Developing A Homepage for your Classroom

Chapter 12

Developing a homepage for your classroom is part of learning and applying the knowledge that new literacies have to offer. Teachers and students frequently visit web pages with the intention of informing themselves about a particular subject. Creating a web page for the classes that you teach to keep your students informed about activities that will take place in the education setting could be an excellent informative tool. It is portable and students can access it from home. A well-established and well-kept web page is another way of helping students learn. It enables all students, even those that are not part of your roster, to benefit from the instructional materials and links to information resources. Creating a homepage also helps parents to keep up to date with what is happening in the classroom. In addition, it gives a positive image of professionalism to the public, one that shows that we are keeping up with technology and incorporating it in our instruction.

One teacher’s example showed how easy it was to create a webpage. This teacher would devote one page for each unit that she taught. She would create links that would be useful for that unit and included them on that unit’s page. What makes this so great is that she can go back and use the same units the next year without having to do a lot of work. Of course, she would always examine the sites that she provided links to ensure the safety of her students and add new ones to be up to date with the information. She would publish their work on the homepage for parents and others who are interested to view the students’ accomplishments. This teacher would also receive comments by other teachers who liked how she taught a certain unit and it gave them ideas to use. This provides opportunities for collaboration by all involved in a students’ instruction.

This chapter also discussed useful information on where to find good examples of classroom homepages. One way to do so is to go to any search engine and type in keywords such as Ms., Mr., or Mrs.; classroom; homepage etc… If looking for particular grade levels simply add in that grade level when doing the search. It is a good idea to explore as many as you can to get a good idea of ways they can be used, links that can be useful and ideas from other teachers that maybe we had not thought of before. Weblogs are also becoming a useful tool for creating homepages. Teachers that I know use Blogger, for example, to post the daily work and homework.

Creating a homepage is very simple. All you really need is to know how to use word processing skills along with how to cut and paste. You can use a web editor to create the basic look of your homepage and then all you need to do is upload it on a server and obtain a URL (web address). There are some useful tutorials available on the web on how to create your own webpage and these are listed in this chapter. It is very important, though, to remember to use open source material to avoid using “ illegal” material when “borrowing” images, text, etc… from another website we may see and like on the internet. Most webpage owners have copyrights in place, which would require us to obtain permission to use anything they may have on their site.

Last November, I created my own webpage. It is located in wikispaces.com. The name is tiempoparaespanol.wikispaces.com. I call it my wiki. For me, it is the best thing that I could have done, especially this year when I have to teach middle and high school. I travel to seven different classrooms to teach seven different Spanish levels. As you may have perceived, I needed to come up with an easy and practical way of managing my classes. Most importantly, I needed to organize myself to keep a record of all activities done in class in each class for those students who are absent, to post links to important activities, to post task or projects, to display students’ work since I do not have a place where to do it, and much more. My wiki has several pages: homepage, countries of Latin America page, about me page, one page for each class, my favorites websites page, the school website page, and the hall of fame page (here I post students’ work.) Each one of these pages is very important and I update them regularly. Having this webpage allows me to have access to all my classes’ information from any where in the world. In fact, I was sick for several days L and all I had to do was to post all the assignments that I wanted the substitute to do with them. Of course, my substitute was tech educated J One of my favorite sections is the Spanish IV page because it has links to blogs they have created in Spanish. I love my high tech students!

Finally, the different items you put on your webpage may depend on your needs. Some may include: an area for parents and others to send email, a place to publish students’ work, homework assignments and due dates, links to other sites. You may want to create a link to your name on the webpage so that when different ones click on your name it gives them your email address so that they may easily get in touch with you. Developing, utilizing, and regularly updating your classroom homepage allows you to show that you are implementing the new literacies that are required for the ever-evolving technologies that are available to our education system. You are also letting them know that you will continue to progress in this area. Anyone who accesses your homepage will readily see the evidence of this. Moreover, your students will appreciate the fact that you take the time to keep them informed. Some have even asked me if they could join my wiki; I have told them that they will create their own in a collaborative way. I will think of something very soon.

Navigating the Internet with Efficiency and a Critical Eye

Chapter 2

This chapter explored the literacies necessary to navigate the internet using strategies that help us get the most out of it. It also emphasizes the responsibilities of teachers to become familiar with navigating the Internet. It states strategies such as, querying search engines, critically evaluating multiple forms of information, weaving through search results, and systematically maneuvering within one website as important aspects to consider in order to make sense of information on the internet. Moreover, the chapter focuses on how to locate and use internet browsers to their potential so that we, as educators, are able to properly integrate Internet resources in the classroom. The key factors of effective teaching and learning with the Internet are: navigate the Internet, avoid excessive commercialism, and apply the knowledge gained to develop critical thinking. In other words, teachers learn that it is not how fast students can find information on the Internet, but about how accurate, relevant, appropriate, and useful it is.

This chapter discussed three internet browsers: Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and Safari, which are commonly used to locate, view and organize webpages. Learning the features of these browsers is an ongoing learning experience, one we learn from our own experiences, from other teachers, and also from our students; an important factor is to explore and to take full advantage of all the features of a browser. Another issue to take into account is the amount of advertising we want to expose our students to. This can be controlled by the way we configure the browser or even by the browser we choose to use. Managing internet browser tools for use in the classroom employs the following strategies: developing a starting page, replacing commercial links with educational links, organizing bookmarks and sharing these with others, downloading and installing plug-ins (tools to read graphics, audio, and video) and saving web pages.

Teachers could benefit by attending Internet workshops or professional developments as early as the beginning of the year. It will be a big time-saving feature because teachers could learn from the presenter and from one another. Another time-saver is to make sure the Internet is used as a resource and not taught as a subject. This is why it is important to allow time at the beginning of the year to give thorough instruction about its use, thereby eliminating repeated instruction with each activity during the year. Consequently, teachers will be better prepared to teach students early on. Moreover, teachers will be able to successfully integrate the use of Internet as an instructional tool. In turn, students will learn its proper use and will use it effectively.

In order to effectively use the resources available in the Internet, teachers will benefit from knowing ways to organize, to manage, to search, and to share resources. Some strategies listed include: designating a startup page, visiting educational links, organizing bookmarks and sharing them, saving webpages onto the computer, and downloading plug-ins if necessary. Being organized also means knowing where to locate, for example, images and audio files. However, care must be given when using particular information from a website to make sure it is not copyrighted material and if permission is needed in order to use it. Additionally, when using a keyword in a search engine a few tips can be helpful such as enclosing phrases with quotation marks, using phrases that are common among teachers, using the “topic plus keyword” strategy which helps narrow results and using electronic spelling supports for when we may misspell a word. I find these features so helpful. For example, I have a favorite site for bookmaking all the neat webpages that I find. It is called del.icio.us. I love all its features including the capability of categorizing webpages as personal, education, and more.

Child safety issues are a big concern and need to be taken into consideration. It is important to help students understand what the risks and benefits are; from learning how to find reliable information quickly and using it appropriately and utilizing or clicking the back button to leave unwanted webpages. To eliminate this last one, one can ensure to use search engines designed for them in mind. Also, the school’s Acceptable Use Policy needs to be updated regularly as well as the need to establish internet filtering rules. In addition, students should know the difference between searching and browsing, with searching being more focused, with a purpose in mind; when browsing, students tend to be sidetracked easier by things off topic. A good idea is to help them narrow down the keywords they will use to search with and then helping them to understand the information that results. I realized how import this is to ensure that students learn strategies to efficiently navigate the Internet. I have noticed that when I have taken the time to discuss the webpage, parts of an address, the purpose, accuracy and other features, students are prompted to question the sources instead of assuming that its content is accurate.

I enjoyed reading about the teacher and the methods used to ensure student safety in using the Internet. These methods engaged his students, motivating them, but at the same time he was able to teach them how to be safe while on the internet. He encouraged the sites that ensured safety. An interesting tactic that the District where he taught used was to require the students to obtain an Internet Driver’s License. In order to get this license the students were required to take several online quizzes that would evaluate their responses to different situations they would encounter, whether their responses were appropriate and safe. Only after passing these evaluations would they be given a Driver’s License with permission to use the internet.

In summary, new technologies along with search and navigational tools are always emerging. Our challenge as educators is to keep up to date with them as well as the new literacies that must be learned. Our responsibility is to teach these emerging technologies and tools to our students, helping them to become more critical and efficient in their use of the internet. An important aspect to remember is to teach our students navigational strategies at the beginning of the year that would help them in future exercises. Another tactic could be getting the students to share their experiences with the whole class; as suggested in the book. This would help them know what others felt to be advantageous practices and what pitfalls were encountered and how they could be avoided in order for others not to make the same mistakes. Also, students could work together to analyze webpages. This collaboration could help students become involved. Finally, my school would benefit from having a webpage like Caroline Joiner’s High School Library. It includes resources, safety, critical thinking, and the role of the student and the teacher when navigating the Internet.

New Literacy for New Times

Chapter 1

New Literacies perspectives consider the Internet as important to literacy as a book, paper or pencil. It is considered a literacy issue not just a technology issue. New Literacies encourages teachers to identify, navigate, critically evaluate, synthesize, and communicate the important information found on the internet in order to help students be successful with this tool. Since these literacies are ever changing, it is important for teachers to keep up-to-date with them.

The example of the 8th grade team shows how the curriculum has updated standards, modified the most frustrating aspects of The NCLBA (or in the process of…), among others adding more expectations for the teacher. The problem is that the time in the classroom certainly has not been increased, nor has the curriculum changed to include the use of the Internet in state assessments or other ICT (information and communication technologies), such as word processors. Two of the teachers from the team who attended an academy, learned the use of the new literacies and wanted to put them into practice. They quickly discovered how none of the established curriculum had taken into account the use of the internet or other ICT. Their task was to bring the administration of their school up to speed with this new concept. They found out that the Internet offers resources that provide easy-to-use teaching tools to help meet state curriculum standards and better prepare the students. Moreover, they saw an increase in students’ motivation when they used technologies, and the statistics proved this. They were able to convince the school and began implementing their strategy. The result was a very productive first year. The enthusiasm was noticed by all, even the parents. Even though the state assessments still did not measure their new use of these technologies, there had been a great increase in learning. It gave the whole team a new energy to continue making the necessary changes.

The biggest change seen around the world is that through the use of the internet, students are finding more excitement in the learning process and the challenge that comes with it. It helps students and teachers collaborate better and work together globally. The challenge remains to understand the new literacies that we need in order to get the best use of the internet; to effectively use it as a teaching tool. Most important is to not think of this as an add-on, but integration into our curriculum.

Something to keep in mind is that the internet has been adopted into every aspect of our lives faster than any other technology before. We need to understand why it has become so important so fast. This is the age of information and communication and the internet has become just as important as reading a book and writing a letter. But, of course, it requires new skills, such as being proficient at reading, thinking critically, and communicating with the internet. These are the literacies that are discussed in this book. And of course being able to navigate the different web sites is a critical skill necessary as well.

The “New Literacies Perspective” is an integrated theoretical perspective that helps us understand what students need in order to learn about the internet and how we can best use it in the classrooms. There are five functions that include the following:

New forms of strategic knowledge are central to the new literacies: New technology for networked information is complex. We must use new strategies for its effective use.

Learning is Often Socially Constructed Within the New Literacies: Students learn best when they work together, building off of one another. They collaborate and teach each other new skills and strategies, enhancing one another. In fact, it is noted that many of the students have a better level of knowledge of technology than their teachers. Each person in the classroom can bring something to the table to increase the knowledge of all, even the teacher.

The Critical Nature of New Literacies: These new literacies demand that we increase our critical thinking and evaluating skills. We have to realize that with the internet it is possible for anyone at anytime to publish anything they want. This is an opportunity, but at the same time, it is also a limitation. So much of this information is unedited and it comes from people with many strong biases that influence what is published. So our job is to help students to be critical of what they encounter as to what its nature is.

New Literacies Regularly Change: New technologies appear and the literacies have to change as well, requiring new skills. In fact, learning how to learn new literacies is more important than learning the literacies themselves. This makes assessment a challenge, since it is already far behind in this respect.

Teachers Become More Important, Though Their Role Changes Within New Literacy Classrooms: Both the teacher and the student will continually be learning new skills in this area. Left on their own on the internet, students will eventually be led away from instructional material. This is a risk, however the role of the educator is to keep them engaged and on task, guiding them, but letting them direct themselves through the strategies you have taught.
The many changes that the internet has also brought to the work place is what continues to prompt changes to the way the internet is used and the new literacies that are needed in order to keep up. We see so much more productivity from lower level workers in a company because of the technology they have before them. In fact, workers are now able to compete in a more level playing field, that is, with the use of internet. They have the same opportunity as those in the higher levels of the company to use the resources of this technology. When communicating what each has learned, by collaborating, it is mutually beneficial and results in a successful performance for the good of all. This should stress the need for teaching these literacies in our classrooms. In this way, we prepare our students to use them and lead more productive, successful lives.