Hilee Draehn
COMM 5350a
Lesson 13
1. Ideas from Glavac's, The Busy Educators Guide to
the World Wide Web:
I found this book to be an
easy read, teacher resource packed with a plethora of educational web-sites,
tips, and strategies for the educator wanting to integrate technology into the
curriculum. I have used the following
web-sites already for both classroom assignments and personal growth:
a. Enchanted Learning www.EnchantedLearning.com
An awesome database of teacher
lesson plans, printables, puzzles, and information.
b. About.com http://about.com
A collection of sites
related to different topics in education.
c. A to Z Teacher Stuff http://atoZTeacherStuff.com
Great teacher resource
created by a teacher.
d. Weekly Reader Galaxy www.weeklyreader.com
This is my daughter's
favorite site to read the online magazine and play games.
2. Ideas from Pallof and Pratt's, Building Learning
Communities in Cyberspace: Effective
Strategies fo the On-Line Classroom:
This book focused on the
shift from all course work being offered in a traditional class room
environment to the explosion of web-based courses while discussing the
challenges, benefits, and concerns involved with computer-mediated distance
education. A central theme that kept
calling to me was the whole of idea of the need to build learning
communities-allowing growth and development of all learners. The sample
course syllabus at the end of the book was meant to showcase a positive online
learning environment. It was
interesting to note similarities in courses that I have taken that I have felt
were challenging, positive learning experiences for me.
Some web-sites that I found
addressing strategies for creating good web-based instruction:
Web-Based Instruction and
Learning: Analysis and Needs Assessment Summary
http://ibm.nsysu.edu.tw/INET98/4c/4c_1.htm#BESTPRACTICES
Distance Education
Clearinghouse (A WoW! Collection of sites aimed at helping an instructor in the
design process of a web-based course)
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/webdevel.htm
3. What is the future?
In the near future, I see
accredited Internet Universities and Schools becoming more evident as learning
communities form partnerships with businesses and/or other schools.
Straight out of a science
fiction movie, I envision that soon we will be able to project interactive
hologram type images of a teacher into classrooms in an effort to counteract
overcrowding issues, lack of qualified teacher issues or other staff
considerations, or school violence problems.
Computers will be worn as tiny headsets controlled by voice (in fact, I
read somewhere that the keyboard is becoming obsolete).
However, I worry though that we are almost obliterating the human
factor by becoming somewhat of an isolationist society deriving contact via
chat sessions and interactive video.