Internet for Teaching

*Internet Basics

*Searching the Internet

*Modifying Plans to Needs

What is the Internet?

• When many things are connected—by roads, cables or anything they share in common—this forms a network.

• Networks allow a computer to share information between the other computers that are part of the same Network.

• The Internet is formed of many group of networks connected together.

• Internet or World Wide Web is a series of computers connected together to share information.– A “URL” or “Web Address” is where a page

is located.– A browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) is

a software program that allows easy use of the web.

– “Home Page” is a start page or 1st page.

Browser Basics

– Title bar • Very top of the webpage – title the webpage, buttons to

minimize, maxims and close the webpage

– Menu bars • Each one of these titles have information behind it. Watch as

the arrow scrolls over the words. The icons are short cuts to some of the command on the menu bar. We will come back to the icons

– Address bar• This is where a web address is typed Status bar This shows

what is loaded onto the computer or what is loading on the computer.

Browser Basics

• Menu Bar– Back

• Click on this to take you back one webpage– Forward

• Click on this take you forward one webpage– Stop

• If you wish to stop the loading of webpage click on this key– Refresh

• Updates information on the current webpage – this is a great button to use when checking a live event on a website.

Browser Basics

– Home • Clicking on this icon will take you to the first webpage you

see when you get on the Internet. – Search

• Click on this icon to go to a search engine. Not all search engines are the same – you may use the same term on one search engine and find information you want and on another not.

– Favorites • Click on this icon to pull up lists of websites. On your own

computer you may create your own lists of favorites. History Lists of website you have visited.

How to Identify A Website• URL

– stands for Uniform Resource Locator or unique address (http://www.google.com)

• http://– stand for hypertext transfer protocol or a method of

writing content for the Internet.• www

– indicates site is on the World Wide Web.• .google

– is the host or domain name.

• Last three letters shows the type of websites available– .com commercial– .edu education– .gov government– .org organization

Be careful when you enter web addresses manually; Web addresses never contain spaces and are sensitive to punctuation and case.

Who do you trust on the Internet? • The WWW includes information on

hundreds of thousands of computers around the world.

• Examples of what the web is used for: Email, geneology, commerce etc.

• Searching can be like finding a needle in a haystack. (Some good mixed in with lots of garbage.)

First Mistake to Avoid

• Mistakes when typing a web address is like dialing a wrong number so when you get an error screen you must figure out where your mistake is.

What an Error Message Looks Like…

Second Mistake to Avoid

• Typing the information in the wrong box… – The Address box is not the same as the

Search box

Address Box

• Http://en.wikipedia.org• www.google.com• http://yahoo.com

Search Box

• High blood pressure• bulldogs football• Vegetarian Restaurants in Fresno

HyperlinksWhen a picture or set of words links to

another site it is called a hyperlink. The mouse arrow will look like this:

Choosing a Search Method

• Internet Directories– Well organized indexes that allow you

to browse through lists of sites by topic.– Created by people (not always updated)– Fewer websites in their databases

• Example: Librarians Internet Index (http://lii.org)

Librarians’ Internet Index

Choosing a Search Method

• Search Engines– Developed after Internet Directories– Allow you to use keywords to search millions of pages.– Allow both simple and advanced (“Boolean”) search

techniques– Are indexed electronically by spiders or web crawlers.

• Example: Google (www.google.com) Google www.google.com Yahoo www.yahoo.com Netscape http://search.netscape.com MSN www.msn.com Alta Vista www.altavista.com

Meta Search Engines

Submit your queries to multiple search engines simultaneously:

Dogpile www.dogpile.com

Metacrawler www.metacrawler.com

Search.com www.search.com

Important Reminders• Become familiar with a couple of web

directories and search engines.• Be careful what information you trust --

consider who created a specific website. • Learn search strategies. • Make your searches specific.• DON’T GIVE UP

Search Tips

• Use Quotes for Phrases– This works in almost every search engine and

directory.• “high blood pressure”• “hibbing public library”• “Minnesota Historical Society”

Search Tips

• Use the + Sign To Require– Google uses the + sign

• +dogs +cats• +twins +baseball

– Other Search Engines use AND• dogs AND cats• twins AND baseball

Search Tips

• Use the – Sign to Exclude– Google uses the - sign

• dolphins –football• twins –baseball• dogs -cats

– Other Search Engines use NOT• dolphins NOT football• twins NOT baseball• dogs NOT cats

Search Tips

• Use OR to Broaden– men OR boys OR males– children OR adolescents– “high blood pressure” OR hypertension– dogs OR cats

• Searching Tips Summary– Don’t let frustration stall your search.– Use phrases

• “twins baseball”.

– Use AND (+)• +twins +baseball.• twins AND baseball

– Use OR• children OR adolescents.

– Use NOT (-)• twins –baseball• twins NOT baseball

Tips for Finding Lesson Planson the Internet

Search Queries

Enter the name of the topic you are teaching followed by the words “lesson plans”

Example: Electricity lesson plansNarrow the search by adding the grade

level to the search stringExample: Electricity lesson plans high

school

There are also many resources on the Internet for lesson plans and curriculum ideas and activities. Some of these include:

Lesson Plan Websites• The Educator's Reference Desk: Lesson Plans http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/index.shtml

– You can browse the collection by subject, or search using keywords. The search also lets you limit by grade level.

• Lesson Plans Library   http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/ – The Lesson Plans Library site contains lessons for grades K-12 in common and not so common

subjects. In addition to providing a plethora of lesson plans, this site is also linked to several other "teaching tools" from The Discovery Channel.

• Lesson Plans Page   http://www.lessonplanspage.com – This page allows for easy searching for specific lesson plans by subject, grade level, and area within

the subject searched. LessonPlansPage.com has an extensive selection of lesson plans for math, science, language arts, and art.

• Sites for Teachers  http://www.sitesforteachers.com – This site has links to educational resources for teachers, students and parents. It contains information

for all grade levels including lesson plans, activities, reproducibles and much more!• Teacher.Net Lesson Bank  http://teachers.net/lessons/

– This lesson bank is interactive and allows for both retrieval and submission of lesson plans by teachers. The site allows several searching strategies for locating lessons on various subjects and in various grade levels. One can search by subject area or education level, or one can search or browse the lesson bank by keyword.

• GEM - The Gateway to Educational Materials http://www.thegateway.org/ – Sponsored by the National Library of Education of the U.S. Department of Education, this is a one-stop educational

resource which provides information, lesson plans, and activities pertaining to all K-12 subjects. Users can browse sites by subject or keyword, or they can search by subject, keyword, title, or full-text of the site description.

• Education World Teacher Lesson Plans http://www.education-world.com/a_tsl/index.shtml

Know the Following Terms

• Bulletin Boards– On web pages where people write messages on specific topics. For

example: finance.yahoo.com posts messages about stocks.• Chat room

– Real time typed conversations. Also called IRC or Internet relay chat.

• Commercial web sites:– Enables people to buy goods and services from a wide variety of

vendors from name-brands, such as Marshal Fields, to local retailers, such as Sunrise Bakery.

• E-mail– Correspond with your friends and relatives over the Internet.

• Encryption– Codes used to conceal credit card numbers from thieves.

• FAQS– Frequently asked questions. Always read first when using a new

web site.