Evidence Based Posting 1 – Teaching with the Internet and Opening New Doors.

Evidence Based Posting 1 – Teaching with the Internet and Opening New Doors.

The internet is a powerful tool for students of all ages when used appropriately and opens up to endless possibilities. In Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times, Chapter 5, Donald and Deborah Leu & Coiro state that “C.S. Lewis understood what happens when you open new doors to new worlds. In ‘The Chronicles of Narnia,’ Lewis leads us through the secret door of a wardrobe, opening to a magical world full of exciting new opportunities. We believe the internet is another door, opening new worlds for you and your students with many opportunities to explore in literature and composition.”[1]

I am a library/computer teacher and actively promote the concept that the internet opens new doors for students. Students lives are transformed when they understand the numerous ways they can use the internet to communicate and research. With the additional use of Webcams, Digital Cameras, Video cameras, Video and Sound Technologies, Software designed to create, edit and play movies, students are now able to communicate by using different forms of technology with the internet in more diverse, interesting and creative ways.

In my computer lab Elementary students are literally stepping outside of the classroom without physically moving when they are Surfing the Net for information. Students are using http://www.google.com/, http://www.encyclopediabrittanica.com/, http://www.askjeeves.com/ and other educational websites for researching information for subject matter in English, Math, Science, History, Geography, Social Studies, Sports, Music and Art.In Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times, Chapter 6, Donald and Deborah Leu & Coiro describe how a teacher “Mr. Miguel Robledo learned that his students quickly surf from site to site trying to find something interesting. Often his students time on the computer would run out before they had an opportunity to really read and learn anything. Or, they would sometimes end up at sites that were inappropriate for their work.”[2] I encounter this issue on a daily basis. Certain websites are inappropriate and due to this, I Bookmark in a Favorites Folder all website locations that the student’s daily research and play at. In Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times, Chapter 6, Donald and Deborah Leu & Coiro describe how “Using Individual Bookmarks and Favorites Folders alleviate the challenges when you have an entire class doing Internet Inquiry with many individuals setting bookmarks or favorites.”[3]

In addition to Surfing the Net, students from all grade levels communicate across the globe with students of different nationalities through the use of Learning Libraries/Classrooms, bridging and crossing nationalities, ages, races, cultures and language barriers. Webcams enable schools to communicate locally and globally with each other. I have observed firsthand how students have a passion to dialogue and interview other students with the added support of the Webcam. My students are constantly using Sound and Video technologies with numerous websites that support Literacy, Math, Music, and the Arts. In Teaching with the Internet K-12: New Literacies for New Times, Chapter 5, Donald and Deborah Leu & Coiro state through
Internet FAQ that “ New technologies for multimedia continue to appear on the internet. Sound and video technologies are ones that are changing especially rapidly.”[4] Students are daily stimulated and engaged with the numerous websites with Educational Interactive online games that are available for students. Some examples of this are http://www.starfall.com/, http://www.sesamestreet.com/, http://www.pbskids.com/, http://www.disneychannel.com/, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/, http://www.funbrain.com/, http://www.nick.com/ and http://www.caboose.com/. Now the internet has interactive websites for Bilingual students that can be used in the classroom. An example of this is http://www.sesamestreet.com/ which is currently in English and also is in the process of becoming a Spanish language based site for students of Hispanic descent. As I have stated and have given evidence supporting that the internet opens new doors and possibilities for students, these websites should be used as a supplement and should not be a replacement for curriculum.



[1] Leu, Donald & Deborah, and Coiro Julie, Teaching the Internet K-12:New Literacies for New Times
Chapter 5 Page 181
[2] Ibid Chapter 6 Page 222

[3] Ibid Chapter 6 Page 240
[4] ibid Chapter 6 240