Creating Internet Activities

1
Creating Internet Activities

• Petrea Redmond

2
Internet and your students

• Most frequent classroom use of Internet is
  information gathering
• Searching for Web resources is the 3rd most
  common use of technology after word processing
  and working with CDs
• Currently most teachers are unlikely to assign
  tasks they feel unprepared to supervise

3
Engaging Students

• Teaching and Learning activities are the heart of
  what happens in a classroom
• Process might be

Challenging Anticipatory Set
Discussion Key Concepts
Research Traditional and ICT
4
Internet and Learning

• Access alone is not sufficient for meaningful
  learning
• How will you help student use the vast resource
  of the Internet to learning and solve authentic
  problems more effectively?
• Much of the material prepared for the internet is
  not for instructional purposes

5
Pulling it all together

• Class activities tend to integrate and pull
  together many resources, both traditional and
  electronic, so that students can construct
  meaning from multiple inputs
• Creating activities which integrate the Web with
  students learning is a teachers job, not a
  Websites job

6
Using and Creating Internet Activities
7
Hotlist

• A list of websites with comments, previously
  evaluated by the teacher
• Learning process goal is an open research
  exploration of the topic
• OR you sent students to Web sites hoping they
  will find something useful and subsequently
  create some cognitive sparks

8
Example

• China on the Net

9
Teachers create Topic Hotlists when

• They are new to the Web
• They are in a hurry
• They want to save student surf/search time
• They want to add Web resources to curriculum
  planning they already have

10
Multimedia Scrapbook

• Learning goal is to download media
• From selected sites students collect links,
  images, text, audio, video etc
• They download these or copy and paste these
  scraps into software E.g. Word, PowerPoint, web
  page, Hyperstudio
• Students create a collage/scrapbook of things
  that interest them about the topic

11
Example

• Exploring China

12
Benefits

• Enables range of modes to be included
• Student Centred Approach that encourages
  construction of meaning
• Students synthesize a large and contextually rich
  selection of data and experiences

13
Treasure or Knowledge Hunt

• Acquisition and building of defined knowledge
• Identify questions you want students to find the
  answer for
• Traditionally a scavenger hunt

14
Example

• The Treasures of China

15
Teachers create a knowledge hunt when

• Students need to acquire a specific body of
  knowledge
• Critical thinking is not a goal or is covered in
  other activities
• Web-bases resources are more current or reliable
  then traditional resources

16
Suggestions

• Find web pages that hold a variety of media
  text, graphic, sound, video etc that is essential
  to the understanding of a given topic
• Pose 1 key question for each site or link sites
  together under questions
• Students can synthesize what they have learned
  and shape it into a broader understanding of the
  big picture

17
Subject Sampler

• Learning goal is to connect emotively or
  affectively to a topic
• Some of the Interest parts of the Internet is the
  real stuff people and organisations post.
  Often this cannot be found on TV or magazines.
• Students poke around this activity to see what
  interests them

18
Example

• My China

19
Teachers create Subject Samplers when

• They want students to feel connected to the topic
  (OR to avoid, What does this have to do with
  me? question.)
• They want to motivate students to explore the
  topic further
• There is a short period of time and a small
  number of great sites to share
• They or the students are new to the Web and a
  user-friendly activity makes sense

20
Tips

• Present students with a small number (6 8) of
  intriguing sites arranged around a topic
• Students are asked to respond to the activities
  from a personal perspective rather than uncover
  knowledge
• The can discuss their feelings about the site,
  compare to personal experiences and make personal
  interpretations
• All points of view are valued by the learning
  community

21
Concept Builder

• Learning goal is to develop and refine new
  concepts
• Multiple perspectives on a wide range of topics
  are available on the Web
• This activity aims to show students an array of
  well-selected examples and let them build of
  construct the concepts for themselves. Class
  discussions can help refine their thinking.

22
Example

• No Fear o Eras

23
Teachers create a Concept Builder when

• A simple definition is too abstract
• Examples are available on the web
• They want to engage students in high level
  thinking

24
Tips

• Use a small number of sites 3 6
• Offer a series of short questions that prompt
  students to look for specific details, comparison
  and contrasts
• A large number of image based sources make this
  activity suitable for young non-reading students
  to be involved in higher order thinking

25
Tools to help

• Filamentality is a free, fill-in-the-blank
  interactive Website
• Web and Flow easy to use, to create whole unit
  and not just the online activities, 25 (US)
• Some examples http//www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bl
  uewebn/

26
EQs Learning Place

• I need info for you to become registered.