Cathleen J. Chamberlain, a teacher and District Information Technology Integration Specialist, provides us with some very useful ideas for streamlining our use of the Internet. She hits the nail on the head when she states, "It is a common occurrence while using the Internet to realize suddenly that time has just melted away...Often...I stray from my original focus and pursue other topics of interest...This realization made me see that developing websites that provide links to educational materials would help teachers by narrowing the field." (p49)
I have experienced the trap of surfing the Net for information, only to find three hours have passed by and I have yet to find my initial inspiration for looking. Not because it is not wasy to find, but because I will see an interesting looking link, discover a download that will be useful for a unit next Fall or I just get sidetracked into an interesting article that I 'just cannot stop reading'. My school district's network provides us with our own WebPages. Unfortunately we are still limited to following the format they have chosen and I find it next to useless. In addition, we can no longer bookmark sites we find. The network will not save them. All my previous bookmarks were lost so I am very frustrated.
To my delight, however, Chamberlain provides ample information about how to become more focused in using the Internet. I liked her pointers about search terms that yield more successful results. She discusses her journey into web design; apparently this is a slow process as one learns more with each web one creates. Her staff development creates a hands-on approach to learning how to create WebPages...I wish we had this. She also enforces the need to actually go into schools and show teachers how to do things, tweaking what they already know and developing greater skills as they go.
We are all blessed or cursed by the Standards Movement. (I have mixed emotions) Finding interesting learning experiences that meet these standards can be made easier with links to the various curriculum areas; both content and standards. NY Learns is a great starting point and is very easy to use. I tried it and wish I has known about it before I worked on my Keystone Project for EDLA 615!!! Guess what? I have just spent the last hour playing with NY Learns and not doing this blog....um...I guess we also need willpower to stay focused too.
One excellent suggestion Chamberlain makes is to join a Listserv. She recommends using Google and typing in Listserv and educational. I checked out the Listservs and have just subscribed to Teacher-to-Teacher (T2T) majordomo@t2tforum.com The image used at the top of this page is taken from a PowerPoint about email, Listservs and pen pals. Image: http://www.siec.k12.in.us/west/slides/penpal/IMG005.GIF. To see the whole slideshow. go to http://www.siec.k12.in.us/west/slides/penpal/sld005.htm. You will see other examples of Listservs and how to use them.
Image taken from:http://www.aea1.k12.ia.us/technology/graphics/screen.jpg
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