TEACHING USING TECHNOLOGY

Literacy of the Internet:

 

The following are a list of links to resources that educators may find useful when using the Internet for integrating and using technology: They are based on a presentation by Cathy McLaren at the ManACE Technology Information NIght, November 30th, 2005 in Brandon.

• Boolean Search Skills

Much database searching is based on the principles of Boolean logic. Boolean logic refers to the logical relationship among search terms, and is named for the British-born Irish mathematician George Boole.On Internet search engines, the options for constructing logical relationships among search terms extend beyond the traditional practice of Boolean searching. To learn more about using "OR", "AND" and even "NOT" in student web searches check out these links:

http://library.albany.edu/internet/boolean.html

http://library.nyu.edu/research/tutorials/boolean/boolean.html#

• Search Tools

Directories: Listing of web sites sorted and classified by subject. Great for broad, general topics. Does not index every word on every Web page.

• Yahoo!    http://dir.yahoo.com/
• The Canadian Search Directory      http://homer.ca/
• For kids: (may be censored for children)
  • Yahooligans!     http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/
  • KidsClick!    http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/
  • CyberSleuth Kids    http://cybersleuth-kids.com/
  • KidGrid    http://www.kidgrid.com/
  • Kids and Teens   http://dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/

Search Engines: Attempts to find and index as many pages as possible that contain the search words.

• Google    http://www.google.ca/
• Altavista    http://www.altavista.com/
• For kids: (may be censored for children)
• Ithaki for KiDs    http://kids.ithaki.net/
• Ask Jeeves for Kids     http://ajkids.com/

Portals: Combine a search tool and a directory, as well as other services such as email, web hosting, news, and other web resources all on one site.

• Yahoo!   http://www.yahoo.com/
• MSN    http://www.msn.com/

 

• Web Page Validation Tools
  • Separating fact from fiction: The Internet is unfiltered – unlike textbooks, literature, etc. found in our schools. We must teach students how to recognize the origin of information and to investigate the credibility of Web resources.
  • “Grammar of the Internet” – parsing a web site– breaking it into chunks
    If interested in additional tools check out Alan November’s web site for info like:
    • finding the publisher of a web site
    • learning the history of a web site
    • finding the external links of a web site

  http://www.novemberlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=60

• "Credibility of a site" -- Need some tools see:

• Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators   http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.html
• Cornell University Library: Five criteria for evaluating Web pages   http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/webcrit.html

• Research Skills:
  After students gather information in what ever form they need to be taught how to record it, interpret it, and present it.

• Note-taking: The Cornell System

  http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/cornell.html

• Research: Taking Notes

  http://www.factmonster.com/homework/t4takingnotes.html

• Citing Sources: Citation Machine   

  http://citationmachine.net/

 

**The above information was shared with the permission of Cathy McLaren, ICT Administrator of Brandon School Division. If you would like to run her short Powerpoint presentation, which includes more details, download it here.