Get your E-mail:  In this course, some modules require meetings in person and others may be completed online.  All participants will need to have access to e-mail to complete requirements of the course. You'll also need to participate in the course using the online course materials.  Some of the topics of this course may not be completed with "freebie" editing tools without extensive study of HTML.  So participants will need FrontPage (full version) .

• Need an e-mail address?  This page has helps and links to obtain a free e-mail account.

Why work in these new media?   Electronic media are changing the future face of education.  One major goal of this course is to assist participants in thinking differently about the way we do business in education.  For instance, any handout could be produced as a web page... but should we do that?  If the format on the web offers nothing more than the paper version (except possibly, remote access), have we really added value by placing content on the web?  

When planning any web site for education, participants should be thinking "What does placing this on the Internet allow me to do that other forms would not?  How can I add value to my content by the use of this medium?"   There are some notable thinkers in education contributing to this type of thinking and some links to their ideas are included in the section below. 

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Suggested browsing & reading:

• Working the Web for Education by Tom March outlines excellent techniques to use the web as an instructional tool.
• Active Learning on the Web by Bernie Dodge of San Diego State University.  The focus is on ways to make the Internet part of meaningful active learning experiences for students.
• Grazing the Net:   Raising a Generation of Free Range Students by Jamie McKenzie reprinted from Phi Delta Kappan.  It proposes ways the Internet may transform education. .
• Why Use Activity Structures? is an article by Judi Harris that challenges us to create more effective learning experiences for our students.
• WebQuests for Learning, WebQuests in Our Future
• WebQuests:  A Strategy for Scaffolding Higher Level Learning
• Some Thoughts About WebQuests.  
• Dimensions of Learning gives insight into goals for education. Implications for design instructional materials to be hosted on the Internet.
• Some places with collections of good sites for browsing are listed here.   Take a look around and evaluate what looks good, what looks bad, what seems to meet the challenges of engaging students in meaningful learning activities.  Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators, Blue Web'n Learning Sites Library, Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Math & Science, Sample Curriculum-Based Educational Telecomputing Projects, Example WebQuests.

Module 1 assignments

• Complete your enrollment at the BlackBoard.com web site.
• Identify one or two other persons in the course to be "consultant/buddies".
• Complete a simple autobiographical web page with links to two or three favorite sites of your own - E-mail this web page (as an attachment) to the instructor by the beginning of module 2.  Also, include the page as a part of your final web site.
• Take the first quiz at the BlackBoard.com web site (in course documents).

This site copyrighted (2005) by Dr. Blake West - Please credit when linking to the site!
Kansas NEA - 715 SW 10th Ave.  Topeka, KS  66612.