Teacher Applications
The Internet provides numerous sites that offer free lesson plans, pictures, software and other materials for teachers.Most of these materials are accessed through subject matter links or via Search Engines.There are two basic types of these engines, passive and active.Passive engines are based on a database of information that is accessed with a browseable subject index.Yahoo, InfoSeek, Lycos and others fall into this group.(Yahooligans is a site maintained by Yahoo that is screened for content and designed for 7-12 year olds.)The information in these sites is placed in categories and sub-categories.They contain commercial as well as non-commercial sites.Active engines use robots or spiders to sort through sites and record data from key words and meta-tags.These sites actively scan the Internet collecting information.It is important to note that search engines find different information and some are better for some purposes.Use several to ensure adequate coverage of your topic.
Most engines allow you to do advanced searches that use Boolean Search algorithms.AltaVista and Excite are examples that let you maximize the capability of the engine to narrow your searches.You can limit how old the information can be, quotation marks to select a specific phrase, AND or NOT, etc.
Some search engines can actually search multiple engines for you.“Ask Jeeves” (http://www.askjeeves.com/) is an example of one that allows you to ask a question and prompts you with related topics in a pull-down menu driven page.Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com/) searches most of the popular search engines in one shot.This is great when you aren’t sure what engine to use for a particular topic.
The first use of Internet in the classroom is from the teacher perspective.You can use it to access lesson plans, obtain software, update information such as weather data, obtain photos and diagrams, obtain test items, etc.The Internet provides the library at your finger tips.In fact, most libraries have their catalogs and research indexes on-line so that you can visit them via the web.Tusculum College http://tusculum.library.net/, ETSU http://sherrod.etsu.edu/ , and UT Knoxville http://www.lib.utk.edu/.Lesson plans are available from a variety of sources including educational institutions and professional organizations as well as classroom teachers.Links are provided to sites that relate to topics.
Teachers can also use the web to give students access to class materials and homework from home.This is done by designing and maintaining personal web sites.A basic understanding of HTML coding can provide all that you need to set up this type of site.You can post your course outline, provide parents with information regarding your daily lessons, and supply review materials and practice tests for students.
Teacher use of the Internet requires only one computer, either at home or in your classroom.This means that you can use it as a planning and writing tool for your own lesson plans.You can also use it in your lessons if you have a VGA converter and TV monitor so that you can make presentations based on your web searches.
Student Internet Use
Most student Internet use involves written projects.This would be the typical “paper” that would have been done in the library in the past.Some new information is required to accomplish this, however.There are new rules for referencing electronic sources. See attached guides for APA and MLA with links to other information.
It is important to structure the research activity so that the student has selected a viable project before using the computer.It is easy to become frustrated when an assignment is not well-formulated and the student is required to learn new search strategies at the same time.It is best to provide a list of topics and possible search criteria at the beginning of the project.
The best type of project is the Hypertext Research Project.Instead of just using the Internet to find facts, the Internet is used to form the backbone of the project.Instead of just referenced sources the text can incorporate links to information, pictures, etc. that support the project.An introduction to HTML programming is necessary so that the student can write the code necessary to present their ideas and support them with links to web related sources.The best thing is that their work can be “published” on a web server and read by people from all over the world.
Some teachers like to use email to contact students and teachers around the world.Our policy does not support individual student email accounts but teacher accounts can be used for this type of communication.It is especially useful when students create projects to share with students in other parts of the world.It is also an incentive for correct grammar and spelling in daily work.
NASA has several projects on the web that enable students to participate in actual space research.This may involve data treatment or even communication with astronauts as they orbit the earth.Several NASA sites are included on your resource diskette for further information.
The best thing about using the Internet is that it is a new tool.You can use it to do innovative projects and publish your ideas on your own website.In a few weeks, people may be handing out links to your site as one to check out for lesson plans and ideas.You can check out my site for information on instructional technology and science education.It even has links to other helpful sites and rarely used comprehensive search engines.You can logon at http://greene.xtn.net/~blavingh and use the toolbar at the bottom – Research to get to the site you are interested in.
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