Intermediate Internet Workshop Handout PC
Using Listservs
Listservs are email discussion groups where a few dozen or a few thousand people can share emails to each other on specific topics. Listservs can be tremendously valuable for sharing information, and I use at least one daily.
Basically, you register your name and email address with the listserv you are interested in, and then you start receiving a few emails (or a few dozen emails) a day from the list serve. This can be bad for your inbox, but it is easy to set up a mail rule so that all incoming mail from the listserv goes into it’s own folder:
Click Inbox
On the Tools menu, click Rules Wizard.
Click New.
Follow the instructions in the Rules Wizard. There are a lot of options, but the most basic one is the following:
Choose: check messages as they arrive, and then click next and
Check the box for: from people or a distribution list, and then click on the blue/underlined people or dist. List, and enter the return address name, then click next.
Check the box for: move it to the specified folder, and then click on the blue/underlined specified folder option below and select the folder, and then click next
Skip the exemptions options, and then click next and Finish.
You can also use Rules to automatically delete SPAM that comes from the same address or a person who is harassing you.
If you want to run a newly created rule on messages already in the Inbox, select the Run this rule now on messages already in Inbox check box in the last page of the Rules Wizard.
You can also read listservs without subscribing to them. Many listservs have archives that you can search and read. For an example of the ISED-L listserv I follow, go to http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/ISED-L.shtml
You can also read many discussion groups at www.google.com by clicking on the Groups tab (http://www.google.com/grphp?hl=en). If you are interested in bicycling, for example, go to rec.bicycles.
Listservs have been exceptionally valuable to me, and they are very much worth the effort to learn how to use. For recommended listservs and subscription help, go to http://www.webcom.com/impulse/list.html or www.about.com or http://privateschool.about.com/c/ht/00/07/How_Subscribe_Use_Mailing0962934464.htm?terms=How+to+use+listservs.
Understanding Chat and Instant Messaging features
We don’t have MS Instant Messaging service activated on our Exchange server, so I can’t demonstrate it, but most people have seen how IM is a type chat for a set number of users. Teen-agers in particular like communicating with their friends this way, and the IM feature can now be more open and “channeled” like a chat room so that anyone can show up and join in.
Don Tapscott takes a sympathetic view of chat and Instant Messaging in his book Growing Up Digital. He rightfully notes that kids are as much interested in the Internet as a communication medium as an information retrieval medium (much more so than adults), and notes that this time of computer use may be very significant in their futures.
If you want to try out chat, one of the most popular sites with students is
Be warned that the typed conversations can be a challenge to follow and understand, but they are very dynamic.
Streaming Media
Streaming media is a specific term that refers to audio and video that can be streamed over the Internet. Some good examples include
www.live365.com-- for online music stations with very few commercials.
www.npr.org-- for NPR programs and news—requires RealPlayer or Quicktime.
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/-- for movie trailers, online video and audio channels—requires Quicktime.
http://www.dslreports.com/information/media -- recommended “broadband” sites that require high speed Internet connections for video, animation, movies, etc.
These sites take a fast connection to use, but the quality can be good and the content interesting and fresh. Some young animators, musicians and film-makers are going “direct to web.
How can this be used educationally? Leo Santiago at Jewish Day School in Seattle, WA, uses the extensive online radio show archives to teach a radio show course. The kids can access thousands of shows to study, and then they plan, script and create their own.
On-line collaboration options for students and teachers
The simplest way to create online collaboration for students is to set them up with epals via email. Some good sites for facilitating this are:
ePals: http://www.epals.com
Keypals: http://www.keypals.com
Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections (IECC): http://www.teaching.com/iecc.
Kidlink: http://www.kidlink.org/english/index.html
Email between students can be moderated, either by you or other teachers. The most basic way of doing email with younger kids, for example, is to use just one teacher email. The kids type up their stuff, give it to the teacher, and the teacher combines it into one email to the other teacher. This can be done if you don’t want kids to email directly to other kids.
More advanced opportunities include:
The Globe Program (http://www.globe.gov).-- Students enter weather data into an international database.
Cornel University Bird Feeder Watch: http://birds.cornell.edu/pfw/-- Students enter bird observation information into an international database.
The Jason Project (http://www.jasonproject.org).-- Students follow and participate in international scientific virtual field trips.
Apple Learning Interchange (http://ali.apple.com).-- Lists a variety of online and computer-related learning opportunities.
Participating in more advanced online collaboration can involve more planning and commitment, but the opportunities can be very exciting and rewarding. Several offer opportunities for longitudinal data analysis for other parts of the world, and of the OES campus.
ProTeacher (http://www.proteacher.com)
Webquest Page: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/webquest.html-- must see.
K. Schrock Guide for Educators: http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/index.html
Education World (http://www.educationworld.com)
The Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov).
How web pages are made.
This is a topic that needs more than a few minutes to discuss. Web pages are relatively difficult to make, but there are easier avenues for web page creation that we are actively exploring.
One avenue is discussed at
http://www.blackboard.com-- at this site you can register to create your own course materials web site without charge. I haven’t tried it yet, but hope to soon.
Another avenue is at www.mac.com, for Macintosh users, that has a free homepage setup for easily creating web pages.
Next year, we hope to have a new server just for faculty, student and staff web pages. We plan to have software that will enable even novice users to submit content (text and images) to pre-formatted pages so that the look is consistent yet the content is easily updated. This won’t be too different from what is already done with the Curriculum Map. Stay tuned for details.