acceptable use policy (AUP)
A written agreement signed by parents/guardians, students, and teachers which specifies the conditions under which students may use the Internet, defines appropriate and unacceptable use, and defines penalties for violating items in the policy.
bookmark
The feature used in Netscape Navigator and some other browsers to mark a location on the Internet so that you may quickly return there at a later time without having to do another search.
browser
A software program installed on your computer that allows you to locate and view pages on the Internet. It can also be used to organize and manage your favorite Internet resources. Many browsers include email and news features. There are several different browsers: Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, and Safari are three of the most popular. Most browsers are available in at least two platforms, Windows and Macintosh.
classroom homepage
A location on the Internet created by a teacher to communicate with students and parents, display the work the class is doing, and organize links to useful resources for students, parents, and other teachers.
cookies
Electronic requests for information from website administrators, which enable them to gather and record information about you from your computer whenever you visit their sites. Sometimes this information is used to direct you to locations you visit most often. Sometimes it is used for statistical purposes, such as determining how many people visit a site.
directory
A location on the Internet with extensive and well-organized links to websites dealing with a content area or important subject. Most are located at stable sites that do not change location often. Examples include: History/Social Studies for K-12 Teachers, Children's Literature Web Guide and Math Forum.
directory strategy
Teachers often find that a directory strategy is effective for locating useful instructional resources. Instead of using a search engine, they locate a directory in a subject area, set a bookmark, and then use this location to locate useful resources.
Favorites
The feature used in Internet Explorer to mark a location on the Internet so that you may quickly return there at a later time without having to do another search.
filters
Software programs that cause a computer to deny access to locations where certain words appear. Teachers and parents may edit the list of words used in this blocking software. Two of the most popular filtering tools include Cyber Patrol and Net Nanny.
homepage location
A homepage location is the page that appears first on your screen each time students connect to the Internet. You may select a homepage location of your choice by setting a preference, usually from the Preferences button in your browser's main menu.
HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language)
The programming language used to design webpages on the Internet.
HTML editor
A software program that allows you to design a webpage in the way you wish it to appear while automatically converting your design into HTML code. Netscape's Composer and Adobe's PageMill are examples.
hypertext link
Words or icons that take you to the location on the Internet that is linked to that item when you click it. A key element of Internet navigation.
Internet activity page
A page developed by teachers to help students organize the tasks in an Internet activity. Students complete the activities on the page and then bring it to Internet Workshop for discussion about what they have learned, new questions they have, and new literacies they have encountered.
Internet Driver's License
A "license" or document showing that a student is qualified and has permission to use the Internet. To obtain a license, students usually take one or more online interactive quizzes. These quizzes present various situations and then ask students to make choices about which response would be the most ethical, appropriate, and safe. When students complete the quiz successfully, they earn a license and the right to use the Internet in their classroom.
Internet Inquiry
An instructional practice using the Internet in a student-directed fashion. It usually contains five phases: developing a question, searching for information, evaluating the information, composing an answer to the question, and sharing the answer with others.
Internet Project
An instructional practice that uses a collaborative approach to classroom use of the Internet. Generally, Internet projects follow these steps: planning a collaborative project for an upcoming unit in your classroom and writing a project description; posting the project description and timeline several months in advance at one or several project registry locations, seeking collaborative classroom partners; arranging collaboration details with teachers in other classrooms who agree to participate; completing the project, most often using Internet Workshop as a forum in your own class for working on the project; and exchanging information with your collaborating classrooms.
Internet Workshop
An instructional practice often used by teachers who are getting started with using the Internet in their classrooms. It usually includes these steps: locating a site or sites on the Internet with content related to a classroom unit of instruction and setting a bookmark for the location(s); developing an activity requiring students to use the site(s); assigning this activity to be completed during the week; having students gather together to share their work, questions, and new insights about content and new literacies in a workshop session, often at the end of the week.
menu
A list of browser functions or features. You may select items such as File, Edit, View, and Help from the main toolbar menu. There are also pull-down menus that appear on screen when you select an item from the main menu. For example, if you click File on the main menu, you may then select from options such as New, Open, Close, and Print in the pull-down menu.
netiquette
Internet etiquette – basically the good manners, common courtesy, and knowledge of generally accepted online practices that allow successful electronic communication to take place.
new literacies
The new literacies of the Internet include the skills, strategies, and dispositions necessary to successfully use and adapt to the rapidly changing information and communication technologies and contexts that continuously emerge in our world and influence all areas of our personal and professional lives. These new literacies allow us to use the Internet and other ICT to identify important questions, navigate to locate information, critically evaluate the usefulness of that information, synthesize information to solve problems, and communicate the solutions to others.
online community
A group of people who use electronic communication technology such as mailing lists, newsgroups, bulletin boards, and forums to discuss and ask questions about a topic of mutual interest. Some groups make their postings available to anyone who wants to participate while others require subscription or membership in a sponsoring organization.
plug-in
A software program you can download from the Internet allowing you to read, view, or play multimedia features on a webpage.
search engines
Computers on the Internet that help you locate information by searching for sites containing words or phrases that you specify. There are numerous examples, such as Ask.Com, Google, and Yahoo for older students and adults; and Ask Jeeves for Kids, KidsClick, and Yahooligans for younger students.
server
A server is a computer in a network containing information or programs that are often shared with other computers. A webpage on the Internet is always located on a server.
Student-to-Student Activity
During a Student-to-Student activity, students first identify a useful Internet location related to their studies. Then they develop a learning experience for other students to complete using that website. This is often used as a culminating activity for Internet Inquiry or thematic units.
toolbar
A row of icons and/or labels appearing in a bar on a browser. Items in the toolbar let you access and use various features of your browser. The main toolbar often includes items such as "Back", "Forward", "Refresh", "Home", "Search", "Go", "Print", and "Stop." Other toolbars may include icons for mail, an address book, or instant messaging.
website Internet project
A website Internet project is a more permanent Internet project with its own webpage. Website projects are ongoing or restart periodically, and are often coordinated by an individual who can be contacted through the website.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
The address of a location on the Internet. For example, the URL for the
website that accompanies this book is: http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~djleu/fourth.html.
weblog (blog)
This definition is still evolving, but generally, weblog refers to a frequently updated website that contains reverse chronological postings of links to interesting sites and news articles on the Internet; usually created and maintained by a single author. Blogs are often focused around a theme and usually include comments from the site's creator and from readers. A small but growing number of teachers have created class weblogs or are using weblog technology to create classroom homepages.
WebQuest
An instructional practice, originally developed by Bernie Dodge, that has students answer a query by using pre-defined Internet resources to complete a specified task. Today, thousands of webquests are being created by teachers and students from around the world. They may use a variety of formats, but most quests include the following elements: an introduction including a query, the task definition, a description of the process, a list of Internet (and other) resources, guidance in organizing information obtained from those resources, and a concluding activity.
