Web pages

Internet Basics Survey

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Search Tools

The following six search tools belong to three different categories. Can you group them?

* Google
* Librarians' Index to the Internet
* Dogpile
* AltaVista
* Yahoo Directory
* Ixquick

Study the URLs

* http://www.nytimes.com/pages/technology/index.html
* http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.htm


Do you know the function of these operators?

* Quoted Phrases
* The + Operator
* The – Operator
* The ~ Operator
* The OR and | Operators
* The .. Operator
* The * Operator


How much do you know about Google Search?

Suppose you are not using the operators above,

* Will Google return only pages that match all your search terms?
* Will Google return pages that match your search terms exactly?
* Will Google return pages that match variants of your search terms?
* Is there any word Google will ignore during search?
* Is there a limit to the number of queries?
* Does the distance between the two queries matter? ( eg. [ snake in the grass ], [ snake grass ])
* Does the order of query matter?
* Is Google case sensitive?




Evaluating Web Pages

1. Read Evaluating Web Pages
2. Read Evaluating Website.doc by Nell Duke
3. Evaluate the following sites:

All the following sites are about Immigration.
Please evaluate these sites and think about how you decide whether the site is good or not.
a) http://www.historychannel.com/ellisisland/index2.html
b) http://www.aiisf.org/
c) http://www.msu.edu/course/mc/112/1920s/Immigration/Jamiespage.html
d) http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/introduction.html
e) http://www.ellisisland.com/ellis_home.html
f) http://immigration.about.com/
g) http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/index.htm


Lab Section

1. Set up an account with Google Page Creator, Weebly or another web creation site. You might want to draw on some of learning strategies we talked about during week 1. Note: if you use GPC, make sure that you use the page that has the home icon in it as your home page!
2. Create the main pages of your site. At the very least you should have the following sections:
1. An Autobiography/About Me page. Students want to know who you are as a person and so do administrators. Devote at least one section of your site to this purpose. You might consider it like a bulletin board you would put up in your room.
2. Resume Page: I'm rather specific about this part. Because your resume is the most common piece that will be printed out, you need to have a version on your site that is in .pdf form. If you don't know how to convert a document to a pdf, click here. You can either link directly to the .pdf from your home page as the resume section, or you could include it as a "printer friendly version" or ".pdf version on an html page."
3. Teaching Philosophy: Don't be concerned if you haven't written a teaching philosophy yet. Most students in the past have not. However, by the time your portfolio is evaluated, you ought to have a draft you can build on as you continue through the program.
4. Technology Integration Project: You will build this section later in the course, but you can create the page and set up the links now.
5. Other types of pages that have been popular in the past, but are not required have been coursework, web resources, and lesson/unit plans.
6. As far as navigation is concerned, a person should be able to get to any of your major pages from any page. That means each page should have links to About Me, Resume, Teaching Philosophy, Tech Int. Project, etc.
3. For this week's Wiki Gallery Project:
1. Create your home page and five major sections pages that are linked to from the home page
2. On the home page, insert a picture, add text, and a link to your blog.
3. Give each page a clear title, and set up the links to each of the other pages.
4. Choose one other major section besides the home page to develop for this week. The remaining sections only need a title and working navigation links. As you build these pages, think about balancing your use of written texts with visual ones. In later week's will learn some technologies that will help us with this.
5. Update your portfolio link on the Wiki Gallery so that it links to your homepage.



Assignments

1. Find a topic you are interested in. Use Google to search for related information. Don’t just use Wikipedia! Write about what you have learned about this topic and what you have learned about search.
2. Respond to your classmates’ posts.
3. Continue working on your web portfolio.

Personalize the Internet

Survey

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Introducing RSS Feeds and Other Tools

1. What is RSS feed?
2. Google Reader, Bloglines, Pageflakes
3. iGoogle
4. Google Alert

Writings about RSS Feeds

1. Why RSS is crucial for a Blogging Classroom
2. Educause. (2007, April). 7 things you should know about RSS. Educause Learning Initiatives. Retrieved January 17, 2007 from http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7024.pdf

Discussion

1. Ÿ How will RSS help you as a teacher?
   
2. Ÿ How can your students use RSS readers?
   
3. Ÿ How can parents use RSS readers? (How about using blogs or websites?
   

Assignments

1. For your Weekly Gallery Project, do ONE of the following:
   1. Pick a topic you can see yourself teaching. Your goal will be to supplement whatever materials you have inside the class with the freshest content possible. Therefore, look for web pages specifically about your topic. Each page or blog, though, will need to have an RSS feed on them. Create a new folder in your Reader account in which you subscribe to at least 3 RSS feeds about your topic. Make this folder public and add it as a widget to your blog. I've included a Jing video below on how to do this.
   2. Imagine that you have parents asking for information about a certain topic (In my experience, this could be things like test-taking and study strategies, behavioral strategies, enrichment activities, etc. It usually starts with parents saying . . . "Hey, can you recommend . . .?" or "Where could I learn more about . . .?" Your task will be to look for web pages specifically about the topic you've chosen. Each page or blog, though, will need to have an RSS feed on them. Create a new folder in your Reader account in which you subscribe to at least 3 RSS feeds about your topic. Make this folder public and add it as a widget to your blog.
   3. As educators and advocates of lifelong learning, we are constantly seeking out new ideas and information to improve our teaching. Think about an area you want to focus on for development. Your task will be to look for web pages specifically about the area you've chosen for professional development. Each page or blog, though, will need to have an RSS feed on them. Create a new folder in your Reader account in which you subscribe to at least 3 RSS feeds about your topic. Make this folder public and add it as a widget to your blog.
   4. Here is a link to the Jing video that will show you how to make your folder public and add it as a widget to your blog.
2. On your blog, please create a post in which you talk about:
   1. Which of the three Gallery Projects you decided on and why. Be sure to provide us with enough context to so that we can understand the resources you have linked to. Please also create an embedded link to the public page url for your project (see the Jing video) as well as linking the permalink of the post to the Wiki Gallery (the Aggregator column please).
   2. Please also write about how you might use RSS feeds in your future teaching. You might want to think about each of the three categories above-- for student learning, for communicating with parents, and for professional development.

RSS feeds Lab

1. Set up a Google Reader Account.
2. Watch this Jing clip on how to add your classmates blogs to your reader account.
3. Create a new folder in your Reader Account where you subscribe to all of your classmates' blog. You might even want to subscribe to classroom blog as well.
4. Play with iGoogle and Google Alerts -- http://www.google.com/alerts
5. Use iGoogle to personalize your Google homepage

• Add gadgets onto your homepage: such as your google reader, weather, movie…
• Move the gadgets around
• Create tabs

Week 2: Blogs

Blog Survey

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Comparing Blogs and Websites

Directions: Below are 8 links to sites found on the web. As you look at each site, classify each site as either a website or a blog. When you have finished classifying each site, go back and create two lists that outlines the key features of both websites and blogs. That is, what are the defining characteristics of each that allowed you to classify each of the 8 sites as either a website or a blog?

A. http://www.educ.msu.edu/
B. http://www.mackenty.org/index.php/site/index/
C. http://www.assortedstuff.com/
D. http://technosavvy.org/
E. http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/
F. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
G. http://elps.k12.mi.us/education/school/school.php?sectionid=2

Discussion:
1. Classify each site as either a) a website or b) a blog and
2. Make separate lists of the key characteristics of websites and blogs. You will report back to the class on your work, so be sure to take notes.

Examples of Professional and Educational Use of Blogs

Read Seven things you should know about blogs
Locate one example of teachers using blogs in ways you find interesting.
You can go to Edublog Awards 2007 Finalists, you might try using a blog search engine such as Technorati or Google Blog Search, or you can also find a list of educational blogs here--There are different categories there, so be sure to scroll through the entire page.
Questions:

• How does the teacher use his/her blog? What is an specific example (a post or a comment)?
• What function does the blog serve?
• What do you think is the benefits of using blog this way?
• Do you have any critiques?
• What are some helpful strategies you are using to read the blogs?

Example: Grade 5/6NT Blog

Writings about Educational Implications of Blogs

• The Educated Blogger by David Huffaker
• Ferdig, R. E., & Trammell, K. D. (2004). Content delivery in the 'blogosphere.' T.H.E. Journal, 31(7), 12, 16-17, 20. link
• Echlin, H. (2007, January 7). Digital discussion: Take your class to the Internet. Edutopia. Retrieved January 13, 2007, from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-discussion-take-your-class-to-internet.
• Colombo, M. W., & Colombo, P. D. (2007). Blogging to improve instruction in differentiated science classrooms. Phi Delta Kappan, 89(1), 60-63. link
• Lesesne, T. S. (2006). Technology meets literature: Meeting authors through their blogs. Teacher Librarian, 33(5), 58-59. link
• Ishuzuka, K. (2006). History teacher 2.0. School Library Journal, 52(4), 26-27. link
• Richardson, W. & Mancabelli, R. (2007). High-tech inspires the read/write website. The Education Digest, 72(9), 14-18. link

Sell your blog ideas!

Think about the educational implications of blogs through the following group work.

Pro: try your best to persuade others to use blogs in your classrooms

• Explain what teachers/students can do with the blogs…(find and explain in detail at least three specific ways of using blogs)
• Explain the advantages of using blogs…
• Find out one particular blog to support your arguments, and talk about how this blog can be further improved.
  • You can find some examples from http://del.icio.us/CEP416Resources/blog
  • You can also search for blogs at: www.technorati.com or http://blogsearch.google.com/)

Con: try hard to avoid using blogs in your classrooms

• Better or alternative approaches?
• The disadvantages of using blogs?

Group 1: Teacher's Online Journal – created and maintained by the teacher himself/herself
Group 2: Student Blog – created and maintained by individual student
Group 3: Classroom/Student Group Bog – created and maintained either by the teacher or by a group of students

Blog Lab

Basic:

• To create a blog
• To create a post that includes text, a picture, and a link to an outside resource
• To leave a comment

Advanced:

• To tag/label a post (Why do we need this?)
• To create “Important Links”
• To edit "About Me" page
• To add a picture

Bonus:

• To add writers/members
• To restrict the right of commenting only to the members of the blog
• To embed a video

Assignments

• Create a post on your blog in which you a) devote at least one paragraph to each of the blogs you liked best and tell us what it was about them that you liked. Be sure to create an embedded link back to each blog so we can see the blogs you are referring to--hint, the links in this post are embedded links because they do not display the url address
• Capture some of your current ideas on how you might be able to use a blog in your teaching both as a classroom management tool and for student learning. Please try to tailor these ideas to the grade levels and subject areas you are most interested in teaching.
• Update your blog link on our Wiki Gallery. Here's a quick clip on how to do this.

Week 1: Introduction to Course

1. Discussions on a vision of k-12 students
   
   
   
2. Student and instructor introductions
3. Syllabus and course overview
4. Look through some of the past student galleries
5. presentation on Learning New Technologies