Integration Ideas:
How to Use the Internet in the Classroom
Dr.. Sheila
Offman Gersh
sogcc@cunyvm.cuny.edu
http://www.schoollink.org/twin
City College of
New York
Welcome: Today we will explore exciting
ways to use the Internet in the curriculum You will be provided with
examples and suggestions for using these resources.
Benefits of Using the
Internet in the Classroom
For Teachers:
-
Provides opportunity to communicate and share
with other teachers from around the globe
-
Gives access to a huge amount of instructional
materials
-
Changes the role of the teacher to facilitator,
encouraging the teachers to learn with the class
For Students
-
Builds communication, problem solving, research
and critical thinking skills
-
Motivates students to write for an audience
and to publish their work
-
Helps students gain an understanding of other
cultures
How can you incorporate the Internet into the
classroom?
COMMUNICATION -
Teachers and students communicate with peers from around the globe.
E-mail is the most widely used component of the Internet and audio and
video conferencing are becoming very popular as well.
KEYPALS
These sites will be helpful when you are looking
for e-mail connections for your classes.
ASK AN EXPERT
Enhance your curriculum by contacting a subject
matter expert. There are sites for interacting with the expert, participating
in email discussions and videoconferencing. The following sites offer
to answer questions, thus, allowing teachers to plan full units or supplement
lessons. It can even be used to obtain extra teaching ideas.
MAILING LISTS
Some of the more popular mailing lists archive
message. You can search by date or subject. There are also many directories
which list mailing lists alphabetically and by subject. Here are some great
links to such directories.
VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS
- Teachers and students can take virtual visits to many places, local and
international. For example, your students can visit Mount Vernon
at http://www.mountvernon.org
RESEARCH - The
Web hold a wealth of up-to-date information on current events as they happen.
Dictionaries and encyclopedias are just a click away. Encarta Online
is at http://encarta.msn.com
COLLABORATION -
Learning experiences can be experienced through collaborative Internet
projects. You can join an existing projects or learn to design your own
project. You can find such resources at the Global SchoolHouse -
http://www.gsn.org or at the Project Center
- http://www.eduplace.com/projects/index.html
PROJECTS
Teachers looking for Internet project will find
these sites to be good resources. Typically the projects listed at these
sites involve electronic sharing between two or more classes from different
locations.
PUBLISHING - Many
online newsletters and Web sites are designed for the express purpose of
encouraging students to write. Students can send in their creative
writing and see their work in print. An example of this is at Kid Pub
-- http://www.kidpub.org/kidpub
INTERACTIVE LEARNING
- One of the more meaningful activities on the Internet is its interactivity.
Students can practice their skills, test their knowledge or contribute
their work using one of the many interactive sites available on the Web.
An example of this kind of site is found at FunBrain - http://www.funbrain.com
SCAVENGER HUNTS
SEARCHING THE WEB
Searching sites for students:
LESSON PLANS
TOOLS FOR THE TEACHER
Interactive Activities