Preservice Module #5: Creating a Teacher Page- Web Design & Sample Integration Strategies.

Introduction

In the first module, we looked at the Evergreen Curriculum as the source, or beginning point, for unit planning. The Evergreen Curriculum provides curriculum guides and support documents for all of Saskatchewan's courses. Regardless of where you find units of study or individual lesson plans, you must ensure that you are teaching to the foundational and learning objectives in the Saskatchewan curriculum guides found in print copy, or electronically through the Evergreen Curriculum.

The second module addressed the assessment of online resources. Once you have identified foundational or learning objectives and selected instructional activities, the next task is to locate and assess resources to help ! you achieve your goals and objectives. In an online environment, the k ey to integrating quality resources is assessment. There are thousands of excellent resources to support any unit of study, any theme, or any topic. However, integrating quality resources is a time-intensive, often frustrating process that is fraught with many inappropriate or poor quality websites.

The third module addressed the use of online websites and resources to support instruction. There are a number of approaches to organizing for instruction, including topical (e.g., atoms, families, dinosaurs, 2 digit multiplication, body systems), thematic (e.g., Fall, transportation, relationships, culture) and problem-solving (How do clouds form?; Why do things fall to earth?; Why does England have the best soccer players in the world?). The third module completes the process of locating, assessing and using online resources through the creation of Internet Resource packages to support a topical or thematic approach, or the creation of a WebQuest to support a problem solving approach.

The fourth module addressed blogging and software integration and how these can be used to achieve curricular outcomes.

This fifth, and final module, is basically a "pull it all together" module. In this module you will take your previous work in identifying, assessing and organizing web resources and learn to host your resources on the Internet. By creating your own website, it is our hope that you will gain skills and expertise in designing and developing a website to organize and present your online resources, favourite links and units of study.

Task

At the completion of this module you should be able to answer the following questions:

  1. How do I create a website?
  2. What online resources can I organize and store in my own website?
  3. What value would my own websit! e be?
  4. How can I integrate the use of online websites in to my teaching?

Your task is to create a website. Using the Geocities website creation facilities and functions, you will create a homepage and a series of pages linked to the homepage. The content for these webpages could be resources, online activities, links to related sites, general information regarding education and specific information and links to websites of personal or professional interest.

Process

Creating web resources can be a difficult process. Many schools provide web space for their teachers, but often the process of uploading and hosting material is difficult to follow. Additionally, some schools still do not provide web space for their staff.

Filamentality is a free web hosting service that can be used by teachers and students. Filamentality is one of the services provided by! the SBC Knowledge Network, an organization that began in response to the needs of California's teachers, librarians and students. While the Filamentality service is basically no-frills (e.g., text-based, no graphics), the process of uploading material is relatively simple.

In the site's own words, "Filamentality is a fill-in-the-blank tool that guides you through picking a topic, searching the Web, gathering good Internet links, and turning them into learning activities. It combines the "filament" of the Web with a learner's "mentality". Support is built-in through Mentality Tips that guide you along the way. In the end, you'll create a Web-based activity you can share with others even if you don't know anything about HTML, Web servers, or all that www-dot stuff." (SBC Knowledge Network, Online).

The Filamentality "Activity Formats"

The Filame! ntality website features several Activity Formats that feature Hotlist s, Scrapbooks, Treasure Hunts, Subject Samplers and WebQuests. The Activity Formats can be placed under two broad categories, "assemble resources" and "achieve learning." As the Activity Formats moves from the "Hotlist" to the "WebQuest", a higher level activity is said to be produced.

More detail regarding the Activity Formats can be found on the Filamentality site at http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/formats.html

Creating a Simple Filamentality Hotlist

To get the idea of how the Filamentality service can be used, students are expected to create a Filamentality Hotlist. To do this, there are many resources from Filamentality that will guide them through the process of putting together a Hotlist (or other activity). Here are a few key resources:

Assignment

  1. Access the following Geocities (personal) website.
  2. Note the variety of fonts, colours, graphics and links provided on the homepage.
  3. This webpage was created in less than 20 minutes! With an absolute bare minimum of knowledge about webpage design and development (as my homepage demonstrates!) you can create webpages for your own personal and professional use.
  4. Access the Geocities homepage.
  5. Follow the directions given to you to begin the design and development of your own website!
  6. Be sure that you include evidence of learning from modules one through four of the Pre-Service Teacher iTeacherEd Project:
    • Module 1: Unit of Study
    • Module 2: Website Evaluation Form & Three Evaluated Websites
    • Module 3: Internet Resource Package or Webquest (include your jots.com account link)
    • Module 4: Technology "What's It Good For" (Three software, technologies, trends, programs, etc.)
  7. Important! Once you have completed your website, e-mail the URL (uniform resource locator) or address to me: corey.hadden@uregina.ca

Resources

Making Connections: Online Resources

What is Distance Education?

Within a context of rapid technological change and shifting market conditions, the K-12 education system is challenged with providing increased educational opportunities without increased budgets. Many educational institutions are answering this challenge by developing distance education programs. At its most basic level, distance education takes place when a teacher and student(s) are separated by physi! cal distance, and technology (i.e., voice, video, data, and print), often in concert with face-to-face communication, is used to bridge the instructional gap.

Is Distance Education Effective?

Many educators ask if distant students learn as much as students receiving traditional face-to-face instruction. Research comparing distance education to traditional face-to-face instruction indicates that teaching and studying at a distance can be as effective as traditional instruction, when the method and technologies used are appropriate to the instructional tasks, there is student-to-student interaction, and when there is timely teacher-to- student feedback (Moore & Thompson, 1990; Verduin & Clark, 1991).

How is Distance Education Delivered?

A wide range of technological options are available to the distance educator. They fall into four major categories:

  1. Voice - Instructional audio tools include the! interactive technologies of telephone, audioconferencing, and short-w ave radio. Passive (i.e., one-way) audio tools include tapes and radio.
  2. Video - Instructional video tools include still images such as slides, pre-produced moving images (e.g., film, videotape), and real-time moving images combined with audioconferencing (one-way or two-way video with two-way audio).
  3. Data - Computers send and receive information electronically. For this reason, the term "data" is used to describe this broad category of instructional tools. Computer applications for distance education are varied and include:
    1. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) - uses the computer as a self-contained teaching machine to present individual lessons.
    2. Computer-managed instruction (CMI) - uses the computer to organize instruction and track student records and progress. The instruction itself need not be delivered via a computer, although CAI is often combined with CMI.
    3. Compu! ter-mediated education (CME) - describes computer applications that facilitate the delivery of instruction. Examples include electronic mail, fax, real-time computer conferencing and World-Wide Web applications.
  4. Print - is a foundational element of distance education programs and the basis from which all other delivery systems have evolved. Various print formats are available including: textbooks, study guides, workbooks, course syllabi, and case studies.

Which Technology is Best?

Although technology plays a key role in the delivery of distance education, educators must remain focused on instructional outcomes, not the technology of delivery. The key to effective distance education is focusing on the needs of the learners, the requirements of the content, and the constraints faced by the teacher, before selecting a delivery system. Typically, this systematic approach will result in a mix of media! , each serving a specific purpose. For example:

Using this integrated approach, the educator's task is to carefully select among ! the technological options. The goal is to build a mix of instructional media, meeting the needs of the learner in a manner that is instructionally effective and economically prudent.

Effective Distance Education

Without exception, effective distance education programs begin with careful planning and a focused understanding of course requirements and student needs. Appropriate technology can only be selected once these elements are understood in detail. There is no mystery to the way effective distance education programs develop. They don't happen spontaneously; they evolve through the hard work and dedicated efforts of many individuals and organizations. In fact, successful distance education programs rely on the consistent and integrated efforts of students, faculty, facilitators, support staff, and administrators.

Critical Thinking

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistingui! shable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke

What implications di stance education, and in particular the Internet, have for education in the 21st century? What will the schools of the future look like?