The final 75 pages of "A Teacher's Project Guide to the Internet" written by Kevin Crotchett is devoted to various listservs, newsgroups, FTP sites, links, gopher sites, and content specific sites. The book also offers a glossary of common HTML tags and an interactive CD-rom that accompanies the book.
The author breaks down the end of the book into appendixes and sorts all the informations into categories ranging from art and literature to math and social studies. He guides you through the pros and cons of various education sites and walks you through the governments web pages dedicated to schools. There is a section offering links to lesson plans, classroom activities and curriculum design tools.
All in all this book was very helpful. Some of the information was review however the book presents a lovely and simplistic case for involving technology in the classroom. A lot of the projects are engaging and fun. The thing I liked best about this book is the real world application that it presents. I think both students and teachers would benefit from this train of thought.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Blog # 2
I am continuing my journey through Kevin Crotchett's book called "A Teacher's Project Guide to the Internet." In these chapters of the book the author gets into the nitty gritty of the internet. He offers a brief tutorial of HTML code and even gives suggestions for lesson plans teaching students how to use HTML. After his students were familiar with the internet code he began having them engage in various projects. For example one project was called "The Library of Reviews" where students were asked to post their book reports online using a critics voice. Now their reviews are available for other students around the world to read.
Kevin stresses that it is important to become part of the ever growing virtual community. In this book he offers suggestions about creating your own class web page. Allowing students to give their input into the site will help them develop self efficacy towards the world wide web. It also gives them a sense of ownership and pride, and it presents an opportunity for them to see real world applications of these important internet skills they are learning.
Every good teacher strives to find new and exciting ways to engage parents in the classroom. Creating a class web page or a blog is a great way for parents to get involved. Allow for assignments that parents can respond to, or hold online discussions that they can participate in. The web can be a great way to reach out to parents who have difficult work schedules and can't make it to conferences or field trips.
The main point of this book is simply to get connected and stay connected. The internet offers our students a new world of opportunity, but it is our job as teachers to help them navigate successfully through that world.
Kevin stresses that it is important to become part of the ever growing virtual community. In this book he offers suggestions about creating your own class web page. Allowing students to give their input into the site will help them develop self efficacy towards the world wide web. It also gives them a sense of ownership and pride, and it presents an opportunity for them to see real world applications of these important internet skills they are learning.
Every good teacher strives to find new and exciting ways to engage parents in the classroom. Creating a class web page or a blog is a great way for parents to get involved. Allow for assignments that parents can respond to, or hold online discussions that they can participate in. The web can be a great way to reach out to parents who have difficult work schedules and can't make it to conferences or field trips.
The main point of this book is simply to get connected and stay connected. The internet offers our students a new world of opportunity, but it is our job as teachers to help them navigate successfully through that world.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Ed Tech Blog # 1
For Ed Tech this term I decided to read "A Teacher's Project Guide to the Internet" by Kevin Crotchett. The book was actually written in 1997 but it still has practical application in today's classrooms. The exponential growth of the internet in the last decade makes for a very quick rate of information turn over. It doesn't take long for information and innovations to become obsolete in todays society. This book was written as an introduction to the internet for teachers. It covers all kinds of practical applicaitions for the internet that are valid in today's classrooms. So far the topics covered in chapters 1-6 are review for me, but the classroom application is something I am just begginning to think about, unchartered territory in my brain if you will, and this book is pushing me to explore that avenue.
The author discusses the use of "keypals" instead of "penpals" using email as a way to communicate with students in Nashville, New York, or the Netherlands. The author believes that helping students create worldwide connections leads to better conversations in elementary grades, and debates in secondary education classrooms. The author suggests that discussion forums, blogs and newsgroups are a great resource that teachers should use to enhance their classroom communities.
The author also provides a defense for people that oppose using the internet in classrooms. He suggest that teachers allow their students to brainstorm proper behaviors that should be observed when working around computers and the internet. He suggests that students come up with their own rules and make them into a computer contract known in technilogical industries as an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). This should include contain rules for computer use, such as appropiate times, uses, and treatment of equipment, and it should define the information and data that can be found on the computers or retrieved over the internet. Allowing students, teachers, and parents to agree on this contract creates a safe and satisfying environment for all parties involved.
The book also offers several links and suggestions of sites that offer practical classroom application. For example the book discusses an art history class taking a virtual field trip to the Louvre via the internet. The author suggest a study and project involving the Louvre's website and the Mona Lisa. Then he suggest sites where students can chat with actual artists and art enthusiats regarding a piece or converse about world wide impressions of the Mona Lisa.
I look forward to reading on and discovering more classroom applications and creative project that the internet can open doors to.
The author discusses the use of "keypals" instead of "penpals" using email as a way to communicate with students in Nashville, New York, or the Netherlands. The author believes that helping students create worldwide connections leads to better conversations in elementary grades, and debates in secondary education classrooms. The author suggests that discussion forums, blogs and newsgroups are a great resource that teachers should use to enhance their classroom communities.
The author also provides a defense for people that oppose using the internet in classrooms. He suggest that teachers allow their students to brainstorm proper behaviors that should be observed when working around computers and the internet. He suggests that students come up with their own rules and make them into a computer contract known in technilogical industries as an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). This should include contain rules for computer use, such as appropiate times, uses, and treatment of equipment, and it should define the information and data that can be found on the computers or retrieved over the internet. Allowing students, teachers, and parents to agree on this contract creates a safe and satisfying environment for all parties involved.
The book also offers several links and suggestions of sites that offer practical classroom application. For example the book discusses an art history class taking a virtual field trip to the Louvre via the internet. The author suggest a study and project involving the Louvre's website and the Mona Lisa. Then he suggest sites where students can chat with actual artists and art enthusiats regarding a piece or converse about world wide impressions of the Mona Lisa.
I look forward to reading on and discovering more classroom applications and creative project that the internet can open doors to.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
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