Utilizing the Internet as a Useful Teaching Tool

My goal for the year was to allow them some creative freedom in utilizing the Internet, however also including specific websites for exploration to study specific topics along with our guided reading or textbook material for the above subjects. I would provide a website recommended for specific topics, often by a yahoo site called Clickschooling for my children to visit and explore. This time started as guided, especially for my younger son, but soon started to become more independent, especially as their curiosity branched to further study of a particular topic.

My expectations for the year were to have my children understand that the Internet is a great resource for researching information and that there is literally (and figuratively) a world at your fingertips when it comes to finding answers to questions.

We often would read books and the end result of our reading would be questions posed. While I consider myself knowledgeable on a number of topics, I'm certainly not an Encyclopedia Brittanica. If we didn't have another book resource to find the answers with, we would turn to the Internet and start searching.

I've always realized how connected people can become utilizing the world wide web, but to see the fascination of my children learning new information from virtual field trips, virtual science projects, has been absolutely remarkable. They've gained so much from the Internet. They can now show me what they've learned, where to locate the information again, and has really shown me how valuable this year's worth of work has been in keeping them connected and continually searching for new opportunities to learn.

There are so many incredible Internet sites for children that the opportunities certainly are endless when it comes to locating new and innovative sites for the kids to explore.

I've found the simplest resource for me to prepare for the kids is using the Usborne Internet Linked books. These books are designed to offer, via the Internet, sites that will coincide with information you're learning and reading about within their books. There are a variety of books to choose from, which you can view on the Usborne books site. The Internet sites recommended are accessed through their quick link pages. You select from their Quick Link site, the book you're reading, what page you are currently on, and there are numerous activities to choose from to participate in.

For instance, my son and I utilize the Internet Linked Book of World History, since we're currently studying Ancient History. For the study of the rise of Rome, we were able to see pictures of a Roman village, watch a film about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in Pompeii, view a tour of the ruins, as well as create our own volcanoes based on pressure and gas that we pre-set and then watched our volcanoes erupt. The information is very useful for children because they can start to apply the information they've learned in the books, literally at their fingertips with just a few clicks of the mouse.

There is a good selection of books to choose from via the Usborne site. My son has enjoyed several science books and has enjoyed learning how joints work and move, since you really can't see your own joints working. He's enjoyed watching worms eat, watching short clips about how the human body works, and enjoying seeing a short movie of the metamorphosis of a butterfly.

My son has come out of these Internet sites with a fascination to try many of these projects on his own, to watch shows on PBS or Discovery Channel regarding our history lessons, and always has a few tidbits of knowledge to write down in his journal and share with his friends and family.

I definitely count this as a huge plus in my book for incorporating the Internet into our learning adventures for the year. I highly recommend parents utilizing the tools the internet has to provide for students.

I understand completely that the Internet should be used wisely and not for several hours of use at a time or per day, however there is an abundance of useful material on the Internet and I feel it is essential for children to learn how to adequately use this resource for their learning.

Some other fun websites for kids:
www.howstuffworks.com - offers information on how many items function
www.sparky.org - offers information on fire safety
www.pbskids.org - offers information on science projects, activities, and has guides for Magic School Bus books
www.discoverychannel.com - Usborne Quicklinks often have links to the Discovery Channel site. There is a great resource of information on this site and they have many virtual tours and short clips on how things work.
www.crayola.com - has an array of projects that you can use in conjunction with any subject.

Enjoy! Have fun learning on the Inernet.