How to Integrate and Use This Guide

The Internet: How to Integrate the Internet and How to Use This Guide

How To Integrate the Internet
How to Use This Guide

How to Integrate the Internet

The Internet is meant to be an instructional tool, and as such its use should be
structured around classes, not classes structured around it. Kenji Kitao and Kathleen
Kitao (1996) suggest using the Internet for retrieving information relevant to the topic
being studied, that may be presented to the class using a large monitor or screen
connected to the computer. This is helpful if there is a shortage of computers. The
information may also be printed, copied (following copyright restrictions), and
distributed to the class.

Bush (1997) identified four ways to classify the use of the Internet in the
classroom:

a means to deliver or to support the delivery of instruction
a tool to facilitate the educational process
a medium to access information
a medium to facilitate communication (p. 310)

Wyatt (1984) identified the three roles of the computer as instructor, facilitator,
and collaborator. Although these terms were used before the Internet’s spread to the
general public and school systems, they still have relevance today. As an instructor,
lessons can be presented through the computer, and more specifically, through the World
Wide Web. As a facilitator, the Internet can be used as a tool to motivate students, and to
bring supplemental information in to lessons. As a collaborator, students are able to
search for information, and perform overtly collaborative tasks like electronic
communication.

To increase the communication, students can work in pairs for almost all of the
activities given in this guide. This may help in a few ways. Students will (hopefully)
talk to each other, providing the missing aspects of oral communication and cooperation.
For more difficult material, they may work collectively to comprehend. If students are
new to computers, pairs may be desirable to overcome any problems using the software.
Lastly, most labs are small and can not accommodate a large class.

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How to Use this Guide

Related activities are listed in the latter part of each component of the Internet.
For example, activities that concern electronic mail can be found in the latter part of that
section. I have also labeled the activities according to the following types:

Activity Name This is in bold print, to identify the activity.

Level Beginner (Beg), Intermediate/Advanced (Int/Adv), All Levels. This is an
indication of the minimum level the students must have in order for the activity to be
effective. Beginner students should be at a high-beginner level. I combined Intermediate
and Advanced because most materials for activities can be found at both these levels, or
easily adapted. Many activities can be adapted to a different level.

Address The address is supplied immediately after the level indication for those
activities that require it.

Variations Some activities can be varied slightly, especially to complement ability
levels. If there is more than one variation, they are labeled using A, B, C, etc.

Example:

1.1 Page Evaluation. (Beg)
http://www.ualberta.ca/~apaton/home.htm

Have students comment on this page, and write a short paragraph on it, describing it, and
saying what they like or do not like about it.

Variation:
(A) Have students send an e-mail to a partner, commenting on the page.

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