EDW647 Internet for Educators

I. Description:

This workshop will show educators how to access and use the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide computer network made up of thousands of separate computer systems at universities, corporations, government agencies, and other organizations. Participants will be able to communicate and exchange information around the world via email, the World Wide Web, and other Internet software tools. There is a wealth of information (from science to history to current events) available on the Internet that educators can use in their classrooms and professional activities. Information is available in many multimedia forms including hypertext, graphics, video, and sound. Participants will learn how to search the Internet for such information and how to involve their students in "Navigating and Using the Internet." Participants may build their own basic WWW home page. Intended for all teachers K-12.

Course Credits: 3 s. h.

Prerequisites: Prior computer use (familiar with a PC or mac, the desktop, mouse, files).

II. Course Objectives:

The participant who successfully completes the course will:

Understand what the Internet is and what information is available.
Be able to navigate and find world wide web information.
Be able to use Internet tools that assist in searching for information.
Be able to transfer information from the Internet to their personal computer.
Be able to access and download educational materials, such as lesson plans and software, through the Internet.
Be able to send and receive electronic mail around the world to teachers and others.
Be able to participate in electronic discussion groups (Special Interest Groups).
Be able to connect to remote computers around the world through the Internet.
Be able to build their own simple WWW home page.

Enrollment Limits:

The course may be limited due to current available laboratory space.

IV. Course Outline

What is the Internet?

Computer Networks
Brief History of the Internet
What information is available on the Internet?

Graphical and Hypertext Access to the Internet

The World Wide Web
Client-Server Model (http protocol)
WWW or URL addresses
Using the Internet Explorer Browser
Configuring your browser (personal preference settings).
Adding and editing Bookmarks.
Saving Bookmarks out to a file.
Cache memory area.
How Search engines work.
How to use the search engines effectively.

Electronic Mail

How Email Works
Header, Message, Signature
Messages

Send
Read
Reply
Forward
Edit

Bounced Email

Electronic Discussions

Newsgroups

Finding Newsgroups
News readers
Subscribing
Posting Articles
Searching Newsgroup Archives
Newsgroups for Students and Educators

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

FTP software and commands
How to Use FTP to get software.
Uploading and downloading files.
File formats (*.exe, *.zip, *.hqx, *.doc, *.html, *.bin)
Text files vs Binary files
Finding FTP Sites

Building and Designing Simple WWW Web Pages.

Creating a simple WWW home page.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language).
Title.
Headings, fonts, text editing.
Creating Links to other web sites.
Graphics - jpg. gif, tiff, others.
Scanning in images to your web page.
Clickable graphics.
Graphics and Movie/Video clips.
Clickable email addresses.

AOL Instant Messenger (IM)
- Setting up an IM account
- Using IM to communicate and send pictures
- IM commands
How to Access the Internet.

Commercial Internet Providers (America On Line)
Use of Modems, Cable Modems, DSL lines.

Social and Legal Issues

Legal Implications
Network Ethics and "Netiquette"
Security on the Internet
Viruses and the Internet

IV. Course Requirements and Evaluation:

The participant will be required to:

Demonstrate competency in navigating the World Wide Web using a graphical interface.
Show competency in accessing information through the Internet. This will be accomplished by providing several different tasks (Internet scavenger hunts) to allow the student to practice with the various access methods of Internet. Participants will be required to browse documents in a variety of locations around the world.
Build a resource library (bookmarks) of where information pertinent to his/her discipline might be found via the Internet. This will include locating and keeping track of pertinent information resources.
Demonstrate competency in communicating electronically by participating in an electronic discussion group related to their discipline.
Demonstrate competency by building a WWW home page including information pertinent to his/her discipline.

This will be done during monitored laboratory sessions as part of the workshop class period. Participants will be evaluated on their demonstration of skills in the areas noted above.

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