Source: Learning & Leading with Technology, Volume 27 Number 4 p.11-14, article by Frank Odasz
Today’s interactive world has brought about possibilities never before possible. We have moved beyond the walls of the Information Highway, where the “data smog” exists, into the E=MC2 world of reality-based dynamic education, where Education = Meaningful Communication X Collaboration.
How to Integrate the Top 10
Internet Tools into the world of Education
v E-mail: By far the most
commonly used collaborative tool for one-to-one or one-to-many communication,
e-mail offers students the ability to reach outside the classroom walls. When utilized as an educational enhancement,
e-mail is useful for collaborative and project-based learning activities. Modeling appropriate use of netiquette is
essential to maximizing the benefits of e-mail as a tool to teach skills in
teamwork, time management, polite, accurate, and meaningful communication (SCANS), and to demonstrate maturity.
Resources:
· WebTeacher: www.webteacher.org
· Reach for the
Sky: www.learner.org/courses/rfts/b3web.htm
· Free e-mail
accounts: www.yahoo.com, www.hotmail.com
· Netiquette
Guidelines: http://midir.ucd.ie/~cconaty/struct1.html,
www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Edu/ICG, www.fau.edu/netiquette/netiquette.html
v Internet Mailing Lists: Often
referred to as listservs, mailing lists are one-to-many topic-oriented
discussion groups. Messages are sent to
all subscribers. Some listservs are
moderated (a person manages, edits, and organizes the message before the group
receives it) and some listservs are not (any message may be posted regardless
of relevancy or obscenity.) The
quality of the discussion in a listservs is determined by the experience and
personalities of the participants and the moderator’s ability to steer the
discussion.
The educational use of listservs might involve discussions
between teachers in curriculum writing, planning thematic units, grant writing,
technology integration ideas, or educational updates. Older students might also have the opportunity to moderate
homework or TAAS study groups or hotlines, collect survey and research information,
plan and execute collaborative projects.
Resources:
v Newsgroups: These offer
site-based one-to-many, small group, and public interaction. Newsgroups can be read with the newsreader
feature of any browser. Discussions
are, again, limited by the participant’s ability to communicate and expertise.
Private newsgroups, accessible only to certain students have obvious
advantages. Some newsgroups allow the
storage (archiving) of older discussions or threads, viewable at anytime,
whereas Internet mailing list messages are sent directly to an individual’s
mailbox and may be deleted.
Resources:
· www.learner.org/courses/rfts/b5web.htm
v Bulletin Board Systems (BBS): BBSs allow site-based (server-based) one-to-one,
one-to-many, or public interaction usually in the form of Web-based
conferencing. Users are required to go
to the BBS to read & post messages.
Colleges have uses BBSs for
years to post course assignments, discussions, and to allow students to ask
questions for the benefit of the entire class.
The Discovery Channel offers students BBSs related to educational TV
programs where student discussions with celebrities and top scientists take
place.
Resources:
v Web Conferencing (or Graphical Collaborative Environments):
Web conferencing is a generic term for public
interaction in Web-based environments whose features may vary from Internet
mailing lists, Web messaging systems, chat, and file, photo, or music
sharing. Private Web conferences can be
created by educators at: www.ecircles.com.
Resources:
v Internet Relay Chat (IRC):
IRC allows for “live public one-to-one and one-to-many interactions. This usually requires the installation of
chat client software on the local computer system. Live text interaction occurs in real time, which offers the additional
limitation of typing speed & ability.
Most chat systems allow aliases, which can protect the participant but
often promotes unabated trivial or sexually oriented communication. Thoughtful use of chat can allow students to
read and share more information than in a regular classroom.
The SUPERNET consortium combines chat to enhance collaboration during teacher training with Ethernet-based Interactive TV in 15 school districts orchestrated by the Southwestern Educational Development Laboratory. We have found that chats “on-the-side” (with facilitators at each location) assists the coordination effort to bring 135 East Texas teachers into the learning process.
Resources:
v IPhone and Internet Radio: Internet telephone and
audioconferencing for one-to-one or one-to-many and Internet radio capabilities
allows anyone to host a free international Internet radio station in real time
or a free two-way phone conversation on the Internet. At www.real.com you can
download a program that gives clickable access to more than 1,000 radio
stations.
Classroom activities could include broadcasting a student-created radio program, sampling radio programs from all over the world, classroom exchange of student radio broadcasts, live phone conversations from classrooms anywhere on the globe—perfect for foreign language classes, cultural exchanges, and research opportunities.
Resources:
· www.nexus.org/Internet_Radio
v Desk-top Videoconferencing: Using
an inexpensive color video camera, free software, a computer, and an Internet
connection, you can collaborate using two-way video with audio. Limitations of quality (jerky or distorted
motion and raspy audio) for this process, of course, will depend upon the
bandwidth available to you.
Instructional applications might include short sessions in classroom exchanges as an enrichment to Keypals activities. Another popular use of the video camera is to place it for automatic Web page updates (every 15 seconds) in observation mode.
Resources:
· CU-SeeMe for Schools www.gsn.org/cu/index.html
· QuickTime Virtual Reality for
Educators: http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~qtvr
v Internet-based Interactive Television (ITV): Until recently, ITV
capabilities have required large budgets and high capital investments. ITV (full 30 frames per second) has now
become a reasonable feature of collaborative learning in classrooms by allowing
one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many interaction using real time audio
& video. Equipment costs and
bandwidth demands have dramatically been reduced.
SUPERNet (Schools United to Provide Enhanced Resources
Network) consortium of East Texas has successfully implemented Ethernet-based
ITV in 15 school districts and is poised to collaborate with NETNet (North East
Texas Network of Higher Educational Facilities and Hospitals). This year we have successfully delivered
staff development from SEDL in Austin, Texas to 135 teachers in participating
school districts in East Texas. Each
district has hosted community ITV sessions for the Adult Literacy Council and
health related discussions from area hospitals.
OTHER
Resources:
· WebWacher: www.bluesquirrel.com/products/whacker/whacker.html
· www.mediabuilder.com/tutorials.html