Chapter 8: Integrating the Internet into the Curriculum

The Internet has has a profound impact on the social, economic, and political life of America...we have seen enormous changes in the way we conduct research, make purchases, learn about the world, live our lives.

Background on Web-Based Learning Activities
* Web-based activities hve great potential to enhance learning, but they are time consuming to develop and implement and difficult to design in ways that have substantial, positive, impact on students' learning.

* They are, in effect, asking teachers to document the relative advantage of online activities in comparison with other strategies they might use to accomplish the same purposes.

* Why is the curriculum-related purpose of the activity? Using the internet should not be thought of as an end in itself. The activity should accomplish some objective or purpose in required school curriculum.
* Does the internet enhance the activity? The rule of thumb is that if the activity could be done without the internet, it probably should be!
* How will students use online resources (as opposed to just locating them)? The object of the activity should be for students to do something with what they locate on the internet.
* Do students have the necessary information analysis/information synthesis skills or am I including these in the instruction? To make sure the project doesnt become an "information locating" exercise, it should call for additional, higher level tasks after the students find the information.
* Do I have the necessary time and support for the activity? Harris points out that two problems are frequently cited in the failure of online activities. First, online projects can take longer than other learning strategies, and teachers do not allow sufficient time. Harris recommends doubling the original time estimate. Second, any number of technical problems can and do occur during an online project. Teachers must make sure they have technical support to resolve these problems in an efficient way so as not to slow down the momentum of the project.

Types and Examples of Web-Based Lessons and Projects
* Some of the most exciting distance learning applications call for students to use technology as a means of collaboration so they can address significant problems or issues or to communicate with people in other cultures throughtout the world.

* Interpersonal exchanges - students communicating via technology with other students or with teachers/experts
* Information collection and analysis - using information collections that provide data and information on request
* Problem solving - student-oriented and cooperative problem-solving projects

Harris lists strategies she calls activity structures that fall under these three categories. Lessons based on a given activity structure all follow the same basic design, even though their content and objectives may vary.
* Electronic penpals or "keypals." Teachers link up each student with a partner or penpal in a distant location to whom the student writes letters or diary-type entries.
* Electronic mentoring. Dyrli (1994) referred to subject matter experts who volunteer to work closely with students online as electronic mentors.
* Electronic (or virtual) field trips. An electronic field trip in its simplest form fills classroom screens with visual images of a place considered to offer some educational value and to which students would not routinely be able to travel.
* Electronic publishing. When students submit their written or artistic products to a website, it is called electronic publishing. This allows their work to be shared with other students and visitors to the site.
* Group product development. Teachers have developed many variations of online group development of products. For example, students may use email to solicit and offer feedback on an evolving literary project, sometimes involving advice from professional authors.
* Problem-based learning. Sage (2000) described problem-based learning (PBL) as "learning organized around the investigation and resolution of an authentic, ill-structured problem."
* Collaborative problem solving - this model involves several students or student groups working together to solve a problem. These kinds of lessons were dubbed webquests by Bernie Dodge and Tom March at San Diego University and became a model for teachers across the country to use in creating their own lessons.
* Parallel problem solving - in this strategy, students in a number of different locations can work on similar problems.
* Data analysis - these activities give students access to data from real phenomena such as weather or solar activity.
* Simulated activities - these are the web equivalent of simulation software. For example, Hartley (2000) describes sites with a variety of virtual "labs" in which students can learn chemistry, physics, and math principles.
* Social action projects. In social action projects, students are responsible for learning about and addressing important global social, economic, political, or environmental conditions.

Integration Strategies for Web-Based Activities
* These types of projects help address a variety of classroom needs, and it is this match of activity types with needs that defines and shapes integration strategies.
* Web-based projects are so rich in resources and learning possibilities that each one can usually be used with more than one of the integration strategies discussed next.

* Support for student research. Students frequently use websites and web-based video resources and videoconferencing to gain insights into topics they are studying and to locate information for research papers and presentations.
* Motivation for writing. As discussed in Chapter 7 under the email section, strategies that have students writing for distance audiences help motivate them to write more and to do their best writing.
* Practice for information literacy skills. Locating and using information on internet sources has become a key part of classroom learning.
* Visual learning problems and solutions. Many sites provide access to data, images, animations, and videos that help students understand complex problems and guide them in creating their own solutions.
* Development of collaboration skills. Web-based projects provide reich opportunities for students to learn how to work together to solve problems.
* Multicultural experiences. Many web-based projects focus on broadening students' perspectives on their own and other cultures and providing insights into how their culture relates to others in the world.

Website Support for Web-Based Learning Activities
* Harris (1998) pointed out that websites can perform several different functions to support distance learning activities.

Website function type #1: Project overview, announcement, and application. Sites can introduce the goals and purposes of existing projects and invite people to participate.

Website function type #2: Tutorial instruction. A website can serve to deliver actual instruction and information on a topic or project.

Website function type #3: Information summaries and exchanges. Students can use websites to add information to a collection that will be shared with others. For example, KIDLINK's Multiculutral Calendar database is a collection of descriptions written by students of holidays and festivals around the world.

Website function type #4: Communication and support. Websites can serve as a virtual meeting place to support students' communications as they work together at distant locations. These websites can be even more helpful if they build in streaming video or videoconferencing.

Website function type #5: Displays of past and current student work. Students can use sites as web publications centers in which students show examples of their poems, stories, pictures, and multimedia products.

Website function type #6: Project development centers. Finally, websites sometimes are set up for the specific purpose of inviting new distance learning projects.

Assessing the Quality of Web-Based Lessons
* Hundreds of web-based activities are available for teachers to use in their classrooms or join online; some work better than others.
* Although webquests represent just one of many possible types of web-based lessons, the elements of this rubric actually apply to most of them.

Resources for Web Page and Website Development
* Development personal, professional, school, and project web pages and websites has become an excellent way for both teachers and students to learn the power of the internet, to participate in cooperative projects, and to display the project results.

Web Page and Website Authoring Tools
* Only a few years ago, web pages could not be developed without program authoring languages and scripting tools.

* Program authoring tools include: Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Java, Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), and Practical Extraction and Report Language (PERL).

* HTML is the internet standard for how web pages are formatted and displayed.
* Java is a high-level programming language developed by Sun Microsystems.
* VRML develops and displays 3-D objects on web pages.
* PERL and other programming languages. Developers can use PERL or another programming language to write Common Gateway Interface (CGI) programs that create dynamic documents.

Web development software. Web development tools generate HTML, CGI scripts, and other code so that users can devlop web page and website products without having to know programming languages.

Downloading, Images, Programs, and Plug-ins
* Several of the resources tat are useful in both developing and using web pages can be downloaded - that is, transferred from a website to your computer - free from company sites.
* Some of these are images, programs, (e.g., updated versions of browsers), and plug-ins or "player" programs that allow you to play audio and video clips in web pages.

Downloading images. The internet has been around in text format since 1969. However, it became the society-wide phenomenon we know today only when the first web browser, Mosaic, made it possible for the internet to appear on computer screens as images.

* Downloading an image from the internet is easy, but remember that many images you find on web pages are copyrighted.
* Several image formats, or ways of storing images, have been developed over the years to serve various purposes: either a certain computer or operating system required ir, or certain formats deal better with differences among image types (e.g., photos rather than drawn images or clip art).
* BMP - stands for "bitmapped."
* EPS - stands for "encapsulated postscript."
* PDF - stands for "portable document format."
* PICT - short for "picture" format.
* TIF - stands for "tagged image file."
* GIF - stands for "graphics interchange format."
* JPEG - stands for "Joint photographic experts group."

Images downloaded from web pages will be in either GIF or JPEG format.

Downloading programs and plug-ins. Web browsers made the internet visual, but subsequent developments gave it sound and motion. Special programs called plug-inshave been created to allow people to see and hear the multimedia features that make the internet increasingly lifelike.

*Updated browser versions - most new computers come with a browser program stored on the hard drive.
* PDF reader - this program lets you see portable document format files. These are pages stored as images so they may be printed out with a page appearance identical to the original document.
* Streaming video and audio player plug-ins - an exciting internet capability is being able to see action or hear sounds live on the internet. It is so called because it sends or "streams" images and sounds a little at a time so one need not download the files completely before using the contents.
* Movie player plug-in - videos that have been digitized and stored as movie files may be viewed through a plug-in.
* Animation plug-in - special programs that create animated content (e.g., sliding menus, games, movies) for the web also come with their own players.

File Transfer Options: Email Attachments and FTP Programs
* Two ways to transfer large written documents, graphics files, and programs from one computer to another include email attachments and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

Sending files as email attachments. One easy way to send files is merely to attach them to email messages. Browsers and email programs have built-in options for selecting files to send as attachments option from a menu while preparing an email message.

Sending files via File Transfer Protocol (FTP). A common procedure for uploading files to serves on the internet, FTP requires software and a server set up to receive files.

Procedures for Developing and Evaluating Web Pages and Websites
Required Development Resources
Teachers and students can use two different strategies to create their own web pages and websites:
* Creating pages from scratch and linking them, or
* Downloadingor "grabbing" existing pages and modifying them for your own use.

* Web development software - although you can create pages by programming them in HTML code, teachers will find that using web page development software is preferable; it is easier and faster,a nd it requires much less technical skill.
* FTP software - after developing the pages for your site, you must transfer or upload them to a server.
* Server to house the website - your website must have a "home, " that is , a computer or server on which it resides.

Caveats When Creating Web Page Information
* Limit sharing of personal information - because so many people will have access to your website, you may wish to limit personal information such as pictures and telephone numbers.
* Limit photos and large graphics - these take a long time to load and can be frustrating to users who wish to see the information on your site.
* Address web page criteria - use the same criteria for your own page that you wish to see in other sites.

Recommended Web Page Development Sequence
The following eight steps are recommended as a development sequence.

Step 1: Plan and storyboard. Planning and design are the most difficult and important - and most frequently neglected - first steps in developing a website.

Step 2: Develop pages with text. The next step is to create blank web pages and insert text elements such as titles, paragraphs of descriptions, and any text labels that will later serve as links.

Setp 3: Insert images and media. Pictures, animations, photos, and movies come next. Images and animations must be in GIF and JPEG format; movies and sounds must be in MPEG format.

Step 4: Insert links and frames. After all pages are designed, insert links or "hot spots" from text and images to other pages in the site and locations on the internet.

Step 5: Insert interactive elements. If desired, make the web page "interactive" by inserting Java applets, interactive forms, and mail-to commands to gather comments from users who visit your site.

Step 6: Test in a browser. Many development programs have a built-in preview system, but it is essential to test the site with an actual browser to observe how it will work when it is published on the web.

Step 7: Publish (upload) the site. For others to see created web pages, developers must place them on a server.

Step 8: Gather evaluation comments, revise, and maintain the site. The best websites are those that are updated regularly based on user comments and the continuing insights of the developers.

Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages and Website Design
* Good structure and organization - the first page of the site indicates clearly how to get to its various parts. Some sites do this with an option bar that appears at the top, bottom, or side of every page in the site.

* Clear text and/or graphic links - branches are organized so that you can get back to the main page in no more than three clicks. One device for large sites provides a link to a site map or an at a glance guide to the contents.

* Good visual design - pages are designed for good readability. A limited number of colors and fonts are used; fonts are easy to read, and colors are selected for contrast with the background.

* Easy navigation - pages load quickly. It's easy to get around in the site. Links are provided so you can get back to the main page from any part of the site.

Criteria for Evaluating Student Web Products
* As students begin to create their own web page products, it is helpful to give them criteria in the form of rubrics that describe the quality they are aiming for in each of several aspects.