Volume 1, No. 7
5 July, 2002
[To view this newsletter on line:
http://www.emck.net/eline/02_07_05.htm]
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 Summer
vacation!
Make sure you bookmark The
Help Desk archives
so you can find stuff later, when you need it! |
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"They say it's free, but they want my email
address!"
There are free things available on the open Internet which require
registration with personal information, including an email address. Giving
such information to sites with direct commercial ties, or others that may
sell such information to topical
advertisers, might lead to spam (unsolicited
mass-distributed email advertisements). Here's what to do:
- Look for a "Privacy Policy" - reputable web resources have
one, and it should tell you if they intend to distribute your personal
information. (The Help Desk's "Privacy Policy" is
available on it's general
information page). If there isn't one, or you're still unsure . . .
- Just make something up! Of course, if you're an honest sort (this is a
good thing!), or the resource requires verification by return email . .
.
- Maintain an anonymous email address (through
Hotmail or Yahoo Mail, though there are hundreds of others) solely for
the purpose of registering on line. If the spam gets too frequent on
that email account, simply cancel it and start another! (Note: accessing
anonymous email accounts through the KDE Internet pipeline is forbidden
and often blocked, so if you teach in a Kentucky public school, you must
access such accounts from home.)
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| On-line Lesson Planning |
 Apple
Learning Interchange
http://www.ali.apple.com/
Yes, this site is supported by Apple Computers, but the
lesson plans are by no means isolated to projects associated with Apple
products. This collection of lesson plan links includes sites under and
outside the Apple umbrella, including a wide range of interdisciplinary
projects and resources. [updated 7/1/04]
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| Content Area Resources |
| The Arts |
 The
Electronic Media Interest Group
http://www.cedarnet.org/emig/
Affiliated with the National Art Education
Association, EMIG exists " . . . to promote responsible use of
electronic media in the art education program." There are great
resources, links, and on-line examples of student work from all
ages. There's even links to specific school curricula which
incorporate electronic media. |
| Mathematics |
 Plus
Magazine
http://plus.maths.org/index.html
The product of the Millennium Mathematics Project and
sponsored by Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, this electronic magazine
is dedicated to applied mathematics. It's pretty chock-full of features,
stories, and ideas. Although the audience is generally older than middle
school, there's still a lot to use, and the mathematics is fun and
interesting! There's even an editorial in every issue which applies
mathematics to politics and society. |
| Reading |
 Story
Plushttp://www.storyplus.com/
Story Plus is a website constructed to promote
literacy through web-delivered electronic books, many of which have
full animation and sound. The product of "Inspector
Gadget" creator Jean Chalopin , the website offers a lot of its
resources for sale. However, there are free examples available, and the quality is
high - let your students have fun with reading! |
| Science |
 Enchanted
Learning
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/
The product of Washington software designer
Jeananda Col and her professor husband Mitchell Spector, Enchanted
Learning has an incredibly large collection of resources and ideas, all
available for free. Most are aimed at elementary school students, but
particularly interesting to middle school teachers is their Zoom
Inventors page, which lists inventors and their inventions by date,
category, even ethnicity, with a particularly good page on African
American inventors.
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| Social Studies |
 K12
On Line.com
http://www.k12online.com/
This website requires free registration
- see above for hints. A service of Rand McNally, this teacher
resource is mainly a trumpet for its many instructional items for sale. However, they have a map section that contains a wide range of
printable maps - political as well as thematic - in PDF format
(you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free). To find it, click
on "Teacher's Corner" and look for "State and
Thematic Maps." Other free products include "Cities of the
World" - one-page facts sheets on a large number of
international cities - as well as a handful of student worksheets
and outline maps offered as teasers for their for-sale
products. |
| Writing |
 Student
Television Network
http://www.studenttelevision.com/
The executive council of Student Television Network (STN)
includes vice president Steve Galyon of Kentucky Department of Education,
formerly an English and video production teacher at Henry County High
School. STN serves as a support center and clearinghouse for video
production programs at schools. Want to motivate your young writers? Have
them write, edit, and shoot video shorts! The technology does not need to
be complex (you can do simple in-camera edits making a camcorder your only
hardware), and the concept really gets kids excited! Look to STN for ideas
and hints for writing. |
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| Software Sources |
 The
wonderful world of Internet plug-insWhat's a
"plug-in?" It's all of those small programs that work in
conjunction with your Internet browser to bring you multimedia and other
formats. Most of them you will not need to install in advance, since
you'll be prompted when they're needed. A few, however, are good to have
before then. Below is a short list in alphabetical order, with hints and
warnings for installation and use. If it's not on this list, chances are
you'll never need it. If it is . . . it's free!
- Adobe Acrobat Reader (from http://www.adobe.com/):
A lot of educational resources are offered in this format, to ensure
consistent printing. Keep up to date (version 5 is current at this
writing), because older versions may crash attempting to open newer
documents. Do it in advance, with no worry about advertising and
configuration changes. To find the free Reader, click on "Acrobat family" under "Products" and click on
"Acrobat Reader" from the pull-down menu.
- Java and ActiveX: These "plug-ins"
are generally a part of your browser's install. They're listed here
because sometimes a web page will inform you that an update to either
is required, and you'll be asked if you want to automatically
install it. These are to be trusted. Keeping your browser up
to date will reduce such encounters.
- MacroMedia Flash (from http://www.macromedia.com/):
Flash format files are everywhere, and the player is required to view
them. However,
MacroMedia has done a great job of supporting the incorporation
of installations and
updates seamlessly into web page offerings, so you'll be prompted when
you need it. It carries no risk of ads or other problems.
- QuickTime (from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/):
A popular video and sound format. Be careful though - the QuickTime default installation includes a routine for
handling file downloads, which doesn't always work well! In addition,
like all media players, QuickTime tends to take over all your media
file associations. Moral: don't do the
default installation, but it's a good idea to install it in advance
and keep it up to date.
Look for "Download" at the top left of the web page.
- Real (from http://www.real.com/):
Real is QuickTime's main competitor, and videos and sounds in this format are
even more common. Real is famous for its free player financed by aggressive
ads. For this, and for similar concerns mentioned under Quicktime,
don't do the default install. Again, it's a good idea to do this
one in advance. Look for the "Free Real Player" - it's in
small print on the Real webpage because they want you to buy the next
level up!
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| Idea Exchange |
We need your help!
Send hints, helps and resources to eline@emck.net
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| Professional Resources |
 The
U.S. Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/index.jsp
Believe it or not, the folks in Washington do more than just work
to get re-elected! The U.S. Dept. of Ed. is an incredible resource,
providing links to lesson plan help and other educational resources
offered by Federally funded and supported agencies. Look under "Education
Resource" (on the right) for for your subject area, and be prepared
to do some surfing. There's also general teacher resources under the
"Information for..." "Teachers" link.
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