Using the Internet in the Classroom

Listen to the podcast.

The web is revolutionizing the world. Can you believe it’s really only about 20 years that the internet was available to consumers? This podcast talks about how to find information on the internet and effectively use search engines and web directories, internet safety in the classroom, and some interesting developments coming soon to a web connection near you!A couple of the web directories we talked about in the podcast are Yahoo’s Directory and the Open Directory Project.

For a history of searching for web information and great background information, check the Wikipedia entry. Also check out the following pages for info on advanced search engine techniques:

Learn The Net’s search tutorials
Search Engine Watch’s search tips
Search Engine Watch’s Facts page about search engines
FreeFind.com’s Search Tips
Search Engine FAQ’s at Searcher
Searchengineshowdown’s page on searching tips

A great lesson plan that you can use to teach these advances searching techniques in the classroom can be found at AT&T’s Knowledge Network.

Also in the show, I mentioned that example of the student who found the page that looked credible, but suggested that the Holocaust never happened. Here’s an article from the sake guy that did the workshop at my school 8 years ago! The article can be found at Alan November’s website . Another great article on the subject of evaluating information validity can be found at The Virtual Chase .

A couple articles and websites on online safety for kids can be found at the following sites. Make sure you check out Cybersmart’s web page and look at their free K-8 Curriculum!! Some other great sites are:

Wired Safety
Netsmartz
Isafe
National Institue on Media and the Family
Colorado DOE’s web page on internet safety

Want to see some cool pages talking about (or living the life of) Web2.0? Check out some of my favorite W2.0 pages and applications:

Wikipedia
O’rielly’s page defining Web 2.0

Examples of cool Web2.0 sites. Note the powerful value of collaboration on many of these sites, and the emphasis of popular opinion on rank and value of information and resources on these sites. That’s an important aspect of this emerging generation (some call it “postmodern”) and therefore an important aspect of these sites as well:

Flickr
Wikipedia
Del.icio.us
Youtube.com
Myspace.com
Google’s Docs site
Google Maps
Skype.com
Dodgeball.com