Fill your classroom with helpful technology activities!  We will explore some of the best uses of the Internet and websites for your classroom, such as lesson enrichment activities and webquests.  We will discover teacher resources that work for you.  We will learn how to make a hotlist of web resources.
Why Create a Hotlist
Learning should be more effective and efficient than wandering around aimlessly and getting happy when any learning just happens to take place. One place to start is to look at a subject of particular interest and assemble resources. Some of the things that make the World Wide Web so useful for learning are the freshness of current events information, the passion of many special interest causes, and the diversity of perspectives available on many opinions. Add to this the ability to communicate with people across the world, access to a wealth of multimedia resources, and increasingly interactive learning experiences and we've got a bunch of good reasons to add web resources to the current learning environment.
How to Create a Hotlist:


A hotlist is a web page (HTML document) which contains links to web sites. The list can contain instructions for students, a description of the site, or any kind of note which will help the user. A printed list of sites, with URL"s, can also be prepared for students to use at home. 

To create a list of suitable websites for students, a teacher can do the initial searching (in their own time), bookmarking suitable sites for the students to use for their research. Hot lists can be made in several ways.  Hotlists can be available on a classroom computer, posted to the web, printed to distribute in class, or saved to a student diskette.
Set Up a Bookmark folder
      
i.      Favorites / Organize Favorites / New Folder
ii.     Type in your name  
iii.      Move folder to top of list for ease of use

Put Bookmarks in your folder   
i.      Favorites / Add to Favorites / Click on your folder and then OK
  ii.    Click Create In button to show folders

Export a folder of links as a web page

Open up Internet Explorer

ii.      Go to File/Import and Export

iii.      Follow Wizard

iv.      Choose Export Favorites and select folder

  v.      Remember where you exported the file to – find and open.  May decide to save to the desktop for students to easily use.

vi.      You could edit the webpage in Word or other webdesign software.  You may need to understand HTML code before doing so.
Set Up a Word Document to save links

 i.      Make a Table

ii.      Table / Insert Table

iii.      2 Columns, 2 Rows

iv.      Left Column is for website, right column is for comments

v.      Save document on your diskette as links.doc


www.filamentality.com/wired/fil/index.html

Filamentality is a fill-in-the-blank tool that guides you through picking a topic, searching the Web, gathering good Internet links, and turning them into learning activities. It combines the "filament" of the Web with a learner's "mentality". Support is built-in through Mentality Tips that guide you along the way. In the end, you'll create a Web-based activity you can share with others even if you don't know anything about HTML, Web servers, or all that www-dot stuff.

 Filamentality offers several features/templates and one includes the easy creation of a hotlist.

Hotlist: The first step in using the power of the Internet for learning is linking to the sites that you find most useful. Doing this will save your learners hours of aimless searching (not an efficient use of class time).  Example - China on the Net  (http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/China/hotlist.html)
Using Web-Based Activities:

The Internet can be a valuable resource for learning in the classroom.  It brings knowledge to life, offers inquiry-based lessons, and much more!  Students live in a world of digital media – so why not incorporate the Internet, Video clips, and email into your classroom lessons.

 

Some e-tours are 3-dimensional, actual video and sound clips, or merely website exploration.  All types can be effective depending on how you want to use the tour in the classroom. Whether using for individual student discovery or for a whole group lesson, or using in a computer lab or in a one-computer classroom, digital media enhances student learning.

 
Considerations: 

Ÿ   Instructor Computer or Student Computer or Computer Lab, Internet, Plug-Ins such  as Real Player or Quicktime

Ÿ         Loading time

Ÿ        Pre or Post-activity?
Electronic Field Trips and Online Tours:

·         Build the perfect wave and learn about the physics of a wave at http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/blueplanet/games/surfing/surfing.html

·         Explore outer space at http://www.discovery.com/stories/science/iss/iss.html

·         Walk in the footsteps of a Dinosaur at www.field-trips.org/sci/dino/index.htm

·         Tour Ellis Island at www.historychannel.com/ellisisland/ and listen to testimonials by people who arrived there

·         Explore the Kids Science News Network at http://ksnn.larc.nasa.gov – Teachers will find 1 minute web-based videos, computer grade quizzes, activities and resources, and follow-up explanations for FREE!
Other web-based activities:

FunBrain.com     
i.      www.funbrain.com
ii.      Look at the Teacher section – make your own multiple choice quizzes and kids results are emailed directly to you
iii.      Have students make quizzes for each other

ETTC Top Ten:

i.      www.ettc.net/topten

ii.      List of top ten sites chosen by teachers

iii.      Send us your recommendations and comments

ETTC Lesson Ideas:

     i.      www.ettc.net/ideas

ii.      List of lessons created by local teachers. Find what you need, download and adapt to your classroom
WebQuest Matrix:

WebQuests are inquiry-oriented activities in which some or all of the information that students interact with comes from the Internet.  The main purpose of the WebQuests is to develop higher order thinking skills; they are not a source of simple information retrieval.

 

i.    To discover a WebQuest available in your discipline and grade level, search the matrix:

1.            Go to the Internet

2.            Go to the site:  http://webquest.org/         

3.            Find your discipline and grade level

4.            Click on the WebQuest you wish to view

 

ii.    Other great collections of WebQuests

1.      Berks County Intermediate Unit Quests: http://www.berksiu.k12.pa.us/webquest 

2.      Hewitt’s Index of Best WebQuests: http://www.davison.k12.mi.us/dhs/staff/hewitt/hewitt14.htm

3.      WebQuest rubric for evaluation of WebQuests: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestrubric.html

        

iii.   Online Tutorial - http://www.ettc.net/resources/webquests/index.htm
Marco Polo:

A searching tool designed among businesses in collaboration of the effort of providing educators the tools necessary for Technology Based Learning.  Simply put, it is a database of lessons and classroom ideas.

 

   i.            Go to http://www.marcopolo-education.org     

 

   ii.            Search and Explore through the Teacher Resource Section, the Professional Development Section, the State Network Section, or by content areas using the Marco Polo Partner’s Section

 
Filamentality:

As mentioned previously, Filamentality offers several templates for creating online activities for your students.  www.filamentality.com/wired/fil/index.html

 

i.    Scrapbook: If learners already have a general understanding of the subject (i.e., they've done some preliminary learning in class or with traditional resources), you might want their first web-based activity to be the exploration of a Multimedia Scrapbook. This format allows learners to dig through a collection of Internet sites organized around specific categories such as, photographs, maps, stories, facts, quotations, sound clips, videos, virtual reality tours, etc. Learners use the Scrapbook to find aspects of the broader topic that they feel are important. They download or copy and paste these scraps into a variety of formats: newsletter, desktop slide presentation, collage, bulletin board, Hyper Studio stack, or web page. By allowing students to "find themselves" in their interests (sparked by the web resources they encounter), the Multimedia Scrapbook offers a more open, student-centered approach. Example – Exploring China - www.filamentality.com/wired/China/scrapbook.html

 

ii.      Treasure Hunt: To develop solid knowledge on a subject, you can create Treasure Hunts. The basic strategy is to find web pages that hold information (text, graphic, sound, video, etc.) that you feel is essential to understanding the topic. After you've gathered these links, you are then prompted by Filamentality to pose one key question for each web resource you've linked to. A smartly designed Treasure Hunt can go far beyond finding unrelated nuggets of knowledge. By choosing questions that define the scope or parameters of the topic, students discover the answers and tap into a deeper vein of thought--one that now stakes out the dimensions or schema of the domain being studied. Example - 1) Black History: Past to Present - www.filamentality.com/wired/BHM/hunt.html   

 

iii.      Subject Sampler: Part of what makes the Internet so great is the quirky, passionate, real stuff that many people and organizations post there. You'll find things on the web that you'd never find on TV, newspapers, or magazines. Subject Samplers tap into this vibrant vein in order to connect students to the chosen topic. Subject Sampler present learners with a smaller number of intriguing web sites organized around a main topic. What makes this a particularly effective way to engage student buy-in is that first off, you've chosen web sites that offer something interesting to do, read, or see. Second, students are asked to respond to the web-based activities from a personal perspective. Example - Exploring Chinese Culture - www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/China/sampler.html

 

iv.      WebQuest:  When it's time to go beyond learning facts and get into grayer, more challenging aspects of the topic, your students are ready to try a WebQuest. Basically, a WebQuest presents students with a challenging task, scenario, or problem to solve. It's best to choose aspects of a topic that are under dispute or that offer a couple different perspectives. Logistically, all students begin by learning some common background knowledge, then they divide into groups. In the groups each student or pair of students have a particular role, task, or perspective to master. They effectively become experts on one aspect of a topic. When the roles come together, students must synthesize their learning by completing a summarizing act such as e-mailing congressional representatives or presenting their interpretation to real world experts on the topic. Example - Look Who's Paying the Bill! - www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/democracy/debtquest.html