NAVIGATING THE INTERNET WITH EFFICIENCY AND A CRITICAL EYE

This chapter will explain how to take advantage of advanced browser tool functions to manage Internet resources in your classroom and how to locate information using search engines designed for adults and others designed especially for children. We will also explore several important issues related to navigation on the Internet: avoiding excessive commercialism on browsers and web locations; developing child safety policies; and weaving navigation and critical thinking strategies into classroom instruction.

Teaching With the Internet:  Joe Montero's Class

• During the first few weeks of school, students were asked to complete the Safe Surfin’ Driver’s Ed Challenge for Kids and Teens, an online quiz about safe Internet use. Once they could pass the quiz, Joe inserted each student’s digital photograph into a driver’s license template he created in his word processor. He printed out and laminated a “driver’s license” for each of his students and attached it to the signed Acceptable Use Policy statement as a reminder of the importance of safe Internet practice.

• Space Mysteries: Alien Bandstand is an interactive mystery that guides students through an inquiry-based investigation into the source of mysterious sounds coming from outer space.  This workshop activity helped Joe Montero's students develop Internet navigation strategies and space exploration during the first week of school.

Joe had always found such great content area sites for kids using the kid’s search engines Yahooligans  and KidsClick. This year he decided to more actively involve his students in locating and evaluating potential websites to include in their space unit.

• Joe's students used AltaVista Image Search and typed in the keyword 'space'.  Skimming past all the commercial links, they found Amazing Space Online Explorations.

•Students shared the online explorations they discovered at Amazing Space  and taught the rest of the class how to download the Flash plug-in from Macromedia.  Another student, proudly showed off the NASA Quest site  that he discovered, explaining how the class could meet real scientists online and learn more about their jobs at NASA.

In addition to students helping their peers, Joe made time for students to share new information they knew with him, the teacher.

Important Tools for Navigating the Internet

The two most powerful browsers are:

    •  Internet Explorer  and
    •  Netscape Navigator

A new browser known as Safari  was recently introduced by Apple and has rapidly gained popularity among Macintosh users.   All three browsers are free and easy to download from their respective homepages.

For an interesting comparison of the different features offered by Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, read through the Browser Comparisons section of the Finding Information on the Internet Tutorial  developed by librarians from the University of California at Berkeley.  It is used to locate and view webpage on the World Wide Web and can also be used to organize and manage your favorite Internet resources.

A Few Thoughts at the Beginning

If we are to effectively prepare students for learning with the Internet, we can no longer teach “navigation skills” as isolated technical steps that are separate from critical reading and meaning-making strategies. Many researchers are exploring the notion that comprehension strategies for reading webpages are interwoven with metacognitive strategies and navigational strategies (e.g., Burke, 2002; Coiro, 2003; Guinea, Eagleton & Hall, in press; Leu, Kinzer, Coiro & Cammack, in press; Schmar, 2003; Smolin & Lawless, 2003; Sutherland-Smith, 2002). Metacognitive strategies are used for searching, evaluation, and self-regulation, while navigational strategies are required for moving through multimedia environments with efficiency and purpose.

Internet Explorer:  A Powerful Internet Browser

Probably the most well-known and widely used browser for the Internet is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE). Available to download from Microsoft’s homepage , it is packaged with free components such as an email program, a newsreader, and an instant messenger tool.

For more information on how to use each of its features, you can visit the following sites:

• Microsoft’s How-To’s   Here you’ll find tips for customizing browser features and peer-topeer discussion boards about Internet Explorer issues and concerns.

• Internet Explorer (IE) in the Classroom   From here you can explore an interactive tutorial for Internet Explorer 5 from ActDen.

Netscape Navigator:  An Internet Browser with a Companion Webpage Design Program

•Netscape Communicator, available to download for free from Netscape’s homepage, is a site of several programs that work together. Navigator, the web browser, is packaged with other components such as an email program, a newsgroup reader, an address book, and an Instant Messenger, as well as a very user-friendly webpage development tool called Composer.

For more information, you can visit Netscape’s Online Help and Support or Netscape Essentials from UC Berkeley.  

Apple Safari:  The New Browser on the Block

Apple’s new browser, Safari was introduced in 2003.  Although the interface of the current version, Safari 1.0, is not packaged with any extra tools such as email or newsreaders.  Some of features include tabbed browsing, which enables switching between multiple webpages in a single window; snapback technology, which returns you to the point where you last typed a URL or selected a bookmark; and a free program that stops pop-up advertisements while you are browsing.   

Additional Resources

Traveling the Internet with a Web Browser  Here you’ll find a step-by-step browser tutorial complete with screen shots and short explanations of the tools and functions available within Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer on Windows and Macintosh platforms.

You can also learn about a few other features and special strategies for using each browser at Surf the Web: Web Browsers. Explore other online resources, such as:

•WebTeacher (windows)
•WebTeacher (macintosh)
• Learn the Net: An Internet Guide and Tutorial
• Global Connections Online

INTERNET FAQ It takes a long time to repeatedly click the Back button when I need to go back more than one or two locations. Is there a faster way to go back to a site I visited a while ago? Either click and hold down the Back button, or find the “Go” menu item and then click and hold it down.  You will see a list of sites you have already visited since launching your browser. Just highlight a location you wish to return to and you will go there immediately. Internet Explorer will even show you a list of places you have visited many days ago.

The following strategies will help you to organize, manage, and share the resources you’ve compiled with your students and your colleagues. Each is an important new literacy that will foster effective classroom use of Internet browser tools, including:

Designing a homepage location

Each browser has a series of menu steps to change the homepage location from the one that first appears on your computer.

•  If you look at your address window in any of the browsers, you’ll notice a tiny icon just before the URL in the address bar. In Explorer, you’ll be looking for a small blue “e” before the URL; in Netscape, it may be a bookmark icon, an @ sign, or the Netscape icon; and in Safari, the tiny icon in the address bar resembles a small blue sphere.

•  To  specify your homepage quickly in Internet Explorer, simply drag and drop this tiny icon on the homepage button on the Button Toolbar in your browser. You’ll be prompted with a window that asks if you want to make this website your homepage, and then the current homepage will automatically be replaced with yours when you start up your browser again or click on the toolbar’s Home button. In Netscape Navigator, you’ll need to drag this icon onto the Tab Toolbar at the top of your browser. In Safari, you are able to drag a URL to the toolbar and name it Home, but in order to force the browser to start up at this URL each time you open the browser (at least in the early version available at this writing), you’ll need to follow the older procedure of choosing “Safari” from the top row of commands in the window and then selecting “Preferences.

Removing and Replacing Commercially Motivated Links
on the Toolbar

If you are concerned about commercial aspects in any of the browsers, we suggest you do the following:

• Set your homepage for an appropriate content page, not the Microsoft, Netscape, or Apple page by following the directions in the previous paragraph.

• Remove all commercial items from your Favorites toolbar. To delete any links that you don’t want from the toolbar, in any of the browsers with a Windows system, simply right click on the icon for the website on the Favorites toolbar and choose Delete from the pop-up menu that appears. With a Macintosh computer, or a mouse with only one button, you’ll need to hold down the mouse over the icon until the special menu appears, and then choose Delete.

• Replace the removed items on your Favorites toolbar with your own favorites for classroom learning. By clicking on the tiny icon in the address bar, just before the URL, and dragging it to your Favorites toolbar just below the address line, you can fill your toolbar with your own classroom favorites. In Windows systems, if the link’s title is too long, right click on the icon, select Rename from the popup menu, and type in a shorter name.

Organizing Bookmarks within Folders for Classroom Use

You can easily set a bookmark for a favorite website by viewing the webpage in your browser and selecting Favorites from Explorer’s toolbar and then Add to Favorites, or selecting Bookmarks from Netscape’s toolbar and then Bookmark This Page. Bookmarks are useful in a classroom to help students save time in getting to useful Internet locations.

Internet Explorer Bookmarking
While viewing the page you want to bookmark in Internet Explorer, you may begin by selecting the Favorites button from the toolbar to open your list of favorites in a left-hand frame. Next, create a new folder by clicking on the Add button at the top of this frame, and then clicking on the New Folder button.  Type your new folder name into the box and select OK. Now you may rename the bookmark itself, if you’d like, by typing a new name into the Name box and then selecting OK to create a new bookmark in your folder.  To move your newly created folder near the top of your bookmark list, simply drag the folder up from the bottom of the left frame and drop it closer to the top, so that students can locate in quickly. Now, when they wish to access your newly organized resources, they can just click on Favorites, click on the folder and the new website will be listed inside the folder. Once this folder is created, you can add other bookmarks to this folder or drag bookmarks from your longer list into this folder.

Netscape Navigator Bookmarking
When using Netscape Navigator to organize your bookmarks, the process is very similar. To create a new folder and save a bookmark in it, select the bookmarks icon from the toolbar and then choose File Bookmark. Click on New Folder, enter the name of your folder, and click O. Your empty new folder will appear at the bottom of the list of folders and you’ll need to click on this folder to open it. Then, select OK and the webpage will be bookmarked within this new folder. To access the bookmark, select Bookmarks from the Browser Menu, highlight the Explorers folder, and the list of links will appear in a new pop-up menu to the right. For reorganizing bookmarks that you created earlier, select “Manage Bookmarks” from the Bookmarks menu. A new window will open with drag-and-drop features. For specific information about organizing bookmarks in the Navigator window, visit Bookmark Basics or for a more comprehensive list of tips, try Bookmark Management from the Web Institute for Teachers.

Apple’s Safari Bookmarking
If you wish to create new folders and organize bookmarks in Apple’s Safari browser, you may select “Bookmarks” from the top menu and then choose Add Bookmark Folder. To move bookmarks from one folder to another, you may select the tiny book icon on the left end of the toolbar and then drag and drop bookmarks in the right frame of the window into any of the folders in the left frame. One final thought to consider when managing bookmarks for your classroom is that you may also want to consider the advantages of creating folders labeled with the names of pairs or small groups of students. This practice may provide an easy link to individualized lesson resources while also encouraging students to participate in the process of critically evaluating and marking websites with information that addresses each student’s unique questions or interests.

E-MAIL FOR YOU From: Maya Eagleton <meagleton@cast.org> Subject: Determining the Relevancy of a Webpage: Edit>Find Strategy A widely underutilized but extremely powerful tool for helping students determine if a website has the information they seek is the “Edit>Find” strategy. Assuming your students have a clear idea of what they are trying to find (Eagleton, Guinee, & Langlais, 2003), have them use Edit>Find (Ctrl+F on PC; Command+F on Mac) to search for a specific keyword on a webpage. For example, one of my 9th graders wanted to know the horsepower of a Camaro Super Sport. Because his reading skills were not strong, and the information was buried in a visually confusing table, I suggested he try Edit>Find, then type the word “horsepower.” In seconds, he had information he needed, and I quote, “550 horsepower engine . . . Whoa!” Another nifty use of the Edit>Find strategy is to continue pressing “Find Next” to see how many times a keyword appears on a webpage This can be a speedy method for determining if the website is worth reading more thoroughly, or if the student’s focus of interest is mentioned only in passing. I cannot emphasize strongly enough the value of this EASY, SIMPLE method of evaluating the relevancy of a webpage for students’ inquiries. Remind your students to use it often!!! Respectfully yours, Maya B. Eagleton, PhD Senior Research Scientist, Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) http://mywebpages.comcast.net/meagleton Former K-12 Reading Specialist, Title I Coordinator, & Reading Recovery Teacher

Sharing and Exchanging Bookmark Collections with Others

There are several electronic tools that work in conjunction with your browser to support a collaborative information exchange.

The first tool is a “File Send” feature available in both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Suppose you come across SCORE’S Connecting California Classrooms to the World , an incredible resource for K-12 teachers in any major content area, and you want to quickly forward this resource to your grade-level partner at your school. Without leaving your browser, you can easily do this. With the website viewable from the browser window in Internet Explorer, click on “File” from the row of options at the very top of your screen and then select the “Send” option from the pull-down menu that appears. Selecting the “Page by Email” option will paste a working copy of the entire webpage, complete with all of the images, to your email program’s new message window. Selecting “Link by Email” will paste a copy of the website’s URL into the email message window. In either case, type in the email address of the person(s) you’d like to send the resource to with a short note about the website and click Send from within your email program. It’s that easy! In Netscape Navigator, the process is almost exactly the same. However, when you select “File” from the top row of commands in the browser, you’ll notice a separate Send Page and a Send Link option from the initial list of choices instead of in a separate pop up menu list. Again, selecting either option will open a new email message and copy either the whole page or just the URL into the contents of the message.

Another way of sharing bookmarks is to publish your bookmark list in a public place on the Internet.  There are a number of online resources that provide the tools and the virtual space to do this. If this sounds interesting, explore a few online bookmark managers, such as the following, to find one that’s best for you:

• IKeepBookmarks
• MyBookmarks
• BackFlip

Downloading and Installing Necessary Plug-Ins

If you are not directed to a site from which to download a specific plug-in, you may wish to explore a resource such as Pearson Education’s Browser Tune-up. The tools at this website scan the browser you are currently running and report whether or not your computer has the common plug-ins installed. If you have installed them, you can test each one to make sure it works. If you do not have them installed, you can easily download the plug-in most suitable to run on your computer.

Saving Webpages Onto Your Local Hard Drive, Disk,
or CD-ROM

Saving a webpage locally is actually quite simple to do. While using any one of the three browsers to visit the websites you would like to download, select File from the menu bar and then choose the Save As option. A small window will appear, prompting you to name the File. Type a new file name, select the small arrow at the end of the Save As Type text box and choose the option that says “htm html or webpage.” From this window, you should also select the location in which to save the page—either on your hard drive, on a floppy disk, or even on a CD-ROM or DVD if it’s a large webpage with lots of images and information. Now, just click Save and wait a few moments as your computer saves the entire website, images and all, onto your local drive. To download larger amounts of information such as a website so that all the internal links will be operable, you may want to explore software options (also known as “offline browsers”) such as the following:

•WebStripper (completely free)
•WebWhacker (free demo)
•WebCopier (free trial)

Of course, you’ll also need to be aware of copyright issues for saving websites on your computer and for using them with students.

Internet Search Tools and Navigation Strategies: Saving Time in Busy Classrooms

• How do I find the time to learn about the Internet?
 
By making Internet Workshop a part of your instructional program, you can help everyone in your class learn from one another. Often, our students will teach us as much about navigation as we will teach them. This is the one of the new realities of life with the Internet.

• How do I find the time to teach the Internet in addition to everything else?

The Internet should not become a permanent, separate subject for your students. Except for initial instruction at the beginning, the Internet should not require extra instructional time during the day. Even Internet Workshop should be seen as a time to learn about subject areas, not a time to focus exclusively on the Internet, especially after students develop beginning navigation skills.

• How do I quickly locate good sites on the Internet?

We need to learn to become efficient and more critical in finding useful and appropriate resources on the Internet. We also need to keep in mind that students and teachers often use search engines for very different purposes, and thus, the tools and strategies may be different as well.  We believe it is helpful to see these strategies from a teacher’s perspective first, and then follow up with a discussion of how and why we need to modify Internet searching to consider student issues such as child safety, acceptable use policies, and effective practices for students.

Powerful Search Tools and Strategies for Teachers

Locating Information With a Central Directory

Area	Central Internet Sites
Teaching and Learning (general)	• ProTeacher • Education World
Math (general)	• The World of Math Online • The Math Forum •  National Library of Virtual Manipulatives for Interactive Mathematics •  Interactive Math Dictionary for Kids
Social Studies (general)	• American Memory • History/Social Studies Web Site   for K-12 Teachers • History Matters •  Library of Congress
English and Language Arts (all ages)	• Imaginary Lands • Web English Teacher •  The Literacy Web
ESL	• Activities for ESL students • ESL: Study Lab
Multicultural Curriculum	• Multicultural Pavilion • Portals to the World
Early Learning Curriculum	• Enchanted Learning
Science (general)	•  Eisenhower National Clearance Center •  Keystone Science Network •  Exploratorium
Interdisciplinary Curriculum	• 42Explore • MarcoPolo Internet Content for the Classroom
Special Education	• Family Village

Locating Information With a Search Designed for Adults

There are countless search engines on the Internet to help you find information you require. A search engine uses a computer program to sift through sites on the Internet and locate items containing the key word(s) you enter.Each search engine has its own internal database of websites, although none search the entire Internet.

• Yahoo search function
• Yahoo web directory

Other search engines such as Dogpile and WebCrawler are called meta-search engines because they compile the results from several search engines into one convenient, yet sometimes overwhelming list.

Other popular search engines include:
• Alta Vista
• HotBot
• Lycos
• Excite

TEACHING TIP

A meta search engine compiles the results from several search engines into one convenient, yet sometimes overwhelming list.

Try these meta search engines:

• Ask Jeeves
• Dogpile
• Metacrawler
• Chubba
• Webcrawler

If you are looking for specific information quickly, the best search engine to try first is Google. It has a database of over 3 billion webpages that very quickly scans websites and returns to you a list of relevant websites with a short annotation and a link to the webpage. The articles are listed in rank order, with those most popular and relevant at the top of the list.

Locating Images and Audio Files

Some search engines include a separate image search function.

Google
If you click on the second blue tab labeled Images, you’ll be pleasantly rewarded with a listing of several images relating to your key word, ranging from clip art to paintings to black and white line drawings. Two other search engines that feature powerful tools for quickly locating images and other types of media are:
 
Alta Vista  and All the Web

If you are searching for sounds or audio files to supplement your classroom multimedia presentations, you may want to explore the subject-specific categories of sounds available from the following audio directories:

• FindSounds
• A1Free Sound Effects (Click on the option for free sounds)
• The History Channel’s Historical Speeches
• Great American Speeches from PBS

Using Copyrighted Information from the Internet

You’ll find a great permission template designed for teachers and students at David  Warlick’s Landmarks for Schools website.

For a more comprehensive list of fair use policies for teachers, download the handy chart from The Educator’s Guide to Copyright and Fair Use.

As a general rule, it is good teaching practice to encourage students to seek permission when using information, images, or any other type of media found on the Internet.

TEACHING TIP

There are a number of resources available to help detect Internet plagiarism and others that provide helpful tips for students on how to avoid plagiarism. The easiest method for detecting text plagiarized from the Internet is to enter unique phrases from the paper in question into Google  to find out if others have used this same phrase.

However, for a fee, you may also use one of several software products or online services to search more extensively. For a summary of these products as well as a 2001 report comparing the results of each service, you may explore the resources at:

Downloading Detectives: Searching for On-Line Plagiarism

Several other resources provide a tremendous amount of information and instructional support in this area, including:

Avoiding and Detecting Web Plagiarism Thinkquest

Helpful Tips for Older Students on how to Avoid Plagiarism

Turnitin Research Resources for Preventing Plagiarism

Strategies to Avoid Plagiarism by Bruce Leland

Avoiding Plagiarism from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab

Issues and Articles for Instructors and Students about Plagiarism

Why Keywords Are Not Enough: Using Quotation Marks

The most effective way to force a search engine to search for a whole phrase and to not separate words is to enclose your search phrase in quotation marks. This works for two-word phrases as well as longer phrases such as the title of a book or the name of an historical event.  Try it with phrases you commonly use and notice how quickly you can narrow down the number of items in your search result list.

Teaching Search Engines to Think Like Teachers: Using Keywords

By combining keyword strategies with the use of quotation marks, we can quickly narrow the results of a search. You first need to decide what kinds of teaching materials you are searching for related to a certain topic.

• If we type “simple machine” and “lesson plan,” we narrow our search to 2,140 results, and all of the first ten results are exactly what we want.

• If we type “simple machine” quiz, we narrow our search to 3,900. Twelve screens later, we are still finding only quizzes about simple machines!

• If we type “simple machine” simulation, we find 2,270 examples.

• If you want to narrow your search even further, try adding the grade level in quotation marks to search for “simple machine” + “lesson plans” + “fifth grade” to narrow your search to 82 lesson ideas for your fifth graders.

Using The “Topic and Focus” Keyword Strategy

You can narrow down a general thematic topic to focus on one particular aspect instead of pairing up a topic with a type of instructional resource. This is helpful if you are looking for background information about a certain topic you want to teach in class. If you wanted to locate information about the causes of the Civil War, you might use the search strand “Civil War” + causes, or if you wanted to find out more about the mummies of Ancient China, you might use the search strand “Ancient China” + mummies.

Using Electronic Spelling Supports

The most common error when searching is misspelling a word. In Google, for example, when you search for a word you have spelled incorrectly or a phrase like “high school” that you mistakenly combined into the one word “highschool,” the search engine will reply with the prompt “Did you mean high school?” spelled correctly.  Equipped with this understanding, you can use your best guess of a spelling in a search window, and chances are, the search engine will recognize what you are trying to spell and point you in the right direction.

Child Safety Issues on the Internet:
Where to Begin

• Building awareness of the risks and benefits of Internet use.
• Developing and updating your school’s Acceptable Use Policy.
• Using Internet filtering tools.
• Encouraging students to obtain an Internet Driver’s License.
• Having students use the Back button when they feel uncomfortable.
• Using search engines designed for children.

Building Awareness of the Risks and Benefits of Internet Use

Provide opportunities for students to safely explore age-appropriate resources while teaching them how to interact responsibly with the many new electronic tools that are evolving in online environments. GetNetWise and The Educator’s Guide to Computer Crime and Technology Misuse  may help you make informed decisions about online safety, privacy and security issues. Netsmartz and CyberCitizenshipwere both designed to teach children and young adults how to stay safe while using the Internet. For a more global perspective, SaferInternet outlines safer Internet developments and policies for children within European countries and elsewhere.

Developing and Updating your School’s Acceptable Use Policy

You may find out more information, print out sample acceptable use policies, and read about other teachers’ experiences by visiting the following Internet sites:

• Acceptable Use Policies: A Handbook from Virginia Dept. of Education
• Houston Independent School District’s Acceptable Use Page
• Child Safety on the Information Highway

With respect to developing guidelines that help students know how much information to divulge on the Internet, you can refer to the tips and tools available from How Can I Protect My Privacy?  from GetNetWise. The resources here may help your district set new policies in terms of how much personal information students share with online stores, websites, emailers, and chat room members.

Using Internet Filtering Tools

Sometimes parents will come to you for recommendations about filtering software to use at home. You may wish to point parents to the Tools for Families Database created by GetNetWise . This very comprehensive database gives you a complete description of each tool, and categorizes its features by those that filter sites, set time limits, or block outgoing content. The database also links you to the homepage for each software tool so that you can download free evaluation copies.Two of the most popular filtering tools include:

Cyber Patrol  and  Net Nanny

Encouraging Students to Earn an Internet Driver’s License

Explore the following websites to find one most appropriate for your students to visit at school or at home with their parents:

• PBS Kid’s Web License for Young Children
•Yahooligans’ Savvy Surfing Quiz
• Safe Surfin’ Driver’s Ed Challenge for Kids and Teens
•Texas Information Literacy Tutorial (TILT)
• Internet Safety Tutorial for Families

Using Search Engines Designed for Students

The most popular search engine used in many elementary and middle schools is probably Yahooligans. Designed for children ages 7–12, it features a powerful search tool, a comprehensive directory of topics for browsing, and links to popular categories for children ranging from games and animals to news and music.Students can also “Ask Earl,” the resident expert, new questions or search the archives of questions that others have asked. This search engine also features a daily survey, joke of the day, and links to a valuable Yahooligans Teacher’s Guide and Parent’s Guide for safe surfing and Internet Literacy.

KidsClick, a lesser-known search engine, was created by a group of librarians and organizes their handpicked index of 5,000+ websites into thematic categories, an alphabetic list of 600+ topics or hidden within the Dewey Decimal System. One of the most helpful features of this search engine is that the search results let you know the approximate reading level of each resource as well as whether or not the website contains illustrations. This database of websites is smaller than most search engines, so students will not be overwhelmed by too many search results. It also features one of the best sets of kid-friendly searching tools to help students quickly locate appropriate pictures and sounds from the Internet using a unique collection of general collections and special databases all accessible from one screen. Just click on the link for “Picture Search Tools” or “Sound Search Tools”.

Ask Jeeves for Kids is another popular search engine for younger children. It uses a natural-language technology that allows kids to ask questions directly in the search window box instead of using the keyword strategy. This is helpful for younger students, but we’ve noticed that this process can also confuse older students who may use search engines that work better with keyword searches. The interface for the search results includes pull-down menus to narrow down a search, which is again a different process than other search engines. Instruction for using this search engine should call attention to these differences to avoid confusion when students move between various search engine formats.

TekMom’s Search Tools for Students is a lesser-known search tool, but quite impressive nonetheless.

Informational Directories for Students

Grades K-8	Grades 6-12
Enchanted Learning	High School Hub
Kids Konnect	Teen Space at the Internet Public Library
InfoPlease Fact Monster	The Homework Spot
Great Sites from American Library Association	Student Navigator for New York Times

TEACHING TIP

There are wonderful collections of educational games and interactive activities available for times when kids need a break from hard work or when you have some extra time at the end of the day. You can set these up in a center or even use them with one computer and a projector to play a game with the whole class. Be sure to bookmark and organize some of the following in an “Internet Recess” folder in your browser:

• Bonus.com
• CBC Kids.net
• FunBrain
• Kaboose
• MaMaMedia

Understanding Searching versus Browsing

If you’d like more information about these types of searching and browsing strategies, the Yahooligans Teacher’s Guide is an excellent resource.

Selecting Keywords and Appropriate Alternatives

Strategy lessons can be introduced to elementary and middle school students using ideas from a wonderful resource known as KidsClick’s Worlds of Web Searching. This series of nine tutorials walks students through several basic skills for successful searching using children’s search engines and directories, sorted subject guides, and important keyword strategies.

Understanding URLs

During a Google search for help with a math problem students may come across an annotated result for a tool called WebMath with the following URL
• http://school.discovery. com/homeworkhelp/webmath/
By breaking down the parts of the URL into each section divided by slash marks, much like breaking down a word into syllables, students can learn some interesting pieces of information.

http://—This command tells the browser it is a hypertext document.

.school.discovery—This part indicates the name of the machine or organization that hosts the website; in this case, students may recognize Discovery School as a credible source from a previous science lesson they did with their teacher. 

.com—This domain name, .com, indicates a commercial domain

. /homeworkhelp—This is the name of the folder on the Discovery School server.

/webmath—This is the name of a folder inside the “homeworkhelp” folder.  Refer your students to the Understanding URL’s Help Sheet  for more information. 

Reading with a Critical Eye

There are also a growing number of locations on the Internet to assist you and your students in developing skills for critically analyzing information at websites.

• Bibliography on Evaluating Web Resources—Library at Virginia Tech
• Critical Evaluation Information from Kathy Schrock’s collection
• ICYouSEE: T is for Thinking—Guide to Critical Thinking
• Evaluating Webpages—A WebQuest for Students

Reading Within a Website

For a related Internet Workshop activity, you may have students compare traditional expository text features with those found on a website using a wonderful lesson designed by Sheila Seitz from Syracuse, New York, called Traveling Terrain: Comprehending Nonfiction Text on the Internet.

Recognizing and Managing Advertisements

If your school allows to you download software onto your computers, you may want to explore some of the free pop-up managers available online:

• Pop-UpStopper
• End PopUps
• PopThis
• Google’s Toolbar
• Safari’s Toolbar

Lessons such as the Media Mastery Series can help strengthen students’ understanding of how images and language are used as a form of persuasion. Similarly, the Advertising Lesson  from Annette Lamb’s 42Explore website includes tips for avoiding subtle sales on the Internet and links to several WebQuests about advertising.

Finally, any student who is old enough to visit popular children’s websites such as American Girl and LegoLand or even more academic sites such as Scholastic and National Wildlife Federation should realize that each is guided by certain agendas, both educational and economic, that influence the content on their website.

Looking to the Future: New Search Engines and New Literacies

New search tools that reveal some of the new literacies on the horizon. Kartoo features a uniquely interactive interface that reports search results in a visual multi-layered web of icons, symbols, and pop-up annotations. It includes an intuitive use of complex queries, requires the use of the Flash plug-in, and provides both a basic and expert version for specialized searching. The option to use this search tool in seven different languages reminds us of the multilingual and global contexts in which these new literacies are emerging. For more information, refer to the help page.

Teoma enables users to do one search and get three different types of responses: ranked results, refined topic suggestions, and lists of specific resources from experts in the field. This tool uses new technologies such as dynamic ranking and advanced algorithms and works by ranking a site based on the number of same-subject pages that reference it, not just general popularity. With this search engine, understanding the purpose of your search is crucial.

Browse3D† searches the Internet and then creates a “room” on your desktop, with your current Web page on the center wall, images of forward links on the right wall, and thumbnails of previously visited pages on the left wall. Efficiently navigating three-dimensional environments will be required to use this new search tool.

MicroSurfer 2.0 is designed to optimize the time spent searching on the Internet. It lets you select links to preload while you browse the current site, so when you’re ready to move on there’s no wait. and search tools will constantly emerge, presenting all of us with new literacies to be learned. Accepting these changes and learning new strategies is a crucial element for our personal literacy success.

Visiting the Classroom: Caroline Joiner’s High School Library Webpage in Texas

We can all learn important lessons by exploring Caroline Joiner’s high school library webpage. Caroline is the librarian at Sacred Heart High School in Hallettsville, Texas. Her well-organized compilation of research resources sends a clear message to students and teachers that learning with the Internet should stress safety, thinking, and student responsibility.

New Literacies in Internet Navigation

Exciting projects are emerging on the Internet as a result of instruction that integrates content-area subject matter with critical literacy skills. The Internet Detectives Library Media Project  is representative of at least two principles of the new literacy perspective in action: critical literacies and the social, collaborative construction of new information on the Internet.   The evolution of this resource over just a few years’ time from the original KIDS Report Web site to its current format is an important illustration of the continual changes in literacy that lie ahead.

Additional Navigation Resources on the Internet

4Kids.org Access a weekly KidsQuest for authentic practice with Internet navigation and fact finding. Also, be sure to visit the CoolSpots for a list of well-annotated and unique topical links rated by kids.

Adobe Acrobat Reader A plug-in program that you can download for free viewing and printing of files saved in .pdf format, a standard format for reliable document exchange on the Internet.

Amazing Picture Machine A unique collection of searchable images and many lesson ideas for using graphical resources on the Internet.

Childnet International features current information for adults and interactive activities for students that focus on Internet safety. Be sure to visit the links to ChatDanger for ideas on how to stay safe in chat rooms; Net Detectives, an online role program from students using ICT with outside experts.  Be sure to bookmark this site!

Children’s Partnership Much to read here about forging agendas for youth with regards to equity, digital preparedness, and Internet safety.

Connect Online: Web Learning Adventures  is an interactive guide to the Internet developed as a companion to the book Connect Online by Glencoe. Use this to facilitate small groups of teachers or students interested in exploring the wide range of resources available on the Internet.

CyberSleuth Kids This kids’ search engine organizes information by topical directories and curricular themes. The creators have also developed two free companion website, Classroom Clipart and LessonPlan Central, which support teachers’ productivity and instructional needs.

Electric Teacher’s Searching the Internet this site links you to countless search engines and directories for teachers and to information about the effective use of search engines with students. 

Evaluating Web Information is a comprehensive interactive tutorial that walks you through checkpoints and strategies for evaluating the authority, objectivity, accuracy, and currency of information on the Internet. The supportive two-framed interface and final practice activities make this a great site to explore during a professional development session or with middle or high school students.

From Now On This is a free electronic journal with some of the best ideas on using the Internet and other technologies to develop critical thinking, inquiry, and efficient navigation skills in the classroom.

Infopeople Best Search Tools Funded by The California State Library project, this is a link to some of the most powerful search engines on the Internet and some helpful howto guides for other Internet issues.

Internet4Classrooms: Helping Teachers Use the Internet Effectively This one stop website points you to subject area links for K-12 teachers, website for daily use, and on-line practice modules for several teacher productivity tools.

Internet How-Tos Step-by-step guides created by the Oregon School Library System for elementary students and companion teaching materials to introduce Internet research and navigation. Click on the link at the bottom for a parallel list of resources designed for secondary students and teachers.

Internet Research 9th-12th grade This site features a set of online research tools and tutorials to help high school teachers develop a simple web-based student activity using one curriculum site and helpful frames for students collecting information from multiple sites.

Jackson Creek Middle School Picture Book Clipart  has appropriate clip art for students. Visit this site to access eight different collections as well as information about copyright protection.

KidzPrivacy features Internet safety strategies for children and adults as well as a list of requirements needed for website operators to comply with the FTC’s Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.

Microsoft Design Gallery Live Search for, select, and download wonderful collections of free clip art, photographs, and animations that are saved directly into your Microsoft Office applications folder. You can then easily insert them into your presentations, word-processing documents, or student-created projects.

My Reference Desk Access to news, facts, subject experts, and reference materials galore, all in one easy-to-use location. Be sure to set a bookmark at this one!

Search Engine Watch From this site, you can keep a careful watch on new search tools or read current news and reviews of different search engines and their unique features.

SofWeb: Using the Internet A well-organized introduction from Victoria, Australia to current Internet tools and tips for using them with students. You can also explore discussion groups and links to 27 of their Global Classroom Projects.

Surf the Net with Kids This website features the work of syndicated columnist Barbara Feldman. There are several great free aspects that are too good to miss, including a weekly newsletter of thematic links for kids and free content for your classroom webpage.

White Papers on Technology Use for Educators An extensive resource created by graduate students at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. The papers focus on current issues such as web evaluation, computer crime, access issues, privacy, and commercialism.