Web-Based Educational Resources

I'm amazed at the amount of resources that are available for teachers to choose from on the internet. It is important that teachers use these opportunities to the best of their ability and incorporate these resources into their lesson plans. Teachers need to be able to take the latest technologies and adapt them to their students to make them useful.

In exploring the internet for some of these resources, I came across many of these web-based resources that I think would be fun for students. Some of the best examples I came across were:

http://www.cosmeo.com/ - This website provides students and teachers with educational videos, pictures, reference articles, and links.

http://www.education.com/ - This website provides teachers and parents with articles on everything from academics to physical health. It also provides activities for kids in reading, science, math, and art.

www.curriki.org - This is an excellent site for teachers and provides ideas for lesson plans and interesting ways to teach topics. Teachers are also able to update lesson plans to make them better.

Webquest Presentation

I found the Webquests interesting and it seems to me like a good way to do something different in the classroom. I felt that the first group of presenters did very well and there were some very interesting and creative ideas. I felt that it was much harder to create a webquest for high school students since most of the examples I found online were geared towards lower grades (especially when it came to history). One of the better ideas that I heard was making the students present the work of someone else in their group. This addresses one of the key problems that I see in group work which is that the students work as a collection of individuals instead of as a team. Collaboration should be one of the key aspects that is graded in a group assignment and the idea of presenting the work of a partner forces students to understand each others work as well as his/her own.

Internet Safety

The internet can be used as a very useful resource to students. However, if students are not careful, the internet can be dangerous. This issue is looked at in the 2nd Internet Safety video where the 10 year old girl assumes that she is talking to another girl her age. In reality, she is talking to an internet predator who is able to get her home address. Parents these days have to be very careful in monitoring what their children are doings. In the video, the girl explains that she does not see her parents all that much, especially her mom. I think that parents not spending as much time with their kids is a major part of the problem. Also, it is important for parents to educate themselves on technology so they can be fully aware of the dangers that are out there for their children.