Building the Online Habit
More and more websites cater to teachers, given the need these days to become more innovative using Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Here are some websites that could guide you in maximizing the advantages of the Internet:
- Your own website with Scholastic - Once you register as a member of the website, you can create your own free, class homepage, where you can also receive regular email newsletters filled with lessons, ready-to-print materials, presentation makers
- Networking sites like Yahoo Groups or Multiply – These sites make it easy to organize groups and share information. You can be the administrator, and manage the page.
- Teacher-to-teacher websites like Teachnet - Aside from networking possibilities with other teachers all over the world, teacher-oriented websites are great to visit every time you’re online. They are usually frequently updated with new lesson ideas and tips on how to use ICT effectively in the classroom. Others also offer advice to manage stress or handle difficult students, among others.
- The Innovative Teachers Forum - Sponsored by the Microsoft Partners in Learning, this website features innovative Filipino teachers who have been awarded because of their effective use of ICT in relation to the local student learning environment. With it, you can see for yourself the practical ways fellow teachers have enhanced their teaching styles, and the various efforts of the Department of Education to empower Filipino educators.
- Smart Schools - The Smart Schools Program portal was created for the community to promote ICT to public high schools. It is constantly updated with curricula resources, learning portals, e-groups, and e-learning multimedia materials—a veritable treasure trove of information for any teacher wanting to use ICT as a teaching tool.
Once you are ready to create your own web presence, you can create your own web log or blog with easy-to-create blog template sites like Blogger. This could provide an avenue for easy interaction between you and your students.
Kevin Hodgson, a technology liaison, is one such teacher who keeps a blog because it keeps him connected to his network of teachers and students. Moreover, it added to the global context he used in his lessons, making it more relevant and interesting. With website versions of newspapers and news journals, Discovery Channel programs, research institutes all linked to his blog, he succeeded in bringing the world to his high school students, a feat not usually achieved for those who stick to the traditional blackboard method of imparting knowledge.
Another way for blogs to improve over-all learning in the classroom is to use it to to improve student writing. Blogs are perfect avenues for students who can express themselves better through writing. You can assign a particular topic, a global issue, and have your students post their opinions, slideshows or recordings on the blog. Instead of the usual classroom audience for student work, the world becomes the audience.
Sources:
“About Smart Schools.” Retrieved January 25, 2009 from
http://www.smartschools.ph/SmartSchools/About/
Hodgson, Kevin. “Bringing the World to My Doorstep: A Teacher's Blog-Reading Habits.” Retrieved January 25, 2009 from http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2595
“Innovative Teachers Forums.” Retrieved January 25, 2009 from http://www.pil.ph/#
(Published 02 February 2009, Smart Communications Inc.)
