Evaluating Information

Evaluating information on the web is something that every frequent internet user should know how to do. Some things to pay attention to when searching are, who published the site? If a credible publisher published a site it is more likely to be legitimate. Another question to ask yourself is, is the author biased? If a scientist in support of cancer research writes an article supporting it, it is safe to say that he is biased because he is so involved in the issue. Something else to think about is, can the information on the site be verified? It is good to check up on information you find on the web on other sites. If the information seems true across the board then it has been verified. If contradicting information is found then the site is probably not legitimate. A last thing to check on a site would be when was the site was last updated. If it was recent then whom ever runs it keeps up on what is current. If it hasn't been updated for years then the site probably doesn't have the best information. 

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are great classroom tools. They come in many different types like charts, storyboards, writing webs, and venn diagrams. KWL charts are a great tools when starting a new lesson. Children discuss what the Know, what they Want to know, and what they have Learned in the end. Story boards help children to plan out writing or better understand a book they are reading in class. Writing webs also help with planning out reports and papers. Venn diagrams are great in discussing similarities and differences of about almost anything. In conclusion graphic organizers are great to spice up a lesson. They help kids get a deeper understanding and can be created on a lot of Microsoft software. 

Useful Websites For Educators & Students

Useful websites for educators and students are a great resource in the classroom. Sites that support teachers and what they do are excellent for running a classroom with a little, necessary, help. Some great site for teachers in specific content areas are:

www.ncte.org (National Council of Teachers of English)

www.nctm.org (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics)

www.nsts.org (National Science Teachers Association)

www.ncss.org (National Council for the Social Studies)

www.cec.sped.org (Council for Exceptional Children) 

Children too can benefit from great websites. They can find help for things they are struggling with or find neat educational games to play for practice. They can find sites to help them do projects or great ones to use as search engines for research projects. 

Some great sights are:

 

www.trisystemsinc.com/kids (Great search engine for kids) 

www.busyteacherscafe.com/kidsite.htm#General%20Websites (Lists tons of  kids websites)

CopyRight In The Classroom

CopyRight in the classroom is an important point of discussion. CopyRights protect work that people have created from being taken and used by other people, for a magnitude of reasons. Above all taking someone's work and claiming it as your own is plagiarism and is punishable by expulsions and lawsuits. Fair use depends on how you use someone's work. Simply speaking, you cannot gain from using someone's work. Ideas can be put in a paper you wright but the ideas themselves must be referenced. Sharing material with your classroom for educational purposes is sheltered under fair use, with references to who's work it is. 

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office is a great tool for classrooms and for the average individual. Personally I have Microsoft Office for Mac, which is a little different then your average Microsoft Office. It took some getting used to, as I'm sure, Microsoft 2007 took getting used to for those of you that have brand new software. Microsoft Office, for Mac, includes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Entourage, and as a bonus MSN Messenger. Microsoft Word is great for writing papers and taking notes. It's an excellent program that I, personally, use everyday. Children in the classroom can also use this program to help them with their spelling when the write papers, and to keep track of how many words used. Microsoft Excel involves spreadsheets and is great for math class. It can help with computations of almost any sort and organizes data very well. It is also great for graphing of all kinds. This could be useful in a science classroom to view data from an experiment. Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation based program. It is excellent in place of a poster board project. Children can take an assignment and turn it into a great learning tool for the rest of the class as well as themselves. 

Teaching With Digital Images/Videos

Teaching with digital images and videos really pull children into a lesson. Visual learners benefit greatly from the images and videos that are shown. When related to lesson plans videos can help create a deeper understanding of what it is that children are actually learning about. Also they are fun. Kids like to watch videos even if they are short clips or songs about science, they help and they are fun. A catchy song about the path that blood takes through our arteries can really help students to remember for a test. A video that displays mitosis can also help kids to visualize the process instead of a teachers dipiction with chalk.

Internet Safety

It is important for children to be safe onine. Monitoring their online use creates a safer internet situation. Using firewalls to block sites that you do not wish children or students to view is a great idea. Warn children about online predators and chat rooms. Perhaps prohibit or monitor chat room usage. Find child friendly sites and introduce them to the children so they are aware of what "good" sites are. Be clear about what activity is okay and what activiy is not online. Be careful about giving information out over the web because it can put you at risk for identity theft.

Wiki's

Wikis are a useful tool. They are information containers that anyone can input information into. For this reason if you research on wikis you should be wary of misinformation. It might be useful to double check information in other place. Experts monitor wikis and correct misinformation whenever it is found. Wikis are a great place to share facts and information from those who know them best. Want to know about astrology, ask an anstrologer who has deposited his knowledge on a wiki and monitors and adds to it frequently.

Blogs

Blogs can be great for classroom use. A teacher can create assignments through blogs and put the information there for the children so it can't be lost or "eaten" by a dog. Also if a teacher pays good attention to a blog it can be a place for children to get help on homework either from the teacher herself/himself or from other students in the class the use the blog. Children can be assigned blog assignments. They can each get a question to answer about a topic the whole class will be starting soon. Each child can research and blog about the information they find. In this way the blog becomes a resource for information. The teacher can follow behind kids, correcting misinformation and grading those that performed the task. It would be an assignment in itself. Most of all, children that do not live close could better help or tutor friends and classmates through the class blog. Its a great place outside of the classroom, to be a class.

Interactive White Boards

Interactive white boards are great for classrooms. The board connects to the computer and a projector. Anything you could do on the computer can be projected onto the white board. They are interactive as well so the whole class can get involved at times. They are great for showing online videos and educational websites. They are also good for reviewing directions before, say an experiment in a science classroom. Kids seem to love the white board and want to use it interactively as often as possible. 

Search Tools For Elementary Education

There are many different search tools for elementary children. Websites such as the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary can help with vocabulary homework. Also Fact Monster can help kids collect information for projects. Be careful about which search engines or directories you allow children to use, though, because they can be quite distracting depending on the sight.

Integrating Technology Into Writing Lessons

Technology in a writing lesson is a great way to help children get an assignment done well. Children can use the internet to look up information if they have a research project one a topic. This can cut research time in half. The children won't nessicarily have to visit a library or search through big books for tid bits of information. Also when writing a paper children can use Microsoft Word to write down ideas, brainstorm, and type up the final draft of their paper. Typing also saves time. It is much faster to type up what you are trying to say then to write it on paper. Another useful thing that Word can do is spell check. For younger kids with spelling probelms, spell check will benefit them greatly. If a child writes a story he/she could be asked to draw up a story board on the Paint program of a computer.
Blogs can be great with homework assignments and help. If an assignment is posted a child can check every night and post questions and comments.
Visual learners can be assited with videos and podcasts. To see clips related to subjects that kids will write about will help them to better understand assignments.