Internet Curriculum
The successful use of the
Internet in the classroom depends on several factors, none more important
than the structuring of online resources so that they meet the instructional
objectives and standards in a way that would be comparable or superior
to other classroom resources (textbooks, school library resources).
Fortunately there are many examples of existing Internet curriculum
for teachers to use in the classroom. Some can be used as is, while
others can be modified to fit the needs of each classroom's learners.
There are also tools available that make it easy for teachers to create
their own web-based content.
Levels of Using Web in
the Classroom
Over the last ten
years as the Internet has become available for teachers to use with
their students, a variety of different levels of application have evolved.
From the most basic levels of merely providing links to resources to
involvement in a collaborative project with classes from around the
world, access to the Internet has enabled students to have a wider experience
and source of knowledge than at anytime in human history. How teachers
take advantage of this depends much upon their own knowledge of the
Internet itself and their sense of adventure in integrating it into
their classroom program.
Below are six different
levels from basic to advanced that detail how a student will be using
the Internet and how a teacher must prepare for the interaction.
|
Student
Activity |
Teacher
Involvement |
Resources |
|
1
|
Student
goes to a teacher selected site to view information and to
learn more about a certain topic without a structured activity. |
Most basic
form of using the web, a teacher does not have to do much
prep. Teacher can create a hotlist, link web pages to classroom
web site, or even write web address on whiteboard.
Example: China
on the Net
|
Blue
Web'n
Essential
Resources
|
| 2 |
Student
locates own web resources for enrichment and projects. |
Teacher needs
to instruct students on basics of searching and evaluating
web resources.
|
Yahoo! Kids
Kids
Click
TekMom
Major search
engines (Yahoo,
Google,
etc.)
|
|
3
|
Student
accesses a structured web-based activity developed by someone
outside the class. |
Teacher selects
a focused activity developed by someone outside the classroom
that is based on a web site. Teacher can modify or use as
is.
Example: Sampling
African America
|
Blue
Web'n
KNE
Wired Learning
Essential
Resources
|
|
4
|
Student
engages in an activity designed by their teacher that utilizes
a variety of web resources. |
Teacher creates
their own activity using web design software or Filamentality.
Customizes classroom content with Internet resources.
Example: Filamentality
Activity Formats
|
Filamentality
WebQuest
Taskonomy:
A Taxonomy of Tasks
For ideas on different
types of tasks for activities.
|
|
5
|
Student
completes a WebQuest alone or as part of a team in the classroom. |
Teacher uses
an existing WebQuest or uses a template to create a lesson
or unit that focuses on higher level learning skills and
integrates online resources as essential part of the process.
Example: Searching
For China WebQuest
|
Filamentality
WebQuest
Page
|
|
6
|
Student
participates in a collaborative project utilizing many different
aspects of the Internet (resources, email, video conferencing
etc.) and involving other students from outside the classroom. |
Teacher setups
a connection with a another class or classes to cooperatively
complete a project that might require students to complete
local experiments and research that they will share with
other classes over through Internet communications.
Example: iEARN
|
iEARN
Global
Schoolhouse
20
Sites to Help You Jump Start-Web Projects
|
|
Web Sites That Support Standards-Based
Activities
There are web resources available
that will align certain web sites and activities with current standards.
- SCORE
-Schools of California Online Resources for Education.
- CLRN
- California Resource Learning Network
Example Lessons of Standards-Based
Technology Integration
Collaborative Projects
- iEARN
- International database of projects for classrooms to participate
in that is organized by subject area.
- Global
Schoolhouse - Project registry for locating other classes around
the world to collaborate with.
- 20
Sites to Help You Jump Start-Web Projects - List of twenty different
sites that provide lesson plans or connections to collaborative projects.
Templates and Ideas to Create
Your Own Content
When creating your own content
or activities that will utilize the Internet, you will be following
a similar process as if you were using other resources in the classroom.
Objectives, alignment to standards and clear, accessible tasks should
all be apparent when constructing the activity. If using Internet sites
as the main source of content for students, it is wise to create a web
site that is specifically created for the students that defines the
task(s) and offers direct links to the resources. Teachers have several
options in which to produce content pages. The easiest way, especially
for beginners, is to use Filamentality
to produce the content. Filamentality
has five different types of learning activities that a teacher can create.
To learn about each view the activity
formats page in Filamentality.
For those that have skills in web design and a server to post content,
creating your own content pages is an option as well.
Do not look past taking something
that has already been created, like a WebQuest, and modifying it to
fit the needs of the learners and the classroom. Many WebQuests are
designed as units that are to take place over several days or even weeks.
Often there is not enough time to use the entire WebQuest, but using
a portion of it might greatly benefit the learners in a classroom. Adapting
and Enhancing Existing WebQuests is a good resource for helping
to take advantage of existing WebQuest and adapting for your own class.
Also search
Filamentality for
existing activities that might fit into your classroom instruction.
Classroom
Web Sites
A classroom web site site
is an essential part of any classroom that uses the Internet as a part
of the their learning resources. A good classroom site will function
as a portal for a class to use to access web-based content. Creating
a classroom web site can be relatively painless with tools like TeacherWeb.
TeacherWeb takes
advantage of a browser-based environment to create simple sites through
many of their web page templates. All a teacher has to do is fill in
the information they want to include on the web site and TeacherWeb
does the rest. For those that have districts that provide server space,
tools like FrontPage and Dreamweaver offer easy to use palettes in which
teachers can build their classroom sites from the ground up.
To view good examples of
teacher web sites check out the EduHound
classroom spotlight.
Additional Resources and
Articles on Internet Curriculum
What's
on the Web for Educators?
Viewing the Web as a whole or Web sites by the million is sure to overwhelm
any dedicated educator. Try these seven ways to view the content of
the Web as it relates to common learning applications.
Working
the Web for Education
The theory and practice of integrating the Web for learning. This is
the original article that discusses Zen in the Art of teaching with
the Web and five activity formats for achieving learning goals with
the Web.
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