Web-based activities can be really helpful in the learning process in the classroom, but it is really time consuming for those to develop and use and can be difficult to design in a certain way that is a positive impact on the students’ learning. If an online project is what the teacher wants the students to do then they should ask themselves:
-What is the curriculum-related purpose of the activity?
-Does the Internet enhance the activity?
-How will students use online resources (as opposed to just locating them?)
-Do students have the necessary information analysis/information synthesis skills, or am I including these in the instruction?
-Do I have the necessary time and support for the activity?
Harris refers the following three general application categories for “telecollaborations”
-Interpersonal exchanges
-Students communicating to another student or teacher using technology
-Information collection and analysis
-Use information collection that provides information
-Problem solving
-Student based project that uses problem-solving projects
The following are web-based activities that can be used in the classroom
-Electronic pen pals
-Electronic mentoring
-Electronic (virtual) field trips
-Electronic publishing
- Group project development
-Problem-based learning
-Social action projects
Different sites that have web-based lessons and projects
Harris explains that websites support 6 functions for web-based learning activities for distance learners they are:
-Project overview, announcement, and application
-Used to show existing projects and offers signup location
-Tutorial instruction
-Offers instruction and information for the topic that is being discussed
-Information summaries and exchanges
-Allows more information to be added by other people that will be shared with others
-Communication and support
-This is a virtual place where students can meet to communicate with each other to support and work together on projects
-Displays of past and current student work
-This is a place to show other students’ work
-Project development centers
- A place where students and others can give ideas to possibly create new distance learning projects
Table 8.4 is a good rubric for evaluating the quality of a web-based lesson. A few things that you should look for in a websites are overall visual appeal, navigation and flow, mechanical aspects, motivational effectiveness or introduction, clarity of process, and quality of resources.
A few years ago it would be difficult or nearly impossible for a person who is uneducated on how to create a web page and website. Today there are programs such as Dreamweaver that generate the codes automatically that make it much easier for people to use.
HTML- is a standard way for the webpage to be formatted and displayed.
Java- is used more for interactive graphic and animation activities on the webpage.
VRML- This is used to develop and display 3-D objects on webpages
PERL- This is used so that the webpage user can insert their comments or answers into active web pages meanwhile they are running on the server.
There are several image formats and this is a way to sort images, some computers require it or certain formats work better with certain programs. You can tell the kind of format the image is in by the suffix of the filename. The file name will have:
-BMP
-EPS
-PDF
-PICT
-TIF
-GIF
-JPEG
Different plug-ins that are needed are:
-Browsers
-PDF reader
-Streaming video and audio players
-Movie players
-Animation players
The recommended eight steps to developing a website are
- Plan and storyboard
- Develop pages with text
- Insert images and media
- Insert links and frames
- Insert interactive elements
- Test in a browser
- Publish the site
- Gather comments and revise
The teacher and student and evaluate their own website by seeing it is:
-Good structure and organization
-Clear text and/or graphic links
-Good visual design
-Easy navigation
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