The Web as an information resource tool

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The Web as an information resource tool
Computers in Education Week 3
August 2008
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Key issues

• Should young children be allowed to search the
  Web on their own?
• How do you teach children to evaluate the web
  pages to ensure quality in the information?
• How important is the development of effective
  searching strategies?

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Background information

• The Internet transports digital information
  encoded as TCP/IP(Transport Control
  Protocol/Internet Protocol)
• Each computer has an internet address (IP number)
• There is no central control
• Every network card has an individual unique code
  When a network card communicates on the Internet
  it is assigned an IP number eg. 130.220.134.234
• University of South Australia has been allocated
  a set of IP addresses for its computers which
  begin with "10.220."
• It also has been allocated use of the domain
• "unisa.edu.au

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Some Internet tools?

• Email
• Discussion Lists
• Chat
• Video Conferencing
• FTP
• Newsgroups
• Web
• Blogs
• Wikis

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Activity 1

• Search the web for meanings of the following
  terms
• http
• Bandwidth
• Html
• Intranet
• URL
• Portal
• Is the Internet the same as the WWW?

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Email in the classroom

• New text genre informal brief
• Formation of a learning community time and
  place independent
• How can email be used in classroom practice?
• Epals http//www.epals.com/
• Book raps http//rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet
  /projects/book-rap/
• Travel buddies http//rite.ed.qut.edu.au/old_oz-t
  eachernet/projects/travel-buddies/
• Global Quests http//quest.classroom.com/
• Ask an Expert http//www.askanexpert.com/
• LOTE http//www.epals.com/translation/translation
  .e
• School Online Projects http//www.edna.edu.au/go/
  browse/0schooledresourcesictonprojectsresultt
  ab

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Discussion Forums

• Asynchronous form of communication
• Facilitates group discussion
• Members have common interest
• 1 many distribution
• Messages come to your accounts
• May generate an enormous amount of email
• Lists on the web
• http//tile.net/lists/
• http//www.liszt.com
• http//rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/

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Internet Chat

• Synchronous communication
• Provides a service for many users to communicate
  about a given topic using a keyboard
• User joins a channel and enters a nickname
• Exchange takes place in real time
• http//www.teachers.net/

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Issues associated with use of chat

• Useful for fostering social interaction within
  the school
• Useful for brainstorming
• Issues of privacy and access (intranet)
• Keyboarding and literacy may be issues
• Little time for reflection

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Video conferencing

• Tools
• Chat
• Video
• Audio
• Whiteboard
• File sharing

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Activity 2

• Locate Netmeeting on your computer (it may be
  under Accessories Communication). Under the
  Help Menu, select About Microsoft Netmeeting,
  this will indicate the IP address of your
  computer.
• For internal students although external may like
  to give it a go type in the IP address of someone
  else in the room. Communicate with a colleague
• Choose a colleague, share a whiteboard, chat,
  share your desktop, download a file

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Virtual reality

• Students interact in a virtual world
• Active world
• http//www.activeworlds.com/
• Virtual tours
• http//www.louvre.or.jp/louvre/QTVR/anglais/

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What is the World Wide Web?

• "The power of the Web is in its universality.
  Access by everyone regardless of disability is an
  essential aspect." -- Tim Berners-Lee, W3C
  Director and inventor of the World Wide Web
• A distributed collection of information,
  multimedia, functionality and
• A universal publishing medium
• A host environment for communications technologies

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Strategies for locating information on the Web

• Web addresses
• Surfing
• Subject Directories
• Search engines
• Google
• Kids search engines http//searchenginewatch.com/
  showPage.html?page2156191
• http//www.rcls.org/ksearch.htm
• Meta search engines

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Kids Search Tools
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Subject Directories
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Search engines (advanced)
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Evaluating the information

• Audience
• Source
• Authority of authors
• Content
• Accuracy
• Currency
• Comprehensiveness

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Activity 3

• Go to a childrens tutorial on evaluation of web
  resources at the following
• http//library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/webevaluation
• Work through the tutorial. Do you think that this
  could be a useful resource for children in
  helping them to determine quality on the Web.

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What is resourced-based learning?

• It is a methodology that assumes students learn
  from assigned activities through direct
  confrontation with a variety of resources
• It is an approach that helps prepare students for
  our information-dependent society by giving them
  the skills that equip them for lifelong learning

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Information sources

• Library
• The Web
• Internet services eg email, newsgroups,
  discussion lists
• Bibliographic databases
• Museums, knowledge centres
• Community resources
• Multimedia products eg encyclopaedias, software
• Media eg TV, cassettes, videos
• Oral traditions

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Key concepts for RBL

• Develop independent learning skills
• Acquisition of basic body of knowledge
• Skills for lifelong learning

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Characteristics of resource-based learning

• Students are active in their learning
• Inquiry approach to learning is used
• A wide variety of resources are used
• Teachers act as facilitators, guiding, monitoring
  and evaluating student progress
• Teachers employ different instructional
  strategies catering for different learning styles
• Skills and strategies need to be identified and
  taught where necessary

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Implications of resource-based learning

• Need to teach children skills of using
  information
• Teachers become managers of learning
• Teachers need to consider physical organisation
• Teachers and librarians work together
• More critical and authentic assessment
• Greater strain on school resources

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Benefits of RBL

• Learning is more self directed and therefore more
  meaningful
• Promotes deep thinking problem solving,
  reasoning and critical thinking through
  independent research
• Caters for various learning styles
• Elevates nature of research process
• Students learn about the content while learning
  to use information more effectively

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Information literacy through RBL

• Acquisition of information literacy is critical.
  It involves the ability to
• Know when information is needed
• Select appropriate information needed to address
  problem
• Locate needed information
• Evaluate information
• Organise the information
• Communicate the information

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Examples of resource-based learning units

• Web quests
• Enquiry-oriented activities where information
  mainly comes from the Web
• Contain a clear structure http//webquest.sdsu.ed
  u/about_webquests.html
• Web quests use several strategies to increase
  motivation
• Presents a problem that needs an answer
• Students are given real resources to work with
• Solutions or answers can be published

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The Fate of the Rainforests
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Attributes of Webquests

• Introduction
• Task
• Information sources
• Process
• Guidance
• Evaluation (conclusion)

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Key components

• Curricular content relevance
• Use of technologies
• Student-directed
• Collaborative
• Real world context
• Extended time frame
• assessment

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References

• The Web Quest Page developed by Bernie Dodge (San
  Diego State University)http//edweb.sdsu.edu/webq
  uest/webquest.html
• Kathy Schrock's education resourceshttp//school.
  discovery.com/schrockguide/edres.html
• Learning with the Worldhttp//www.ozline.com/lear
  ning/workshop.html
• Kids Search Engines
• http//www.uetigers.stier.org/library/ghn/kids'_se
  arch_engines.htm

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References cont.

• Project-based learning
• http//www.rcs.k12.tn.us/project-based20learning.
  htm