Internet in the K-12 Classroom

Outline

Intro

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

 

 

Week 2 Prepare to Search the Internet About Favorites, Bookmarks and File Management Student research; creating a Works Cited Portal

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Jump to Assignments 1  2&3

Weekly Reader: Select an educational technology source below, read a recent article of interest, share a summary of it along with your views and a link Education Week eSchool News Pew Research Foundation CNN Education Electronic School

We are about to gather information from the Internet. How can we first set up an organizational structure on our computers to sort the URL links when they come in?

     Before we venture onto the Internet to collect useful links and resources, we must first prepare our computers to receive the information in an organized manner. We will do the following things:

1. Create a primary Favorites (Internet Explorer) or Bookmark (Netscape, Opera) folder to hold all our captured links. Inside this primary folder create any necessary subfolders to more precisely sort the material by concept.

2. If and When Needed: create a primary Download folder to hold all our captured pictures, sounds, movie clips, Web pages, PDF files, and any other downloaded material. Inside this primary folder create necessary subfolders to more precisely sort the material by concept. This is your own optional project. It is important to do, but not a part of this class.

     Keep in Mind: All digital filing is done with the use of folders and subfolders in a branching structure. This is universal. 

A Prototype of a Finished Folder

The directory structure to the left is an example of good URL organization. Content is stored in folders and subfolders.

Remember that you should have a similar URL folder in your browser's Favorites or Bookmarks. The example to the left is from Windows XP

 

 

 

 

The importance of Folder and File Naming in the classroom

In a class environment, where a teacher must collect dozens of folders and/or files from students for grading, the "Last Name First" naming convention is optimal. Properly submitted folders and files will look like a teacher's grade and role sheet. Teachers can ask students to also include one or two keywords to describe the folder or file's content.

 

 

 

	Week 2 Assignment 1:	Top Asgt 1 Asgt 2&3
	Create for this class a Favorites or Bookmark Folder now using your browser's Organize feature.  (If unsure how, finish the tutorial below first) This activity is for your own convenience for collecting useful links discovered in this course. You will not turn in your Favorites or Bookmarks.
	Post to the Discussion Forum your experiences at creating this folder and organizing your favorite Web addresses.

 Organizing URL Lists (Favorites and Bookmarks)

     Several methods exist for organizing favorites. The most obvious one is the Organization Window. To create your course saves folder, From Internet Explorer, click on the Favorites Menu and select Organize Favorites...

     Inside the Organize Favorites Window users can create a folder structure for future URLs and use the Move option to organize existing files. Select Create Folder and name your new folder.

Sorting On-The-Fly

     The quickest way to organize the Web sites you visit is to do it on-the-fly. When you Add a Favorite, pause in the Add Favorite Window long enough to create a New Folder before saving. If your IE Window does not look like the one below, click on Create in<<

     The process for Netscape is similar. Open Bookmarks Menu and select Manage Bookmarks...

     Notice in the picture above you can Add Bookmark or File Bookmark. File Bookmark allows you to create a New Folder. Use it now to create a course folder if you are a Netscape User.

How can I take my Favorites and Bookmarks to another computer?

     IE Users: To transfer favorites between home and work, copy your entire Favorites folder (or just a portion of it) to a diskette and take it to the other computer. Drag and drop the folders into the new computer's Favorites folder.  The copied links will automatically appear when you open the new computer's IE Favorites Menu.

     If you use a file compression program like WinZip, you can compress all or portions of your Favorites. You can then email them to yourself or to others.

     A nice free utility from PC Magazine called Favestogo will turn IE Favorites into a customizable Web page in one click. It's a very nice utility. Follow the link to get it.

     Netscape Users: Netscape saves bookmarks to a file rather than a folder. The file is called bookmark.htm. Thus, all your bookmarks are already stored as a Web page and can be easily copied to a diskette and used on another computer simply by double-clicking on the file.

Compatibility issue: Because IE uses a folder, and Netscape uses a file to store URLS, there is no easy cross integration of URL links. IE's Favorites do not include an Import option and cannot import the Netscape Bookmark.htm file. Netscape's Import option is for importing other bookmark.htm files. It will not import links from IE's Favorites folder.

However, IE can view Netscape's Bookmark.htm as a Web page and access the links. With Favesto go, one can convert IE's Favorites folder to an .HTM file and make it accessible to Netscape.

The Works-Cited Document:

Teaching Students to Organize Their Internet Research

      Saving URLS in the classroom with students during research projects is crucial for creating bibliographies and footnote pages. Copyright and Fair Use issues are important when gathering Internet resources. It is also important that students note where they've been so they may return for further research.

     HOWEVER: It is especially difficult for students to reliably save URLs in their browsers' memory because they are at the mercy of varying campus networks. Some schools have roaming profiles. Those students can use browsers to save URLs and their personal settings will follow them to all computers. If a school does not use roaming profiles, a student must save their URLs in a portable format, like a Word document. Because children can change schools, and profiles can crash, we recommend everyone learn to create portable URL lists in a Works Cited document.

     Whenever a teacher sends students onto the Internet to gather research a Works Cited document should be required. 

How to Create a Works Cited document

1. Open Word or another word processor

2. Create a table with two columns and at least 5 - 10 rows. (Rows can be added or deleted at any time. It is also possible to create a Works Cited document without using a table. Simply list the resource URLs and what was borrowed from them.)

Table-making icon in Word toolbar

 Hold down the mouse to select # of rows and columns

3. Keep the document open in the word processor while using the Internet. Whenever ideas, words, graphics, sounds are chosen, students must copy the URL to the left column and give a brief description of what they borrowed in the right column. Later, this information can be used to create bibliographies and footnote pages.

Web Sites on Mythology	Site Description
http://www.messagenet.com/myths/	Origins or Gods and quizzes
http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/	Greek and Norse Mythology compared; picture of Zeus
http://www.minotaur-websites.com/minomyth.htm	Minotaur story; picture of Minotaur
http://www.greekmythology.com/	Lots of biographies; copied quote from story of Hercules

The additional benefit of the Works Cited page is that students have a way to share resources with others. The class set of Works Cited documents could be compiled into a comprehensive topic portal for future use.

Learn Common Keyboard Commands:
Programs change but the keyboard is constant

One of the first things to teach Internet researchers is to use the keyboard shortcuts. Learning to copy and paste with the keyboard is an important time-saving step. 

Control C = Copy Control V = Paste

 

Note: Most all software applications have copy and paste options, but they are often in different places. The keyboard is constant. Learn PC keyboard commands or Mac keyboard commands once.

some other common keyboard shortcuts

CTRL+A: Select All CTRL+X: Cut CTRL+Z: Undo CTRL+B: Bold CTRL+U: Underline CTRL+I: Italic

Macintosh Copy/Cut/Paste Commands are similar to PC

	Week 2 Assignments (2-3):	Top Asgt 1 Asgt 2&3
	2. Create a Prototype Works Cited document to use with your classes. Collect at least five links that can be useful with your Curriculum Project. Attach the Works Cited document to a class post. Use .RTF format

Final Tip: How to put new links on your IE Links Bar: Simply drag and drop any visited Web site to your Links Bar. 

Adding ZDNet to the Links Bar. (Right click on new link to shorten name.)

 

Tips and Techniques for using Windows Explorer to Clean up extremely neglected Favorites folder

How to embed a hyperlink to a word or a picture so as not to have to paste long complicated Web addresses to your Word documents or Web pages

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