Building A Webpage...

The idea of building a webpage is something I have long considered but never could find the time or figure out how to organize my content. I always wondered about the practicality of it all, exactly how I would fit it into the lesson plan without overwhelming the students, and what to do if a student did not have internet access, which up until very recetly was a possibility.

Personally I love the idea of adding this to my class. I think it would give students a chance to use the internet for something more then updating their Facebook status. As I mentioned in my previous post, I believe students want to find ways to get away from books and move towards learning materials that are fun and engaging. I think hybrid classes combining the classroom with web based meetings and materials has got to be the way of the future, or rather the present, even in high schools.

Web-Based Resources

I personally do not think there is anything more valuable to our students than the world wide web at this point. I know this is not a novel opinion or ground-breaking idea in any way, but I think it is important to remind ourselves every now and then how much is actually available on the web. Web-based resources obviously provide students with an opportunity to continue a lesson at home, again nothing ground-breaking there. The difference between anything traditional and anything web-based is the fun factor. Let's face it people, the internet and the web are fun and easy and a lot of the stuff is more attention grabbing. Now, imagine yourself in the mind of teenager...books are boring! They do not want to read or go to the library, at this point I think it's fair to say we need the internet and the web.

With most of my classes I have eliminated the idea of doing any kind of traditional research paper and replaced with argumentative essay questions. In these assignments I always instruct students to go to the internet and back up any opinion with the facts that swayed them one way or another citing each web-site used of course. I realize that there is value in knowing how to research something properly, but in a point and click world 99.9% of students are going straight to web for the information anyway. Furthermore, thanks to tools like ERIC and the EBSCO Host, all the information you would normally need for a research paper, is available through web-based sources, why wouldn't we encourage our students to go there? It's easier then pouring through encyclopedias and scholarly journals and because of this students are more likely to push research beyond what is expected of them.

As I said earlier, my opinions aren't ground-breaking but I think we need to remind ourselves sometimes that everything you could possible want ever at anytime, anywhere is probably available on the Web. And if its not there now, fear not, reasearch predicts that over the next three years, the amount of data and information on the web will roughly DOUBLE every 11 HOURS, (1990's Tech, History Channel - Winter 2008.) So if the climate patterns on one of the moons of Jupiter are eluding you this morning, check back after dinner.

Kidspiration

The biggest advantage I can see with Kidspiration is interaction. I have used the program a little bit and have found that using it with the Smart-board can work wonders in the classroom. I personally love the idea of having students learning from each other as opposed to me standing and lecturing non-stop. I feel as though at some point regardless of how exciting I am or how exciting the material is, some students will be lost.

This software is extremely student friendly and can allow the teacher present information in a way that students may not have seen before. It also provides teachers with more efficient ways of organizing information. Before using products like Power Point, I can remember days when I would have information scribbled across the board in different places with no apparent ryhme or reason. Thanks to tools like these, I have been able to better organize myself during class periods and keep students better oranized, it keeps the class on point and helps keep my thoughts straight and keeping my head straight can be 90% of the battle somedays!

Blogging

So today I'm blogging about blogging, just wanted to type that because it seemed odd...Anyway to the point, so far I like this part of the class and its opened my eyes to entire world I knew very little about. I thought at first it would be a hassle not only to write my own blog to keep up with and comment on others. But I think, especially with the Webquest, it was almost reassuring to find out others were having the same difficulties I was.

Now that I have had some practice with this, albeit very limited, I have been looking for ways to include this in some way to my classroom. I would like at some point to launch a history blog, to get my students using the internet and get them using it the right way, at least in terms of history assignments. I would also envision it as a place to re-cap a week of lessons and provide a place for a student who may have missed classes to get assignments and important information.

I think the blog can be used extremely effectively to help reinforce class instruction. It really does give you an open forum for opinion and response beyond the classroom.

Webquest 2

I have been working for what seems like weeks on the Webquest project and I think I've gotten the idea. Several times during this I began to wonder if the planning of this project is more trouble then its worth. There are definitely more conventional ways to get across the point of the lesson I am working on and while I do understand the need for integration of the Internet, I am not sure this is the best way to go about it. I have never used or planned a Webquest before and would assume that like anything, you simply need to practice at it, and eventually you will get the hang of it. As I posted earlier the hardest part of all of this has been trying to figure out what kind of assignments are actually useful in the Webquest format. Again, the toughest lesson I have had to learn is that not everything can be a Webquest. In many ways this has become rather frustrating as I did not expect to have as much trouble as I did with this just getting started. Once the assignment was setup however, the project did move rather freely and easily. I think the real key is moving beyond what is normally expected to be learned in a classroom about a given subject. It is easy to forget what is available on the internet, and really there is nothing that is not available.

Webquest

I have begun to develop a web quest for the first time. I like the idea of sending students to the Internet and hope they will be able to use it properly and learn something outside of the classroom. I also think it can be an effective tool because not only are they going to hopefully pick up something about the content assigned, but may also learn some things about the Internet as well. The biggest problem I have encountered up to this point is the ability to decide exactly what students will do. I have learned very quickly that not everything can be converted into a web quest assignment. Through some trial error it has become apparent that developing a proper web quest will have to include more then just producing an essay at the end. As a result, I think the web quest will force teachers to begin thinking outside the box (I have at least) and force educators to begin applying some non-traditional methods of instruction, which can be more effective to learning.

Internet Safety

When I think of internet safety I generally think in terms of my own safety, that is to say I have been more worried about identity theft or credit card fraud, then about meeting people or coming across objectionable material.

That being said, I was always aware that many dangers existed on the internet beyond these simple ones. Having now watched and read the materials assigned I am fearful for young people. I teach in a high school and am aware of just how naive and gullible teenagers can be. I tend to use assignments that include some internet research and now am a bit concerned. I would like to think that I am pointing my students in the right direction, but in all honesty how can I really know? The internet has apparently become a scary place. Considering the fact that it started as a place to simply share research among universities, it is amazing that it has turned into what it is. However because of what it is, it tends to encourage wrong doing on some levels. The bottom line then becomes that our kids need to have access restricted somehow and adults need to act as watchdogs. I realize my position on this is bordering on "gloom and doom" but for something this valuable, to be dangerous at all, is something I can not get past.