TEACHER FEATURE

How I Use Technology
in the Classroom

I teach English in a small rural K-9 school to grades 7, 8, & 9.  At the beginning of this past school year, after our students' Internet use agreements (signed by parents) were in place, I helped each student set up a web-based email account.  One reason for this was to give them experience with electronic mail, which I figure will eventually replace most uses of "snail mail."  I still require correct capitalization, punctuation, etc.

which many e-mail users, I have noticed, seem to ignore.  In addition, I sent each student a topic to research on the Internet.  In the beginning, I instructed them in detail about which search engine to use, exactly what to type in, etc.  When the student had successfully located the information for which I asked, I returned a "You're a Winner" message followed shortly by another question to answer.  I gave bonus points for each correctly answered question.  As students became used to the procedure, I proceeded to simply ask a question, trusting they would know the proper method to follow to locate the information.  Occasionally, a student would e-mail me with a request for a hint, which I always supplied.  Most students loved it and eagerly looked forward to our bi-weekly visits to the computer lab!

by Patricia Wilson <pswilson@intelos.net>

 Are you interested in writing for Teacher Feature? Then we're interested in hearing from you.  Send your 230-250-word article on technology in the classroom to edunotes@educyber.com.  
You can write about your successes and/or failures using computer technology in the classroom.  
In particular we are looking for K-12 teachers who are just getting started with technology to share their stories but will consider any submissions.  Submissions will appear in future issues of Edunotes for Educators.  
For further details or to submit an article, contact us at edunotes@educyber.com.  We reserve the right to edit submissions.

Radio on the CyberWaves

It's been slowly building over the last few months but Internet radio has really begun to take off.  The phenomenon is amazing.  You can listen to radio broadcasts from around the world, tuning in to music from classical to reggae to rap or talk from any of the big names or even pick up a sportscast.
As with any 'hot' item on the internet, everyone wants a piece of the pie but in this case it only gives you greater choice and variety.  The only real concern you should have in trying this out is bandwidth.  If you're connecting to the Internet at 33.6 kpbs or slower, you'll probably just get frustrated.  
What do you need to listen in?  The two big guns are RealPlayer (www.real.com) and Media Player (www.microsoft.com).  Both of these programs are free downloads.  Once you've downloaded and installed the programs, you're ready to rock.  Both programs come with numerous preset options for all of your listening needs from music to talk to sports.  Just recently I tuned into a rock music station in Japan, switched to a news station and then to the financial news.  If you've really got a big pipeline to the Internet (and your boss won't get mad at you) you can use either program to watch video clips as well.  
Rather than championing one player over another, we recommend getting both so you don't get left behind.  In addition to each player's respective website, you can find some good radio stations at www.broadcast.com.  And, sorry we just can't resist this plug, for Denver Bronco / Colorado Rockies fans, tune in to www.850koa.com to hear the best team in football / the up and coming baseball team play live during their respective seasons.  
What should you avoid?  Don't try the Microsoft Radio Toolbar just yet.  It's a great idea that apparently has a few kinks to be worked out.  IE 5 comes with an optional toolbar that let's you quickly find radio stations.  This works great for a week or two and then inexplicably stops working.  You get an error message telling you to check the link.  At first we thought we'd done something wrong but when the same phenomenon occurred with several other computers, we began to wonder what was happening. 

The Technology Source
The July/August edition of The Technology Source has been published online.  A publication of Horizon, TTS is for people using information technology in educational settings.  You can read it at: http://horizon.unc.edu/TS/contents/

Ask Ed Cyber

Q.  My friend told me I should use a signature with my email.  What is a signature and how can I use it?

A.  A signature is a text file that you create and tell your email client to add at the bottom of every email you send.  For example, I could create a short (no more than four lines please) file with my name, email address, and company and save it as cybersign.txt. Then I go into my email client and tell it to add it to every message.

Each email client works a little bit differently but for Outlook Express 5.0 you can manage your signature by clicking on the Tools menu, selecting Options, and then clicking on the Signatures tab.  In Netscape 4.5 you can add your signature file by clicking the Edit menu, selecting preferences, then clicking on identity in the Mail & Newsgroups area.  In the signature file box if you click Choose you will then be able to browse to where you saved the file and double click it.

Once you've got a signature file, you can easily change it by opening the file, making the changes you want and saving it again.

Q. When I used to open MS Word, I had some buttons at the top but now I don't anymore.  Where have they gone and how can I get them back?

A. I can't say for sure where they may have gone but it's easy to get them back.  Microsoft Word comes with several toolbars as well as the option of customizing your existing toolbars.

Most folks have two or three toolbars visible at a time.  My three favorites are Standard, Formatting, and Drawing.  To see these three, click the View menu at the top of the window, highlight Toolbars and, if they aren't already checked, check them.

  Internet Facts

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 89% of public schools are now connected to the Internet and 51% of instructional rooms (classrooms, labs and media center/libraries) are connected.  These 1998 numbers compare to 78% and 27% respectively for 1997.  The forecast for the year 2000 is 95% of public schools will have some kind of Internet access.  
Interested in more information from the NCES?  They have a special web site just for K-12 practitioners at  http://www.nces.ed.gov/practitioners/ where you can get other insights into education.  
 There are nearly 9 million domain names registered (such as www.educyber.com) and almost 5 and a half million of those are .com domains.
From http://www.domainstats.com/

Web Site Reviews

25 Reasons for Having a Web Site

http://www.teacherzone.com/kb/glavac/glavaclist25.html  
This site tells you what you and your school can do by having a web site. Those of you who might already have one could get some ideas on building or adding new pages, too. Even if you are not familiar with web mastering (building and maintaining a web site), the site provides helpful how-to-s and offers on-line help. There are many links to offer you graphics, wallpaper, and animations to make your site appealing. And you can learn about simple HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) with some help from a Web Authoring software program that allows you to do a variety of fancy tricks. Once you get started, creating web pages the possibilities expand, so go check it out and start your own web site!

E-Mail Discussion Lists

http://edweb.gsn.org/lists.html  
Are you familiar with E-mail discussion groups? You subscribe to a list that interests you and send a message, question, or comment via Email. The message gets sent to all of the subscribers in the same group as you. The good thing about those groups is that the subscribers are the ones with the same interest, often with the same profession (in case of educators, for instance) so any question you ask will likely be answered quickly. In one discussion group I am in, for example, if I ask a question, several answers come back within 24 hours.  
At this site of lists, you can choose and subscribe to a group or two that interest you, and if you didn't like them, you simply unsubscribe and choose different ones. On the other hand, you might want to be careful subscribing to many groups at the same time as your Email inbox might overflow if you are in a very active group. It is a great way to share stories, get information, and get a pat on the back from your peers all over the world.

Encyclopedia Smithsonian

http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/start.htm  
If you're having your students do research on the Internet, here's a good starting place.  The Encyclopedia Smithsonian puts many of the resources of the Smithsonian Institution at your disposal in this website.  
Whether you want your students to learn more about this great American treasure or to shake loose some of the nuggets in this treasure, the Encyclopedia Smithsonian is a good starting place.  Students can venture through history, see the world, learn about aircraft, and even see the stars in this incredible site.   
This site has something for everyone from kindergarten through college.