NTTI Internet Utilization Strategies
- Spend time looking at each Web site you plan to use to make
sure its content fits the goals of your lesson.
- visit each site you plan to incorporate into your demonstration.
This will "cache" the site files so the pages will download quickly
- Factor in the time it will take each student to read through
- If the site includes plug-ins or special applications, be sure
to include instructions for downloading them.
- Choose sites that are intuitive and easily navigable.
- Analyze the source of the site to assure its legitimacy (some
Web sites contain biased information).
- Bookmark each Web site students will use on each workstation
or computer. (To do this using Netscape Navigator/Communicator
browser, click on "Add Bookmarks" from the "Bookmarks" pull down
menu. Using Internet Explorer, click on "Add to Favorites" from
the Favorites" pull down menu.)
|During the Internet-based Lesson:
- Start with an activity that introduces the topic. The activity
might provide background information or introduce vocabulary words,
and should get students excited about the lesson.
- Demonstrate what you expect the students to do during the lesson.
Use this time to:
- Check for comprehension
- Encourage students to predict outcomes
- Solicit inferences
- Highlight a point
- Define vocabulary
- Draw comparisons to real-life events
- Give students a specific Web-based task to focus their attention.
You might ask them to gather information or to complete a task
during or after their time on-line. The task must specifically
require their use of the Internet.
- Always monitor students while they are on line to keep them
on task and away from inappropriate or unrelated material. (See
Setting an Acceptable Use Policy, below.)
After the Lesson Off-line:
- Give students a culminating activity during which they will
apply, reinforce and demonstrate what they learned during the
- Always try to make the activity hands-on and interactive.
Acceptable Use Policies and Copyright Issues
1. Develop a school-wide Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). Have each
student sign it and keep copies on file. Go to www.wnet.org/wnetschool/primer/setpolicy.html
for more information.
2. Teach students that copying information from the Web without
citing the source is plagiarism, just as copying from books is plagiarism.
Cut and Paste tools just make it easier! Show them how to cite their
Web sources, making sure they cite both text and images. They must
include the author, title of the resource, source, copyright date
and URL. For example: Landsburg, Steven E., "Who
Shall Inherit the Earth?" Slate 1 May 1997. 2 May 1997. For
more information, go to the interactive
3. Teach students how to obtain permission for use of copyrighted
Time-Savers: Bookmarks, Saved Images, Printer Queues:
1. Save Bookmarks to Network Accounts, floppy discs, online providers
or word documents. This will save you time and help manage the computer
desktop and/or hard drive. Using Netscape, go to "Edit Bookmarks"
under "Bookmarks" on the pulldown menu. Go to "Save As" under "File."
In Internet Explorer, go to "Open Favorites" under "Favorites" on
the menu. Then go to "Save As" under "File." In both browsers, the
Save function lets you designate where you want to save the list.
It also allows you to name the file. You can also cut and paste
a URL into a word processing document using your computer's "Copy"
and "Paste" commands.
2. It's a good idea to learn how to capture an image and save it
for later use. Software like
ClarisWorks and the new version of Microsoft
Word have this capability. Many teachers use Webwhacker to capture
images and pages and save them for later viewing with students.
Check out http://www.bluesquirrel.com.
3. Avoid long printing queues by having students copy and paste
only essential images and text into a word processing document.
Show students how to send only one particular page of an entire
Web site to the printer.