 East Ramapo Instructional Technology
Web Based Activities
Many of the ideas presented here are adapted from
materials developed by
Tom March and Bernie Dodge ---
their contributions are invaluable and their spirit of professional sharing admirable.
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| HOTLISTS Teacher created list of Internet sites
that are most useful and pertinent for a particular topic. Hotlists save learners
hours of aimless searching. Students may also create HOTLISTS as part of an
independent research project. Students should be reminded to read critically and
look for hidden agendas, bias, or errors that might creep into the Webpages. |
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| KNOWLEDGE HUNTS Students learn background information on a topic by visiting
selected webpages that hold information essential to understanding the topic. Each link is
accompanied by a "key" question that defines the scope or parameters of the
topic. Including a cluminating "essential" quesion helps students
synthesize what they learned and understand the "big" picture. |
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| Black History Past to Present |
Interactive Treasure Hunt &
Quiz which students can use to develop an essay or simply to test their knowledge with the
interactive quiz. |
| The Treasures of China |
Students find out some details about
issues in China (cultural heritage, current economic boom, treatment of it's people) and
then bring their learning into greater focus
by answering a Big Question: What is the truth about China today? |
| A Revolting Alphabet |
Sttudents working in pairs conduct a scavenger
hunt on web pages dedicated to the American Revolution. The students must find descriptive
word and terms, one for each letter of the alphabet |
| Understanding
Complex Numbers |
Use this Knowledge Hunt to help High School Math
students learn
about Complex Numbers. Students research the history and use of
complex numbers. Working independently, the students will
be introduced to the connectedness of imaginary numbers, e, and Euler's Formula. |
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| SCRAPBOOKS:
Once students have a general
understanding of a topic, SCRAPBOOK activities can promote their construction of
knowledge. Students collect information, images and insights from the Internet and
create a multimedia Scrapbook (PowerPoint presentation or Web page, etc.) to share their
learning with others. |
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| Donner Online |
Students learn about the plight of the Donner
Party*, one of the most poignant episodes in the history of westward expansion
during the 19th Century, by collecting information, images, and insights from the
Internet creating a multimedia Scrapbook (a PowerPoint presentation or a Web page) to
share your learning with others. |
| Exploring China |
Students surf the links select pictures, text,
maps, facts, quotes, or controversies they find important and then put them together
in a multimedia scrapbook (PowerPoint presentation or Web page).
Links are grouped into the following categories: Places, Facts & News, Culture
& Politics, Images, Tools. |
| Democracy in America |
Students find facts, opinions, images, sounds,
etc. and create a multimedia scrapbook that defines what democracy means to them.
Links are categorized as follows: facts & news, Opinions and Quotations, Images |
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| SUBJECT
SAMPLERS: Samplers attempt to get students connected to a topic, to
find something about it that interests them, to make a personal commitment to what they
like, believe, or feel about a topic. |
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| Sampling African America |
These links come from all over the World Wide
Web and represent a variety of aspects related to African America. Instead of getting
students to learn a lot of facts on the
subject, the Sampler tries to get them connected to the topic, to find
something about it that interests them. |
| My China: A Subject Sampler |
These links give students a sampling of some of
the
aspects related to China. Each activity asks students to make a
personal commitment to what they like, believe, or feel about a topic. |
| America's Struggle for Civil Rights |
An Internet Hotlist on CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.
Links organized as follows: American Revolution, Underground Railroad, Civil
Rights, Women's Rights, Labor Movement |
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| WEBQUESTS
WebQuests present student groups with a challenging task, scenario
or problem to solve. First students learn some common background, then they are
assigned a role, task or perspective to master, becoming an expert on one aspect of the
topic. Working in groups students must synthesize their learning by completing a
summarizing act or presenting their interpretation in an authentic fashion. Consult
Bernie Dodge's WebQuest Page
for additional examples. If you are ready to create your own Webquest read WebQuest Taskonomy: A Taxonomy of
Tasks for a host of useful ideas and view the WebQuest Taskonomy in
Pictures. The following articles provide some excellent background material: The Student
WebQuest, WebQuests
in the Middle School Curriculum |
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| America Dreams |
This WebQuest challenges students to
investigate the America Dream by look through the eyes of those who lived before them.
Uses the Library of Congress American Memory collection. |
Biotech, Inc.
(High School Biology Gr. 10) |
This lesson incorporates human genetics,
biotechnology, business, advertising, and career planning in a collaborative unit. |
| Earthquakes vs.
Volcanoes |
Students participate on two rival teams that are
given a chance to choose where to live, near an earthquake fault or near a volcano.
Students explore the questions surrounding how to choose . |
DDT: To Ban or Not to Ban
That is the Question
(Science Gr. 6-9) |
Focuses on the historical use of DDT. The use of
DDT is banned in the United States but not
in other countries. Students are part of a United Nations Task Force that must decide
whether or not to persuade other countries to join in on the ban of DDT. In order to make
this decision; they must gather information on this subject in their assigned roles
(Ecologist, Environmental Chemist, Political Scientist/Historian) |
| Little Rock 9, Integration
O |
A Collaborative WebQuest on
Racial Desegregation in Schools |
| Hello Dolly: A WebQuest about
Cloning |
A WebQuest on Cloning |
| Ewe
2 |
The bioethics of cloning (applies the case study
approach to WebQuests) |
| Look Who's Footing The
Bill |
An Introductory WebQuest on Democracy and the
National Debt |
| Tuskegee Tragedy |
Students explore the issues of the
Tuskegee Study and question the comparisons some people make to the study and such topics
as abortion, gun control, and concentration camp experiments. |
| Does the Tiger Eats its Cub? |
An introductory WebQuest on children and China |
Quest for
Liberty
(Social Studies Gr. 8-9) |
World War II unit focuses on two geographic
areas, the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, and highlights five topics: U-Boats and
Submarines,
Invasion of Normandy, Internment of Japanese-Americans, Battle of the Pacific, Dropping of
Atomic Bomb |
| Searching for
China |
This quest focuses on the Big Question: What
actions should the U.S. take in its policy towards China? Working in teams students
develop a Group Report that contains a Three Point Action Plan taking into account the
following perspectives: Business,
Cultural, Religious, Human Rights, Environmental, and Political. |
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| EXCHANGES & TELECOLLABORATIONS |
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| Africa Online: Kids |
Request a keypal living in Africa to bring
an authentic dimension to Africa-related. |
| ePals |
Connect with classrooms from 103 countries
speaking 115 languages. 14,226 classrooms, representing more than 1 million students, are
now registered with ePALS! |
| Learning Circles on I*EARN |
Learning Circles are highly interactive,
project-based partnerships among a small
number of schools located throughout the world. Each session is 14 weeks. To join a
Learning Circle, you must be a member of
I*EARN and complete a Learning Circle placement form two weeks before the beginning of the
session. |
| Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Revise,
Respond (5 R's) |
Classrooms register for this "real-life
application" in which they collect and share data with other schools about
trash in their community. Project Goals: 1) students see ways in which they
can have an impact on reducing the amount of trash produced by their community 2)
understand how the environment affects our culture and how our culture affects the
environment
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| Voices of
Youth |
Unicef provides 3 forums for students to
participate in an electronic discussion about the future. |
| The Global Grocery List |
Global Grocery List is a long standing
project that generates real, peer collected
data for student computation, analysis, and
conclusion-building within the context of social studies, science, mathematics and other
disciplines. |
| The Vocal Point |
A unique, student-driven, collaborative
electronic newspaper. It is designed, managed, created, and maintained entirely by student
volunteers. |
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| ASK
AN EXPERT |
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| REFERENCES
Students should be competent at accessing |
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| Alta Vista Photo Finder |
Enter a keyword and AltaVista
provides thumbnail results that link to the photo or art image. |
| Biography |
Searchable and browsable online
collection of 15,000 cross-referenced biographies and schedules of upcoming episodes of
the Biography television program. |
| CIA World Factbook |
Contains information on every
country in the world. |
| Library of Congress |
Primary Source documents. |
| AJR Newslink Magazines |
Magazine Articles |
| AJR Newslink Newspaper Index |
Newspaper Articles |
| Perry-Castaņeda
Library Map Collection |
Maps |
| MEDLINEplus |
Biomedical journal article
abstracts, plus links for health topics, dictionaries, organizations, and news. |
| Amazon.com |
Books |
| Broadcast.com |
Radio, TV Stations and Programs |
| Roget's
Thesaurus |
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| Statistical Abstract of the United States |
Collection of statistics on social
and economic conditions in the United States. |
| Thomas |
Federal Legislation |
| TechWeb Technology Encyclopedia |
Illustrated on-line technology
encyclopedia. |
| Your Nation |
Web tool allows you to compare
characteristics for two countries, sort to find the top and bottom five countries for any
characteristic, or summarize data for a particular country. |
| Windows to the Universe |
NASA funded site includes a rich
array of images, movies, animations, and data sets. |
| All Search Engines |
Lists all major and topic search
engines. |
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| SEARCHING Students should be
competent at accessing |
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| ONLINE
PUBLISHING |
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| Kidopedia |
A Global Children's Encyclopedia, written by
kids, and for kids. |
| Filamentality |
Instant Webpages! Filamentality is a
fill-in-the-blank interactive Web site that guides teachers or students through picking a
topic, searching the Web, gathering good Internet sites, and turning Web resources into
activities appropriate for learners. |
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Pam Hale, Instructional Technology
Coordinator, East Ramapo CSD, 461 Viola Rd., Spring Valley, NY 10977
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