M4: It's All Online!: Effective Web Based Learning

The Internet has come along way in a short period of time, and it is hard to imagine our world today without it. Understanding various aspects of the Internet is of great use to teachers and students for more efficient, accurate, and helpful web use.

URLs: What do URLs tell you/students about web sites?

Normally if you say to someone, “Go to this website,” you are referring to a URL. A URL, or uniform resource locator, allows any person around the world to find a website, just like a location could be found using a mailing address (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.216). Usually the URL will alert you to what the site is about using a name or acronym, as does the domain designator (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.216). For example, the URL artsbma.org tells that this is an arts organization. Can you guess what organization this is the URL for? Click the link to find out!

Search Engines: How can learning to use search engines help you/students find better information?

If you tell someone “Google this,” you are telling them to use a search engine.  Search engines comb through millions of URLS to quickly find what you are looking for, whether it is a broad topic or something specific (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.219). Google is an example of a keyword search, as it searches for keywords in URLS (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.219). Search engines allow quicker access to information and can help weed or sites that aren’t relevant by using multiple keywords.

Internet Tool: 

A blog, or web log, is a great tool for communicating with students, parents, and the community (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.222). They are mostly very user friendly and give almost anyone a forum for sharing text, images, videos, and more (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.222). Because blogs allow for comments, they are a great place for students to publish their work so that others can view and critique it. A blog is also a great tool for a teacher to communicate with parents and share activities and accomplishments from the classroom.

Web-Based Lesson: 

Electronic or Virtual Field trips are a great example of an online lesson enhancement. I enjoyed viewing many of these earlier in the semester and found more that could supplement a lesson. The Virtual Tours of the Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc and of Lascaux would greatly enhance a study of ancient cave drawings. It is helpful to see their overall layouts and how one drawing relates to another.

Favorite Web Sites: 

Last May, Google launched the World Wonders Project, a site that grants virtual access to 132 historic and culturally significant sites around the world (Alpert, 2012). The views are similar to that of Google Earth and would greatly enhance an art or history lesson.  Seeing an ancient city gives students a context for their learning, helping teachers “augment their curricular goals…and deepen their students understanding” (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.238). They can picture where art was created, how it was influenced, and where it is now on display. As the authors of our text point out, web based media can often be “time consuming to develop and implement, and difficult to design in ways that have substantial positive impacts on students’ learning” (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.238). This type of media has such open ended opportunities for integration that it is a gem for educators. Not to mention the fact that it is free!

A few suggestions: 

           Cathedral Square- Pisa, Italy

           Cologne Cathedral- Cologne, Germany

           Versailles Palace- Versailles, France

The interactives on the  MOMA website are a great example of tutorial instruction, because they give students lots of instructions and information (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.245). They can also offer students a multicultural experience, exposing them to art from around the world (Roblyer & Doering, 2013, p.245).

Suggestions:

           RedStudio for Teens

           Destination Modern Art for Children

           Tim Burton 

Alpert, E. (2012, May 31). Google unveils virtual tours of stonehenge, jerusalem, other 

            'world wonders'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from

            http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/05/google-unveils-virtual-

            tours-of-stonehenge-other-world-wonders.html

Doering, A.H., & Roblyer, M.D. (2013). Integrating educational

technology into teaching (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.