Role of the Internet

From basic cellular phones in the early 90’s to my current Samsung Android, the advances in technology are tremendous.  I use my phone to access the internet numerous times each day.  From checking emails to paying bills to locating directions, I cannot imagine not having access to it.  Francis Bacon says, “communication is freedom-freedom for people to reach information they need in order to acquire knowledge that can empower them”  (Roblyer, p.  204). More adults than ever before have returned to college as a result of online classes.  Although the author states, “there is no single theory that can fully explain student attrition in distance learning” (Roblyer, p.  212).   In the classroom, I search the internet for activities, images, and videos to explain and clarify concepts.  In one location, a teacher has numerous resources available.  The use of technology in the past two decades has grown exponentially. 

URLs: What do URLs tell you/students about web sites?

The uniform resource location gives us the address of the sites.  It normally includes  an organization’s name or initials.  The ending or domain designator indicates the type of information found on the site.

Search Engines: How can learning to use search engines help you/students find better information?

By teaching students to use key words and topics in their searches, they can be significantly more successful in locating specific material.  A large variety of similar information can be minimized into manageable amount of data which can be reviewed.

Internet Tool: Choose one Internet Tool  and discuss how you might use it in a classroom.

Video and Photo Sharing Communities serve as resources to enlighten and clarify concepts.  For example, as a third grade teacher, I had several students who could not grasp the concept of elapsed time.  After reviewing numerous resource manuals, I stumbled upon a video on YouTube.com.  It provided another method using a T-chart to solve elapsed time. It worked.

Web-Based Lesson: Discuss and link to a web site where students could access or you could create a web-based lesson.

On http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-us/search/resources/resource-type/games/country/united-states/language/english/ teachers are able to access and create games and activities which they can share with other professionals.  You can link them to your promethean board which most classrooms now have.

Favorite Web Sites: Finally, pick two web sites that you feel are your favorite. Post the web sites and talk about why they will be beneficial to teachers and/or students. Use at least two references to chapter 7 and 8 content (for each) that makes these web sites effective resources.

http://pdtoolkit.pearsoncmg.com/login

With a free login, this is a website that will provide videos and worksheets to help you assess your students’ cognitive abilities.  The author states that” blogs encourage students to think critically when composing and sharing reflections of courework” (Roblyer, p.  225).   

http://www.visualmathlearning.com/index.html

The author indicates they virtual schools are typically legitimate because they are “often overseen by state education agency” (Roblyer, p.  212).   This is a free website that provides distance learning to challenge those struggling math students.  The author says that they need  “self-motivation and ability to structure ones own learning” (Roblyer, p.  212).   

    

 

 

 

Roblyer and Doering.  (2013).  Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching Sixth Edition. 

Boston:  Pearson.