Integrating the Internet into Instruction

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Integrating the Internet into
Instruction

• By Rhonda Christensen rhondac_at_tenet.edu
• http//courseweb.tac.unt.edu/rhondac/
• CECS 4100

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Planning How to Begin

• Supplement, Not Replace Curriculum
• Assess Needs/Desires
• Build on Existing Curriculum
• Have Short-Range Goal/ Reward Incentive
• Develop evaluation tools in planning stage
• Decide Who Leads, Who Follows
• Commercial vs. Not-for-Profit
• Existing Project vs. Home Brew
• Teacher Buy-in is Key
• Find Niche
• On-line Clearinghouses
• Journals
• Conferences

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Internet

• Network of Networks
• Share common protocol (TCP/IP)
• 22 million users as of 1994
• 51 million in US/Canada alone by 1997
• Net Population Approaches 429 million
• US and Canada 41
• (Source www.digitaldividenetwork.org)
• Growth Rate was predicted 70 Per Year
• (Source IEEE Computer Magazine, Vol. 30(5),
  5/97 p.11)
• Although most schools are connected to the
  Internet, most classrooms are not.

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Planning Traveling on the Internet

• Access Tools Resources
• Electronic Mail, Chat
• Listservs
• Telnet, FTP
• WWW Browsing/Searching
• Audio Bridges/Internet Phone
• Streaming Audio and Video
• SSTV/CU See-Me/Desktop Videoconferencing

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Planning Types of Learning Approaches in
Educational Computer Networks

• Ask an Expert
• Electronic Mentoring
• Impersonations or Appearances
• Tele-fieldtrips
• Tutor Support
• Peer Interaction
• Adapted from Harris, Judi. (1994). Way of the
  Ferret. ISTE.

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Types of Approaches -Cont

• Information Exchanges
• Structured Group Activity
• Electronic Publishing
• Pooled Data Analysis
• Research on the Internet
• Publishing on the Web

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Implementation General Guidelines

• Start Small, Be Flexible
• Budget for Training
• Use Successful Models as Guiding Lights
• Big Three (NGS Kids, ATT Learning Circles, TERC)
• Air/Water
• Emissary
• Many Others

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Case Study Water and Air Projects

• E-mail based
• Need for Curriculum-based Projects
• Structured Project
• International in scope
• http//courseweb.tac.unt.edu/rhondac/global/global
  .htm

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The Water Project

• Introductory Unit
• Module One Water in Our Communities
• Module Two Using Water in Our Past
• Module Three Using Water Today
• Module Four Caring For Our Water

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Project Timeline Example

• Feb 13-Mar 3 Introductory Unit
• March 3 Deadline for transmission
• March 6-24 Study of Module One
• March 24 Deadline for transmission
• April 24-May 5 Study of Module Four
• May 12 Deadline for transmission

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Evolution/Enhancements

• E-mail Foundation
• Special Audio Exchanges
• CU See-Me Experimentation
• Web Site(s) Supplements

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Important Elements for Implementation

• Planning Ahead
• Teacher Support
• Manageable number of classrooms
• Dedicated Teachers
• Caution if participating in key-pal only
  projects
• Setting specific guidelines and time frames
• Awareness of different school schedules

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Benefits in Networking the Classroom

• Cooperation/Collaboration
• Interdisciplinary
• Incidental Learning
• Expanding the ability to communicate

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Benefits - Cont

• Communication with Experts outside the classroom
• Relieves isolation
• Increase in motivation
• Student accountability

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Barriers to Implementation

• Equipment availability to teachers
• Language barriers
• Time constraints for teachers

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How to Post Your Own Project

• Post to newsgroups or on-line conferences
• (http//www.iearn.org/projects/index.html)
• Subscribe to a listserv (IECC)
• (http//www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc)
• Read Classroom Connect Publication
• (http//www.classroom.net)
• Visit web sites such as Global Schoolhouse
  Network Foundation
• (http//www.gsn.org)

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Social and Educational Issues

• Censorship
• Who owns/controls the Internet?
• Who makes the rules and who enforces them?

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Access Issues - The Digital Divide

• 429 million people online globally
• 41 of the global online population is in the
  United States and Canada
• 27 of the online population lives in Europe, the
  Middle East and Africa(25 of European Homes are
  online)
• 20 of the online population logs on from Asia
  Pacific
• Only 4 of the worlds online population are in
  South America
• In fall of 2000, the U.S. Department of Commerce
  found that 51 of all U.S. homes had a computer
  41.5 of all U.S. homes had Internet access
• White (46.1) and Asian American Pacific
  Islander (56.8) households continued to have
  Internet access at levels more than double those
  of Black (23.5) and Hispanic (23.6) households
• From http//www.digitaldividenetwork.org

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Filters

• Software such as CyberPatrol, CyberSitter,
  TattleTale, SurfWatch, The Internet Filter,
  CyberSnoop, etc.
• Monitors, filters, analyzes and logs internet
  access
• May block data transfers
• May tattle to parents via email
• How much protection do the offer?

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Acceptable Use Policies (AUP)

• Expectations
• Rules and consequences
• Privilege, not a right
• Parental permission
• User agreement
• All involved parties sign

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Value of the Internet

• The Internet is a valuable educational tool for
  our children.
• Wealth of informative material
• Helpful for school projects/research
• Communication tool of their generation

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Tweens and Teens

• 78 of American youth go online 92.7 GS MS kids
  are online
• 92 of online teens use email 68.9 GS MS kids
  have their own email addresses
• 71 of online teens said that they used the
  Internet as the major source for their most
  recent big school project
• 74 of online teens use IM 66 of younger teens
  (12-14) go online and use IM 66.5 GS MS kids
  use IM

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Concerns About the Internet
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Are Children Safe?

• According to the National Center for Missing and
  Exploited Children (NCMEC) over 25 million
  children (10-17 yrs.) are on-line
• Teens spend more than one hour per day on the
  Internet 48.1 GS MS kids spend more than one
  hour per day on the Internet
• Top three sites visited are chat rooms, instant
  message rooms and game/newsgroups

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Are Children Safe?

• NCMEC survey found that
• One in five teens had received a sexual
  solicitation
• One in four had received exposure to pictures of
  nude people or people having sex.
• Close to 60 of teens have received an IM or
  email from a stranger and 50 report emailing or
  IMing with someone they have not met before
  14.9 GS MS kids have been asked for personal
  info. from strangers on the Internet

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Are Children Safe ?

• Only a small percentage told their parents
• Many are not even telling their friends
• Children may think they are chatting with another
  child only to find out later they are
  corresponding with an adult.
• The perpetrator lurks in a public chat room
  targeting a particular type of child - usually
  the more quiet ones.

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Instant Messaging (IM) vs. Chat

• IM is a private chat between two people.
• Chat rooms are chat groups where people can come
  and go or join a chat room walk into the
  room, follow the conversation for a bit and
  decide if it is a place you want to be
• When you send a message in a chat room, everyone
  in the chat room can read it.
• Moderated chat rooms
• Pro Allows more control (someone is watching)
• Con Allows more control (someone is in charge)

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Social Issues - A Growing Concern

• IM/Chat are mediated by a screenprotected from
  emotional reactions
• there is a technology between you and the
  person with whom you are communicating
• Lack of cues
• They are often in a world where parental
  supervision is almost non-existent
• When they are on the computer you are never quite
  sure if they are doing their homework or talking
  with friends or strangers online

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Social Issues - Online Etiquette

• Lack of social norms
• Talking about people while they are in the chat
  room
• Ejecting people from a chat room - power
• Not only do IM and Buddy Lists interfere with
  homework they are an unparalleled medium for
  creating interpersonal conflict, as well as
  disseminating gossip and rumors
• 57 have blocked messages from someone they did
  not want to hear from and 64 have refused to
  respond to instant message from someone they were
  mad at.

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Social Issues - Online Etiquette

• 37.0 of GS MS kids have received an email or IM
  that was hateful or insulting
• 17.4 of GS MS kids have sent one that was
  hateful or insulting
• 11.5 of GS MS kids have received an email or IM
  in which they felt threatened
• Of those, 60 told their parents - 40 did not

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Social Issues - Buddy Lists

• Buddy Lists have become a symbol of social
  status. Those with the most names are considered
  the coolest. Some have more than 90 on their
  buddy list. In this sort of environment, leaving
  someone off your buddy list is a stinging rebuke.
  It is yet another way for cliques to form.
• This is more common in girls than boys.

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Social Issues - Identity Crisis

• Many teens lead secret lives and engage in risky
  behavior online
• More than half (56) of online teens have more
  than one e-mail address or screen name 21 have
  more than four
• 92.9 GS MS kids have a screen name 37.2 have
  more than one 9.7 have four or more

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Resources for More Information

• www.wiredkids.org
• http//www.safekids.com/child_safety.htm
• www.protectkids.com
• Pew Internet and American Life Project Study -
  www.pewinternet.org
• http//www.family.org/cforum/fosi/pornography/
  Click on Quick Facts
• www.safeteens.com
• National Center for Missing and Exploited
  Children (www.missingkids.com)
• GetNetWise (www.getnetwise.org)
• Growing Up Digital The rise of the net
  generation
• by Don Tapscott

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References

• Lenhart, Amanda. (2003). Generation IM Teens and
  Technology. The Findings of the Pew Internet
  American Life Project. Available
  http//www.pewinternet.org
• Owsley, Suzie. Is Your Child Safe on the
  Internet. Available http//www.eurekapd.org/inet.
  htm
• Weiss, Daniel, L. (2003). Going online Youth
  the Internet. Available http//
  www.family.org/cforum/fosi/pornography/facts/a0026
  839.cfm